There are a lot of parallels between C.J. McCollum and Stephen Curry. Both were absolutely tiny in high school, didn’t receive a ton of high-level recruiting attention, and ended up as sensations at small Division I programs (McCollum at Lehigh, Curry at Davidson). Both are prolific scorers playing on good young teams in the West and are paired with a fellow backcourt star.
There is one big difference, of course: Curry is the reigning back-to-back MVP, and McCollum still hasn’t made his first All-Star Game.
Nonetheless, McCollum isn’t intimidated by Curry. Today he was asked on Twitter if the 28-year-old Warriors’ guard could guard him, and he didn’t leave much room for interpretation.
@CJMcCollum can Stephen Curry guard you ?
McCollum didn’t say he’s better than Curry. He just said Curry can’t guard him.
There is evidence that McCollum has at times cooked Curry in the past:
Despite that, McCollum has never outscored Curry in their 10 head-to-head matchups, per Basketball Reference. Golden State is 9-1 in those games.
McCollum's statement shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. Curry has a reputation in NBA circles as being a subpar defender. He’s no James Harden, but his defense is certainly masked by having Klay Thompson with him in the backcourt.
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