After Golden State's Game 2 win over the Denver Nuggets in the 2012-13 playoffs, then-head coach (now ESPN analyst) Mark Jackson heaped praise on his sharpshooting duo of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.
"In my opinion, they're the greatest shooting backcourt in the history of the game," Jackson said.
At the time, it seemed like a classic case of head coach hyperbole. But Jackson's declaration rang true in the numbers. The following season under Jackson's watch, Curry and Thompson finished No. 1 and No. 2 in 3-point makes, respectively, converting a blistering 42.4 percent and 41.7 percent of their attempts from beyond the arc. Indeed, it turned out that no backcourt in history has rivaled the Splash Brothers in both categories of 3-point volume and efficiency.
But this season, Curry and Thompson are pushing the envelope. Curry is an early front-runner for MVP while Thompson is on track to be an All-Star. Nowadays, it seems Jackson's statement might have not gone far enough. At some point, we might have to grapple with the fact not only are Curry and Thompson the greatest shooting backcourt ever, but they soon might be the best backcourt in NBA history. Period.
(Sorry, Dion Waiters.)
Curry and Thompson's ascension
First, let's go over Curry and Thompson's credentials thus far. While Waiters and Bradley Beal were shadow boxing through the media this preseason about their respective backcourts in Cleveland and Washington, they adorably ignored the elephant in the West: Curry and Thompson.
As far as backcourts go, Curry and Thompson are the gold standard in today's NBA, and it's not all that close. As Kevin Pelton pointed out on Monday, Curry is the leader in the clubhouse for MVP. He currently leads the league in real plus-minus at plus-7.6 while adding an NBA-high 5.1 wins above replacement (WAR). Despite playing just 33.6 minutes per game, he's putting up gaudy per-game averages of 23.5 points, 7.6 assists, 5.2 rebounds and 1.9 steals. He has tamed his turnover issues and he's still leading the NBA in 3-point makes despite a slight dip in conversion rate (38.9 percent).
Curry is this generation's Steve Nash. To illustrate Curry's immense value, consider that the Warriors are losing by 9.0 points every 100 possessions as soon as he steps off the court, according to NBA.com. With him on the floor? They're pummeling opponents by 20 points every 100 possessions. His worth is astounding. By almost any measure you can find, Curry is one of the best players in the world and an absolute terror to program against.
Oh, and then teams have to deal with Thompson.
The 24-year-old came into the season as something of a 3-and-D specialist. He was the NBA's worst rebounder at his size and also a black hole on offense; he passed the rock less than anyone in the NBA on a per-touch basis (and that includes Nick Young). And despite his reputation as a versatile lockdown defender who relieved Curry of tough assignments, his overall defensive metrics were underwhelming.
But good luck poking holes in his game now. Thompson is averaging a career-high 21.7 points per game, and he's rounding out the repertoire beyond 3s and post-ups. His rebound rate has bounced back to more normal levels and his assist rate has risen from 10.2 percent to 15.8 percent. After being embarrassingly low in both rebounding and assists, Thompson now edges Waiters and Beal in both categories.
With his improved playmaking, Thompson has become so much harder to handle. Coach Steve Kerr has put Thompson into pick-and-rolls twice as often compared to last season, per Synergy tracking data. The trust is paying off. While defenses are throwing bodies at Thompson when he has the ball, the shooting guard has been more willing to make the smart play and find the open man.
Top FG percentage following a player's pass, per SportVU
For the rest of the league hoping to somehow bottle up Curry and Thompson, this has been a devastating development. In fact, according to SportVU data provided to ESPN Insider, players are shooting 56.3 percent off of Thompson's passes this season, which is the highest such rate in the NBA. Once we factor in the extra value of the 3-pointer, Thompson's passes are generating an effective field goal percentage of 64.6, which is borderline unfair. For perspective, Kevin Durant's effective field goal percentage is 54.6 percent, or 100 points lower. The takeaway here: Pick your poison carefully, NBA.
What's clear is that Curry and Thompson are leveraging their immense gravity. Back in October, I revealed the top 10 in respect rating, which is my composite metric that blends two of STATS LLC's proprietary measures called gravity score (how closely a player's defender sticks to him off the ball) and distraction score (how willing that defender is to shade off an off-ball player to help stop the ball handler). Curry ranked No. 1 in the NBA while Thompson ranked No. 8. Not bad for teammates.
This season the Splash Brothers' gravity has become more magnetic. Defenses have tried to swarm Thompson even more and he's moved all the way up to third in the ranking (more on that later). Not surprisingly, Curry still holds the top spot in respect rating even though he hasn't been as sharp from deep.
The best backcourt?
If Curry and Thompson keep this up and the Warriors keep rolling, the accolades will follow. We could dedicate a whole series of columns to hashing out the best backcourt ever, but you'd be surprised at how relatively weak the competition is for Curry and Thompson. We haven't seen an MVP and an All-Star share a backcourt since 1957 when Bob Cousy and Bill Sharman did it for the Celtics. But it was so long ago that Kerr wasn't alive yet and there were just eight teams in the entire league.
