Despite Curry's performance, Arenas still picks LeBron as the best player in the world
Gilbert Arenas picks between Steph Curry and LeBron James
Steph Curry is playing like the best player in the world. But according to Gilbert Arenas, the Warriors superstar is yet to secure that title.
"Being the best player in the world and playing like one are two different things"
Twenty-one games into the season, the second-seeded Warriors are 18-3 following Tuesday's loss to the Phoenix Suns. After last year's incredible solo campaign, when he single-handedly led Golden State to 39 wins, Curry has picked up where he left off, playing arguably the best basketball of his career.
The 33-year-old tops the latest KIA MVP ladder, averaging 27.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 6.6 assists per game amid the best defensive run of his career -- top 20 in the league in steals (1.8) and deflections. Steph is the only player in the league to drop 50 in a game. He also has the most 40+ point games this season; four so far.
For some, all of this is enough to declare Curry the best player on the planet -- Kendrick Perkins is the latest to do it. But Agent Zero refused to jump to the same conclusion.
"Being the best in the world and playing like the best in the world is two different things," Arenas said. "If we take what everyone's doing right now and then we say, 'all right, we're gonna draft,' LeBron and KD are gonna be number one and two."
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At this moment in time, playing like the best player in the world? Yes, hands down.
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Arenas' argument for picking others over Curry
Crowning the best player in the world shouldn't be done in the regular season; especially after 20 games. But that's exactly what Arenas is basing his draft on. "If you're gonna do a draft and you're gonna say, 'all right, as everyone is playing right now,' it's LeBron, KD, and Giannis might go three," he said. "It's between Steph and Giannis at three. He's the first guard, hands down."
If you say it's still too early to declare Steph the best player alive because he has to prove it in the Playoffs, based on what we've seen in last year's postseason, KD and Giannis should be the only guys in the discussion. But if the argument is about what each of them has done so far in the season, Curry is the only guy worthy of that title.
"People who's gonna be in front of him are multiple position players," Agent Zero said. "Players who can play one through five basically, one through four. They can guard a lot of people on defense. Steph is a guard who's just dynamic at what he does. If he's slipping, he's not slipping because of the play. It's just these positions, I can cover more ground with these positions."
Curry is playing like the best player in the world. Whether you're ready to recognize him as such is totally up to you. History teaches us it's best to wait for the postseason before locking in the answer.
So whatever the route you decide to embark on, there's an argument to be made for either Durant, Giannis, or Steph. But for the first time in a decade, LeBron is out of the picture, regardless of what Agent Zero has to say.
