It’s easy to forget now, but there was a time when Steph Curry’s NBA future looked murky. Curry has claimed two MVPs, won two titles, and made five straight All-Star teams, but he didn’t hit his stride until his fourth season.
Curry had surgery on his right ankle in 2011. Injuries plagued him the following season. He appeared in only 26 regular-season games, his scoring average dipped, and he had surgery again. It was at that moment that Golden State wisely signed Curry to a four-year extension.
Curry has rebounded from his ankle injuries. He has appeared in at least 78 games in each of the last five seasons. Though his injuries have flared up on occasion — most notably in the 2016 playoffs — Curry has had a mostly healthy career.
What would have happened, though, if he had played in the previous era? Bill Simmons recently considered that question on an episode of his podcast that included guests Mark Titus and Tate Frazier.
“Steph Curry, if he’s 10 years earlier, I think he plays for six years and is out of the league,” Simmons said. “Because I think his ankles completely fall apart.”
Listen to Simmons’ take below.
Could Greg Oden’s NBA career have gone differently if he had access to the training staffs of today?
.@Clubtrillion stopped by ‘The @billsimmons Podcast’ to discuss Greg Oden and what could have been if he had played in the NBA 10 years later. pic.twitter.com/Y2Oo0E8Npt— The Ringer (@ringer) March 5, 2018
The conversation centered on Greg Oden, Titus’ former teammate at Ohio State. Oden played parts of seven seasons in the NBA, but he mostly watched from the bench because of knee injuries. With the exception of the 2008-09 season, in which he was healthy for 61 games, Oden never played more than 23 games in a season. Oden was the No. 1 pick in the 2007 draft, taken one spot ahead of Curry’s current teammate, Kevin Durant, and two spots ahead of Celtics big man Al Horford.
Oden retired from professional basketball in 2016, but he recently announced his plans to play in Ice Cube’s three-on-three basketball league, BIG 3, this summer.
Curry is averaging 26.7 points, 6.4 assists, and 5.2 rebounds per game. He is playing his fewest minutes per game since 2012 but has emerged as an MVP candidate. He suffered a minor ankle injury in a matchup with the Hawks earlier this week, and his status for Golden State’s Tuesday game against the Nets is unknown.
