The best player in the NBA is 6 feet 3 and weighs barely 185 pounds. You might not even ask him to get a dish off the top of the shelf. But when a basketball game begins, he goes from everyman to phenomenon.

Curry illuminates the point guard’s newfound freedom, and he’s also a lightning rod for debate about the state of the NBA. Despite being one of sports’ most likeable stars, Curry’s unprecedented game – as well as the jumper-obsessed style of the entire Warriors team – makes some wonder if basketball has changed too much.

ESPN analyst Mark Jackson, Curry’s former coach, made the bizarre comment that the guard is “hurting” the sport because he inspires misguided young players to take bad shots trying to copy him. Oscar Robertson upset Kerr and many NBA coaches by saying that they don’t defend Curry far enough out on the floor. Others have used Curry and the Warriors to complain that the game has become too soft, too dependent on the three-point shot and too dismissive of the center position.

Has the game gone too far in this direction? It’s a fair question. But if the little man continues to enthrall the audience, and the big man continues to evolve in versatility, this brand of basketball will remain.

“I don’t know if we ever go back,” said Stu Jackson, currently the senior associate commissioner of men’s basketball for the Big East Conference. “The evolution of the big guy in the NBA, in large part, was started by the way basketball around the world is being played. The influx of international players who trained differently and played more skillfully than domestic players was a big influence. It helped dictate the skill requirement and agility of today’s front-court players.

“There’s still plenty of room in the game for a great back-to-the-basket player to score and thrive in the game. But on defense, he’d better have some versatility to be able to defend on the perimeter. That’s just how players play now. Wilt Chamberlain would have difficulty playing against some teams now defensively. I don’t think current players want to go back. The skill makes basketball beautiful.”

While many of the all-time greats are still coming to terms with how much freedom guards now have, it seems that point guards are just at the beginning of their reign.

“I think it definitely is the best time to be a small man in the NBA,” Isiah Thomas said. “There’s never been a better time to be a small man in the NBA in its existence.”

After Kerr praised Curry that night in Orlando, the MVP scored 51 points and made 10 three-pointers, including a bank shot from half court to end the third quarter. He laughed as he walked to the bench.

“That really isn’t supposed to happen,” Curry said. “It was really funny to me.”

The little guy laughs. The little guy scores. The little guy wins.

Yep. Never been a better time.

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