So, yeah, it's been a while. If the current momentum holds, Curry and Thompson would be the first to do it in more than half a century.
Let's dig in some more. Since the NBA started tracking offensive rebounds in 1973-74 (and therefore possessions), there have been 20 instances where a backcourt pairing made the All-Star Game in the same season. This seems like a reasonable requirement for best backcourt, as it sifts out the "Michael Jordan and whomever played next to him" card.
And statistically, none of those 20 All-Star backcourts can match Curry and Thompson's current combined PER of 46.5. Phoenix duo Paul Westphal and Walter Davis come close (Davis split time between shooting guard and small forward). To get a more complete picture, we can look at PER, win shares per 48 minutes and Basketball-Reference's new metric box plus/minus. What do we find? None of them can statistically match what Curry and Thompson are doing across the board.
Ask around and you'll probably hear that Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars are the Splash Brothers' stiffest competition. That great tandem won two titles together, but their individual numbers pale in comparison to Curry and Thompson's gaudy numbers. The Dubs' own Tim Hardaway and Mitch Richmond is up there, but Richmond only became an All-Star with Sacramento later in his career.
Going deeper into history, you'll find that Gail Goodrich and Jerry West's credentials look impeccably strong ... but that's before we adjust their numbers for the era's zany pace (the average team saw about 20 more possessions per game than today to help pad numbers). After we adjust for tempo, Goodrich and West shrink compared next to Curry and Thompson. Same goes for the Knicks' dynamic duo of Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe.
From a statistical standpoint, Terry Porter and Clyde Drexler might have the best case against Curry and Thompson. Among All-Star tandems, the Blazers' backcourt duo ranks first in box plus-minus, second in win shares per minute and fourth in PER, giving them an average rank of 2.3. However, right now Curry and Thompson are on pace to finish first in combined PER, first in win shares and second in box plus-minus. If statistical scrutiny is your thing, Curry and Thompson measure up with the best.
Below, you'll find Curry and Thompson's pairing along with the 20 All-Star tandems with their combined PER, combined WS/48 and combined box plus/minus figures and their corresponding ranks within the group. As a note, the Lakers sent three guards to the All-Star Game in 1998, but only Nick Van Exel and Eddie Jones are represented here (Kobe Bryant was still coming off the bench).
Top-20 All-Star backcourt tandems
Evidently, Curry and Thompson are playing at historic levels right now. There was once a time when we could take issue with Curry and Thompson's defensive chops, but it's harder and harder to make that claim now. Look it up and you'll see each of their defensive RPMs is vastly improved this season along with their block and steal rates.
Of course, we haven't made it to Christmas yet and things can change over an 82-game season -- and they probably will. But under Kerr's leadership, Curry and Thompson have both made strides this season to attain a more complete game. It's early, but an MVP and an All-Star sharing the same backcourt? That would be uncharted territory in the modern game. There's a chance we see it this season.
And here's the scariest thing. Curry and Thompson are under contract for two more seasons smack in the middle of their primes. It's possible the best has yet to come. Greatest shooting backcourt? Check. Greatest backcourt ever? Stay tuned.
News and notes
• Losing Josh McRoberts (torn left meniscus) for the season would obviously be a tough blow for the Miami Heat. He's known for his hops and passing, but they'll miss his defensive aptitude and intensity. The Heat rank as a bottom-five defense this season, but with McRoberts on the floor, they allowed a stingy 97.8 points per 100 possessions. They've hemorrhaged 112 points per 100 possessions with him on the bench. Giving up 110 points at home to the Utah Jazz? That's been more exception than rule. Erik Spoelstra has never overseen a below-average defensive team in his seven-year tenure, but it will take a minor miracle for him to avoid that fate this season.
• Another bummer: Jabari Parker's torn ACL. He averaged 12.3 points and 5.5 boards on just 29.5 minutes per game while posting a near-league-average 14.8 PER. Not coincidentally, the Bucks' home attendance had risen 10 percent since last season, which represents the third-highest surge in the NBA. But remember, Adam Silver wants to keep 19-year-olds like Parker out of the league.
• Michael Regan, the head of sports science at wearable tech firm Catapult Sports, has decided to leave the company to work full time for a professional Australian-rules football team. Why do I note that here? At Catapult, Regan worked closely with forward-thinking teams like the Rockets and 76ers to help set up their player-tracking devices for practice sessions. But Regan's smarts will be dedicated to Port Adelaide FC now. His title? GPS Analyst. Seriously. Instead of scouting prospects on film, he'll be scouting prospects through biometric data. Welcome to pro sports in 2014.
• This week's trivia question: Which NBA player has been blocked the most this season? (Last week's trivia question/answer: Which wing player (non-big) has contested the most shots while standing within 1 foot of the shooter? Eric Bledsoe!)