we all despise curry for the way he handled things, but in all honesty, the guy was actually very talented. he just didn't care and let himself go physically after being paid. the talent was there, the desire wasn't .
i really think the steve francis trade is when things really got bad. francis had no business being on this team. a marbury and crawford backcourt was talented enough to be decent in the east at the time.
Curry was a fat piece of ****. Saying he only lacked desire is such a cop out. Dude was a 300 pound waste of space who could OCCASIONALLY score at an above average level. That is all.
However even at Curry's absolute best he was the worst defending center I have EVER seen, couldnt rebound worth ****, and on the rare occasion that he was beating you offensively, all the opponent had to do is bring a double team because he couldnt pass out of a double team for ****. That one season where he looked like he showed some signs of life offensively, he absolutely crumbled when teams started doubling him. Every single time, he would either throw the ball away, force up an ill-advised shot, or barrell his fat ******* *** into a defender for a charging foul.
Curry lacked MUCH more than just "desire" and "heart." Dont get me wrong, those things were very, very clearly lacking throughout his entire career. But people get so caught up in NBA players being "talented" just because they can score the ball.
There are so many different aspects of basketball. Its similar to how people think Okafor is the cant miss franchise player type prospect right now just because he is the best scorer right now, and players like Willie Cauley-Stein arent considered to be as talented just because they dont score as much even though Cauley-Stein contributes in much more areas of the game than Okafor does right now, and that is a fact.
Of course it is important to score in basketball. You cant win if you dont score and the basic objective of basketball game is to score more than your opponent. But a player's value or "talent" should be weighed more by the the points they contribute offensively compared to the points they contribute in letting up, more than how many PPG a player averages. When you look at the big picture, players do not come as bad as Eddy Curry was.
People unfairly value scoring so much more highly than any other skill despite it not at all being the most important. You can always find other players to score the ball if one guy on the court isnt great at it. It is a lot more difficult, however, to cover up a player like Eddy Curry's deficencies on the other end. Not to mention how inefficient he was offensively at every single thing besides putting the ball in the hoop within 5 feet of the basket against single coverage. I mean he was so terrible back in the day that fantasy bball geeks even made up an "Eddy Curry line," for him being the only player inept enough to average less combined assists, steals, and blocks than turnovers.
Dont give me the whole "Eddy Curry was very talented because he once averaged 17 points per game," because anybody can do that **** on a garbage Knicks team. Talent lies in how well you can help your team win and Eddy Curry never once contributed anything of value to an NBA team. Every second he was on the floor, the Knicks were worse off for it. I would say he was one of the least talented players I have ever witnessed. Yet, he had idiots like Isiah Thomas paying him big money and trying to build a team around him because he was big and knew how to put the ball in the basket occasionally.
And yes, I agree that the Steve Francis trade was a top 5 bad trade in Knicks history (Ariza and Penny Hardaway's expiring for Francis), however the Knicks were doomed by the Curry trade. From a pure basketball standpoint it sits alone as the worst transaction in Knicks history and honestly one of the worst trades in NBA history. Not only did the Knicks pay Curry a ridiculous sum of money for him to be a waste of space, we gave up 2 unprotected lottery picks that would become Lamarcus Aldridge and Joakim Noah. I mean, if that was an NBA front court today it would probably be the best frontcourt in the league.
Without getting overly caught up in scoring ability, I definitely dont think that Jahil Okafor is the best NBA prospect in this draft. I would honestly put him 4th behind Russell, Towns, and Mudiay. Idk maybe Okafor will be successful in the NBA, but he doesnt really look like he will dominate any particular area in the NBA outside of his scoring, which is also a maybe. And while he does have a very nice post game, soft touch, and very good footwork, he is doing most of his work right now overpowering a bunch of kids who wont even make it to the NBA, let alone become the starting centers he will go up against on a nightly basis. Okafor will need to significantly expand on his shooting range and his quickness if he wants to become an elite NBA level scorer, and if Okafor cant become a truly elite offensive center than why the hell would you even pick him? If you pick him you must truly believe in his ability to dominate the NBA offensively because he certainly isnt good enough to warrant the #1 pick for any other areas of the game.
All reasons why I strongly prefer the all around games andNBA potential as well as the potential ability to accelerate in the triangle offense of both D'Angelo Russell and Karl Towns more than Okafor. But thats just me I guess, just trying to explain why.
