All-NBA Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry has earned a surprising accolade from league insiders.
The 37-year-old, slated to embark on his 17th pro season in 2025-26, has been singled out as the best American player in the game by a panel of ESPN pundits (as corralled by Tim Bontemps), with five-time All-NBA Boston Celtics power forward Jayson Tatum sidelined.
New ESPN story: Our annual offseason survey has arrived, with coaches, scouts and executives weighing in on both what took place over the last couple of months and how the upcoming season will shake out, including MVP, title picks and much, much more:https://t.co/vSNQO2GQDd
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) September 22, 2025
Curry earned 11 of 20 votes as the best active U.S.-born player heading into the 2025-26 season, ahead of three-time All-Star Minnesota Timberwolves shooting guard Anthony Edwards (eight votes), who's 14 years Curry's junior. All-NBA Cleveland Cavaliers shooting guard Donovan Mitchell nabbed a vote, too.
Curry Stands Apart
But the two-time league MVP and four-time champion, the all-time best 3-point shooter in NBA history,
"He's still the guy who scares me most," an Eastern Conference scout told Bontemps.
Across 70 healthy contests for the 48-34 Warriors, Curry averaged 24.5 points on .448/.397/.933 shooting splits, 6.0 assists, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per.
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After trading for six-time All-Star small forward Jimmy Butler in a deadline blockbuster last season, Golden State improved from being potentially lottery-bound for the second straight season to being a formidable foe in the playoffs.
Had it not been for injuries to Curry and Green, one wonders if the Warriors might have bested Edwards' Timberwolves en route back to the Western Conference Finals.
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This summer, Golden State's team-building has been thrown for a loop.
Young power forward Jonathan Kuminga, all of 22, remains embroiled in a protracted game of chicken with Warriors management. As the restricted free agent continues negotiate for his future ahead of his October 1 deadline to pick up his qualifying offer (his last real leverage), Golden State's other personnel moves have ground to a halt.
According to Marc Stein of The Stein Line, once the Warriors resolve Kuminga's situation, the team intends to sign center/power forward Al Horford and guards De'Anthony Melton and Gary Payton II, with Curry's brother Seth and Cody Martin also being considered for roles.
Monday Best column with the latest free agency, trade and roster talk as five NBA training camps open this week: https://t.co/62aklAqycD pic.twitter.com/Rtde3qCZVO
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) September 22, 2025
The Warriors will still be a bit old — and, thus, an injury risk — compared to the rest of the Western Conference's top talent, as they'll be trotting out an anticipated first five that will include 39-year-old Horford, 37-year-old Curry, and 35-year-old Butler and Draymond Green. Still, they have the pedigree and talent to potentially return to the promised land in 2026 — depending on what happens with Kuminga's contract.
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