Steph Curry Gets Disrespected Again in Analyst's Warriors Hypothetical

As Stephen Curry disrespect goes, Jeff Teague's claim on Monday was rather tame.

It certainly didn't look like he was trying to cause a stir.

Nonetheless, it's worthy of being called out.

Speaking on his podcast, Teague was actually calling out an even more ridiculous take from Monta Ellis. The former Warrior recently said that if the Dubs switched him with Curry on their championship teams, they still would have won those four titles.

Teague disagreed with that, but he countered with a different ridiculous take.

"If you said we're gonna take Steph Curry off there and put Dame Lillard, then I'd be like, 'OK,' Teague said. "I could see them getting the same results, probably. It's a good chance they get the same results."

Curry Loses Another Hypothetical

According to the internet, all of Curry's titles are fraudulent.

The 2015 title doesn't count because the Cavaliers had injuries. The 2017 title doesn't count because the Warriors were too good after signing Kevin Durant. The 2018 title doesn't count because of Chris Paul's injury. The 2022 title doesn't count because Ja Morant got hurt and the Warriors had an expensive roster.

This is all to say that Curry is used to being on the losing end of hypotheticals.

Teague's Lillard take is not totally new. Many people have argued that replacing Curry with a contemporary point guard would lead to similar results for the Dubs.

The premise is that the Warriors were so well-supported that several point guards could have led them to titles.

And if you were going to try to make that argument with one player, Lillard is the point guard to choose. He's the most like Curry with his three-point shooting and playmaking.

Still, it feels disrespectful for a number of reasons.

It's not just that Curry is a better player than Lillard. It's also that Curry helped build the Warriors to what they became by being one of the most malleable stars in history. Teammates thrived with him. Stars from other teams wanted to play with him.

It's like saying the '96 Bulls could have won the title with Reggie Miller instead of Michael Jordan. It might be true, but the Bulls never would have become the Bulls without Jordan.

Lillard vs. Curry by Year

This is the point of the article in which I'm entertaining this hypothetical too much, but I'll continue against my best judgment.

During the 2014-15 season, Curry was in a different tier than Lillard. The Warriors would have been considerably worse by swampping them. It's hard for me to imagine that they would have made up for that with a title.

Had the Warriors traded Lillard straight up for Curry for the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons, they very well might have won one or two titles.

As for the 2022 title, suggesting that any player other than Curry would have lifted that Warriors team to the title is somewhat disrespectful. That team had offensive limitations that Curry was masking with his combination of on-ball and off-ball wizardry.

In summary, Lillard might have won a title or two with the Warriors if he switched places with Curry. Saying he would've won four ignores the impact Curry had on all of the championship teams.

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