Patrick Kinahan: Curry replaces Stockton in great point guard debate

SALT LAKE CITY — Around these parts a debate over the best all-time point guard in the NBA has raged for going on three decades.

Magic Johnson vs. John Stockton. Who you got?

In making the case for the hometown hero, Stockton, a key word usually is inserted to fortify a legitimate argument. After all, as it relates to the most meaningful statistic, Johnson won five NBA championships during his 12-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers while Stockton struck out in 19 seasons with the Utah Jazz.

Hence, one specific word was required to bolster Stockton's credentials. The 6-foot-1 Stockton was the best "pure" point guard of all-time, a phrase that somehow delegitimizes the 6-foot-9 Johnson.

As every Jazz fan recites, Stockton played one position and one position only during a stellar career that ended with him becoming the association's all-time leader in assists and steals. Both of those records remain intact 20 years after Stockton retired and became the world's most famous Gonzaga basketball fan and the leading opponent of wearing a mask at the McCarthey Center for home games in Spokane, Washington.

Johnson was everything but a pure point guard, the argument goes. Stockton loyalists need only to point out Johnson's best game as a professional in which he recorded 42 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists as a rookie in leading the Lakers to a series-clinching championship in Game 6 against the Philadelphia 76ers.

With Kareem Abdul-Jabbar back home nursing an ankle injury, Johnson moved to center to start the game in the city of Brotherly Love. There you have it, with a big man masquerading as a point guard, Stockton wins hands down.

Hold on a second. Time to update the polls.

Akin to the short shorts he famously wore, Stockton's style of play has become as outdated as his coach calling out a play nearly each time the Jazz ran a halfcourt offense. Four Down, may it hold a special place in our memories forever.

There's a new kid in town. Yeah, we know, Stockton lovers will say: I don't want to hear it.

But it's true, the modern-day point guard has ousted Stockton from the argument. It now boils down to Johnson vs. Stephen Curry.

Surely, at 6-foot-3 and slight of build, Curry unanimously holds the title of greatest small man ever to play basketball. Four championships over the last eight years, with the most recent coming earlier this month when the Golden State Warriors beat the Boston Celtics, justify Curry's sanctification.

The more pertinent issue is his place in basketball lore. Nobody, not even Johnson, has revolutionized the game in the manner of Curry.

"The man is a magician with the ball in his hands," Warriors backcourt mate Klay Thompson said during the Finals. "He just redefined what the point guard position is capable of. ... He really is a transcendent talent that we'll never see again."

Never say never, for sure, but otherwise Thompson is spot on. No point guard — and, yes, this is his position — can match Curry.

The prolific 3-point shooting is obvious — he holds the two longest streaks of consecutive games with a made 3-pointer in the regular season and playoffs at 233 (2018-22) and 196 (2014-16). Jordan Clarkson is third all-time with 101 consecutive games in 2020-21.

It's also the way in which he shoots, seemingly needing only the smallest of spaces to get off a shot. His playmaking ability also allows him paths to the basket and to set up teammates who benefit from all the attention Curry receives.

No doubt, the current style of basketball factors into Curry's success. Stockton played in a pass-first era for a point guard, whereas it is bombs away from nearly anywhere on the court in today's game.

One can only imagine the outrage 15-20 years ago if a player ran to the 3-point line on a 2-on-1 break instead of spacing to the basket. This is no longer your grandfather's game.

The modern version of Stockton would have fired away much more, meaning he'd have scored a boatload of points at the expense of assists. And, who knows, maybe he'd have won a championship or two.

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