Stephen Curry is regarded as the best shooter in NBA history. With four NBA titles, one Finals MVP, and two NBA MVPs, he has already cemented his legacy. In fact, he was one of the greatest players to influence the game. But while his legacy is legendary, that doesn’t mean his career has been perfect. Here are the 10 biggest stains on Stephen Curry’s legacy, ranked.
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1. Stephen Curry’s Warriors blow a 3-1 lead at the 2016 NBA Finals
The biggest blemish in Curry’s legacy has to be the 2016 NBA Finals collapse by the Warriors. The team entered the playoffs with a historic 73-9 record for the regular season. Holding a 3-1 series lead over LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, it looked like Curry and crew were poised for a successful title defense.
However, the impossible came after. James and Irving conspired to help the Cavs make history, becoming the first team to come out of a 3-1 hole in the NBA Finals to capture the championship. In that series, Curry’s production took a nosedive, averaging 22.6 points on just 40.3% from the field overall. He also averaged 4.3 turnovers per games in contrast to just 3.7 dimes per game.
2. Stephen Curry missing the playoffs six times
For a superstar, Stephen Curry has missed the playoffs a lot. In total, he has missed the postseason six times in his career. With the lowly Warriors in his first few years in the league, it certainly made sense that he didn’t make his playoff debut until his fourth year. However, once he cemented his superstar status as the Warriors’ face of the franchise, Curry couldn’t lead the Warriors to a postseason berth for the same number of times. Those instances came in the 2019-20, 2020-21, and 2023-24 seasons.
3. Stephen Curry is winless in Play-In Tournament games
The NBA first implemented the NBA Play-In Tournament at the 2019-20 season inside the COVID bubble. Unfortunately, those games haven’t been kind to Curry, as he is 0-3 in the tournament. The Warriors made their first NBA Play-In Tournament appearance at the 2020-21 season. As the ninth seed, they faced LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers. James sunk a clutch three-point basket to lift the Purple and Gold to a 103-100 win.
A game later, the Warriors were out of playoff contention after the Memphis Grizzlies handed them a 117-112 upset. The last time Curry and crew were in the Play-In was just last season, which saw the Sacramento Kings give the Warriors the boot with a commanding 118-94 trashing.
4. Stephen Curry is 0-for-12 in potential go-ahead shots in the playoffs
Widely regarded as the best shooter in the world, one can always expect Stephen Curry to convert the long-range bomb at a high rate. During the regular season, he has the ability to take care of business at the clutch. Unfortunately, the Warriors star has yet to translate that in the playoffs. According to ESPN, Curry has yet to convert a potential go-ahead basket in the final 45 seconds of a fourth quarter or overtime in a playoff game. It’s not exactly a good look for someone we praise as the best shooter of all time.
5. Stephen Curry’s worst performance against the Grizzlies
In the ongoing 2024-25 season, the Warriors fell back to earth after a hot 12-3 start. One of the biggest turning points was their collapse against the Memphis Grizzlies. They handed Golden State a 144-93 masterclass. The Grizzlies also limited Curry to just two points. The best shooter in the world went 0-of-7 from the field and 0-of-6 from beyond the arc. It was a rare moment to see the Warriors star finish a game without a field goal.
6. Stephen Curry, Warriors lose 2019 NBA Finals
After winning back-to back NBA championships, a reinforced Warriors team led by Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry looked like they were going to capture a three-peat run. Unfortunately, injuries took a toll, taking down Durant and Klay Thompson once the 2019 NBA Finals rolled by. Kawhi Leonard was unstoppable for the Toronto Raptors, while Curry just couldn’t shoot Golden State back into the series. The Raptors won their first franchise banner, while the Warriors were denied a three-peat.
7. Stephen Curry’s 4-7 record in Christmas Day games
The NBA always puts the best teams on display to give fans a treat for Christmas. As a result, it isn’t a surprise that Curry and the Warriors are fixtures of the event for the past few seasons. However, the best shooter in the world wasn’t always in the mood to play on Christmas days. Currently, he holds a 4-7 record in those games.. The last loss saw the Los Angeles Lakers spoil his 38-point outing thanks to a game winner by Austin Reaves.
8. Stephen Curry has second-most misses from beyond arc in NBA history
Given that Curry is the best shooter in the world, he’s going to make a lot of attempts. While he successfully became the NBA’s all-time leader in three-point field goals made, he’s also in the running to become the league’s all-time leader in three-point misses. As of now, the two-time NBA MVP is just trailing behind Los Angeles Clippers star James Harden.
9. Stephen Curry’s late rise to superstardom
Make no mistake, Curry was good when he entered the NBA. However, he wasn’t great right from the get-go. He finished as the runner-up to Tyreke Evans in the 2010 NBA Rookie of the Year race. While he did post solid seasons, Curry played behind the shadow of Monta Ellis before going down with a serious ankle injury. Since then, his rise to greatness first required the Warriors to hand him the keys to the franchise and a coaching shift before he finally made a leap to superstardom.
10. Stephen Curry’s FTX endorsement scandal
When it was all said and done, no one can easily forget that Curry was one of the few athletes along with Basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal, former NFL star Tom Brady, MLB star Shohei Ohtani, and tennis sensation Naomi Osaka who endorsed FTX. The FTX cryptocurrency firm turned out to be a bust, and founder Sam Bankman-Fried was handed a 25-year prison sentence. The Warriors star was reportedly paid $35 million to promote the exchange but also lost a ton of money due to the implosion.
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