Stephen Curry’s greatness highlighted by Rick Barry’s ‘anomaly’

At the age of 37, Stephen Curry he has a big challenge ahead of him. The Golden State Warriors lost Jimmy Butler to a torn ACL against the Miami Heat, ending the 2025-26 season, and the team is reportedly considering changes before the NBA deadline in early February. Outside of market acquisition, a large part the onus will fall on Curry.

In a recent radio interview on the Infiniti Sports Network before Butler’s injurya legend of the Warriors franchise Rick Barry he made it clear that Curry could be the exact type of player to handle such a monumental challenge. The Hall of Famer told SiriusXM NBA Radio’s David Sheppard that Curry did unlike any other player in league history.

“This guy is in a class by himself…Steph Curry is, like, an anomaly. There’s never been anybody like him, I hope somebody comes along that I can enjoy as much as I watched Steph Curry and enjoyed him,” Barry told Shepard.

Curry averaged 27.1 points and 5.1 assists per game through the first 35 games of his 17th season in the league. The second biggest star of this era, LeBron James, is still throwing tomahawks at 41 years old. Curry, however, is right behind him. The four-time champion has made 38.7% of his 3-pointers this season, despite attempting 11.5 per game.

Barry reveals why Kari is a “class above” the other Splash Brothers

Barry also made an interesting reference to Klay Thompson, now of the Dallas Mavericks, when explaining how special Curry is. A great man, who won Finals MVP for the Warriors In 1975, he didn’t put Thompson down, but he told Shepard how the 2022 Finals MVP for Golden State set himself apart.

“He’s unbelievable. He’s an anomaly… There’s never been a guard like Steph Curry before in NBA history,” Barry noted. “Never. Nobody plays the game the way he plays, because of his range, his shooting ability, and it’s not just, you know, shooting. Because a guy who can shoot, his teammate for so many years, of course – the Splash Brothers. They’re not the same player. Steph is all around. Steph can create things on his own court, Steph can create the ball himself, and Kerry can create the ball again,” Thompson.”

At 25-20, the Warriors are in sole possession of the eighth seed in the Western Conference. A midseason acquisition would go a long way in what could be Curry’s final championship quest. Regardless, the team will only go as far as he takes them the rest of the year. Barry seems to think that could still be a long way off.