Stephen Curry and the changing of the old guard

Stephen Curry’s recent offensive domination has raised quite a few flutters in the minds of the basketball public. Although it is apparent to everyone that we are seeing history being made but still it is difficult for most to get their heads around this. This is not entirely surprising as this is perhaps a transformation that comes only once in a long time.

The changing of the guard is apparent and it would be very surprising if basketball does not move away from big men who dominate the paint to elite scorers and floor spacers within the next ten years. There are few parallels in the history of the sport of such radical change but one example from the game of baseball is especially illuminating. Of course, I am talking about the Babe Ruth revolution.

George Hermann Ruth, popularly known as Babe Ruth, heralded the modern era of baseball single-handedly when he hit 54 home runs in that fateful year of 1920. Prior to that hitting home runs was a luxury that few players had. The home run record before that season for MLB had been a paltry 29 established by none other than Ruth himself (Before that the record had been 27). We are witnessing something on an equivalent scale today whenever we watch this dynamo named Steph Curry, raise his arms in celebration at the start of this new era.

Curry changing the game of basketball

The parallels are quite strong on the face of it. Before Ruth’s breakout year home runs were regarded as a novelty, something that would bring in the crowds, similar to the 3-pointer when it was introduced. Teams were not supposed to build their offences around it. But as Ruth showed and Curry is showing, a viable offense can be built around the threat of those shots alone.

Let’s analyze the stats in this regard a bit fuller. Babe Ruth made his first record of home runs in the year 1919 when he hit 29 to just get past the old record of 27. What followed was the breakout year of 1920. In an eerie similarity, Curry first established his 3-pointer record in the year 2012-13 hitting 272 of them. Two incremental improvements brought his best to 288 still quite close to Ray Allen’s best of 269.

Allen held the record before Curry took over

What has happened this year has been absolute carnage with Curry having made a mockery of the old record to surpass it with 24 games left. To put it into perspective if Curry goes on at the same rate, he would surpass his own record by a whopping 38%.Of course, records are meant to be broken, but to shatter it like this is insane. It’s not like that the 3-point line has just been introduced therefore you expect records to be broken every day. It’s been a part of the league for almost 35 years now in the NBA alone.

To see where this revolution is taking us is difficult. After all people in 1920 had no inkling that the game is being transformed forever. People are naturally shortsighted and only a fool would attempt to predict the future. Still I would attempt to enter this lion’s den unapologetically. After all such opportunities are rare and to miss one would be foolhardy for its own sake.

The past is of little help in this regard as each revolution is unique. After all the Russian revolutionaries would not have been able to predict the collapse of USSR. As I see it, ten years hence, the game would consist of many floor spacers and shooters with almost all players being at least reasonably good in this regard. It is not much of a prediction that games would naturally become high scoring as more avenues for scoring open up. Freeing up the paint would mean more cutters and lay-ups.

A revolution is coming

The next generation of players will probably not know what a mid- range jumper is and it would be a good thing. Every game has to evolve, whether it’s forced by the search for efficiencies or the drastic changes we are seeing today. Steph Curry is the most visible face of this change and like the Babe, he is showing us another dimension to the game which we would appreciate more and more as time progresses.

While the older generation might mourn the passing of an era ultimately sports is nothing but entertainment. Older players like Oscar Robertson might say that today’s player do not play hard enough but it should be understood that they played a totally different game. Today’s game has no parallel in the past and it is supposedly a good thing. After all, change is the only constant and we have to live with it. Accusing today’s player of not defending hard enough is like accusing beach volleyballers of not spiking the ball as much. Everyone should understand that the two games are totally different.

As the game of basketball marches past this inflection point, this is a place to rejoice that we are witnesses to such an era of dramatic changes. Not many are lucky enough to live through such times. As those who witnessed the Babe would attest that was perhaps the best time to live. Instead of mourning we should fill our minds with memories that perhaps we will fondly remember when we become crazy old dorks. It’s not that the old ways are dead. It’s just that another avenue we didn’t know existed has appeared on the map.