Grading Steph Curry's 2025-26 Season at the All-Star Break

Stephen Curry is having one of the best seasons from a 37-year-old in NBA history. Only LeBron James has averaged more points per game in an age-37-or-older season than Curry's current average of 27.2 PPG.

So in that sense, you could give Curry an A+ and move along.

But most of us were expecting Curry to be this good before the season started. In fact, Curry was ranked in the top 10 of lists from Bleacher Report (No. 5), ESPN (No. 7), CBS Sports (No. 6) and several others.

So at least for me, Curry's grade to this point in the season is not easy to decide.

Let's go over some strengths and weaknesses from his season before revealing the grade.

Curry's Shotmaking Still Elite

For those expecting Curry to get an A+, the following stat is their strongest argument.

According to BBall Index, Curry is in the 98th percentile in shotmaking efficiency while also being in the 14th percentile in shot quality. Essentially, what this means is Curry's teammates aren't creating good looks for him, and yet he's still one of the most efficient scorers in basketball.

Another impressive BBall Index stat is that he's in the 93rd percentile in self-created shotmaking efficiency, which shows he's still elite at scoring when defended one-on-one.

Overall, Curry has a 58.9 effective field-goal percentage, which ranks fourth among the 10 players averaging at least 27.2 points per game. Only Giannis Antetokounmpo (66.0), Nikola Jokic (64.7) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (59.9) are more efficient among the league's highest scorers.

So when it comes to scoring, Curry is arguably exceeding expectations. But there are ways in which he hasn't been at his best.

Impact Numbers Lacking

Curry's net rating is just plus-1.3, per Cleaning the Glass. This means the Warriors are only slightly better with Curry on the floor than with him off the floor. If the season ended today, this would be the worst net rating of his career outside of the 2019-20 season in which he played just five games.

Compared to other players often considered in the top-10 conversation, Curry's net rating is quite low.

	Raw Plus/Minus	Net Rating (CTG)
Nikola Jokic	+344	+16.5
Giannis	+116	+14.2
Wemby	+305	+10.9
Kawhi Leonard	+132	+10.8
Donovan Mitchell	+304	+10.4
SGA	+549	+10.1
Tyrese Maxey	+96	+9.7
Cade Cunningham	+378	+7.1
Jalen Brunson	+271	+4.3
Luka Doncic	+29	+3.2
Kevin Durant	+245	+2.8
Stephen Curry	+62	+1.3
Anthony Edwards	+144	-3.6

So what's going on here?

Part of the reason Curry's net rating is so low is that Jimmy Butler was so good against other teams' bench units.

Lineups with Butler on and Curry off have a net rating of plus-8.8, per Cleaning the Glass.

You'll also notice that Curry has the second-lowest raw plus-minus of this group. Part of the reason for that is even when Butler was healthy, the Warriors had one of the worst rosters surrounding their superstar of the 13 players listed in the table above.

But even if you agree with both of those conclusions, it's still slightly disappointing that Curry hasn't had more of a positive impact.

Last year, when Curry spent the first half of the season without a second star and then spent the second half with Butler, the two-time MVP had a plus-7.2 net rating.

In 2020-21, when Kelly Oubre Jr. was the team's third-leading scorer and teams were doubling Curry like they are this year, he had a plus-13.3 net rating.

The bottom line is when compared to other elite players, Curry hasn't impacted winning enough.

Mixed Bag in the Clutch

Curry has played in 15 clutch games this season, and the Warriors are just 6-9 in those games, per NBA.com.

On the positive side, Curry has been lethal shooting the three, as he's 13-of-28 on clutch triples.

On the negative side, Curry has eight turnovers and just three assists in clutch games.

The turnovers, combined with Golden State's inability to get stops, has led to Curry being a minus-13 in 52 clutch minutes.

If the season ended today, that clutch plus-minus would be the worst he's posted since the 2010-11 season.

Final Grade

I've been wrestling with Curry's grade for the last few days. Arguably every stat that paints him in a negative light can be attributed to the lack of support he has around him.

He's being face-guarded 40 feet from the basket on almost every play. No other player faces that level of defensive attention.

But my expectations for Curry are so high that even with those roster challenges, I expected the Warriors to being winning at a higher rate than they are. They are just 23-16 when Curry suits up.

That's why I have Curry at a B+. He's meeting my expectations by continuing to perform like a top-10 player. But to get to an A- or an A, he needs impact winning more.