Stephen Curry. Klay Thompson. Draymond Green.
Curry. Thompson. Green. For many fanbases and players alike, those 3 names are haunting. A remembrance of all the beatings they’ve taken. How many unending 3-point barrages they have experienced. And the unstoppable and inevitability of those 3, at the height of their power.
2 of them would rip your heart out by nailing impossible 3 after impossible 3. And the other would get under the skin of your whole team, coach, fans, and at the same time coordinate as well as star in some of the best defensive systems the league has ever seen.
They almost always found a way. Is Golden State down 12 in the third quarter? Blink and they’re up 16 heading into the 4th because of some Splash Bro explosion. Your best player is going off and destroying the Warriors? They just went 2-9 in the 4th quarter because Draymond Green decided to guard them one on one.
The story of this trio is “finding a way”. No lead is ever insurmountable. No one player is ever too much. So what makes them special? What makes them the greatest big three of all time? Let’s figure that out.
Who Are They? How Are They So Good?
What makes these three special is that they all play off of each other perfectly and never step on each other’s toes.
Offensively, Stephen Curry is the superstar of the show. Not only has he been the best offensive player on the team for their dynasty, but he is also one of the greatest offensive players of all time.
Curry, unlike many other generational offensive players, allows the offense to work for him rather than take control of the entire offense. He allows Draymond Green to facilitate the offense for most of a game, sets many screens for his fellow teammates, and creates openings for Klay Thompson.
Defensively, it’s Draymond Green who runs EVERYTHING. He may have never been the best individual defender on a team that has included Andre Iguodala, Gary Payton ll, and Andrew Wiggins among others over the years. However, he can do EVERYTHING. He can defend all the way from the 1 to the 5, and command each person on the floor to be at specific spots for the defense that Steve Kerr called from the sideline.
Green is the reason Curry wasn’t a liability on the defensive end of the floor for many years, always calling for switches to scram Curry out of match-ups he cannot defend.
While Green and Curry are masters at their own craft, Klay Thomspon does a lot, and is arguably, elite at both. Thompson is a prolific shooter and is only second to Curry in terms of all-time shooters, but used to be one of the best on-ball defenders in the NBA before his ACL and Achilles tears.
Thompson is the guy Golden State would rely on to defend James Harden or Kyrie Irving in their many high-profile matchups and then come down and exploit the same match-up offensively. If he was just a shooter or just a defender, the Warriors never become a dynasty.
How Do They Even Work?
All 3 have their strengths and weaknesses. Curry is a prolific scorer but has only in recent years become a respectable defender and was well below average in the early dynasty years. Green is one of the greatest defenders of all time but has severe holes in his offensive game. Thompson is probably the best catch-and-shoot player to ever touch a basketball, but ask him to create something on his own too often and the results won’t be pretty.
The point? They all need each other. Steph needs Klay and Dray on defense. Dray needs Klay and Steph on offense. Klay needs Dray and Steph on offense. There are no championships without all 3. They are not complete without the other. 2020. A Green-led team is the worst team in basketball. 2021. A Curry-Green combo is a play-in exit.
It also helps to have a basketball mind such as Steve Kerr as your head coach. Kerr knew all the strengths and weaknesses of this big 3. He knew that Curry should be hidden on defense and that Green should be the one to command that intricate defense that had to have Curry hidden at all times.
He knew that Thompson needed to be given more spot-up opportunities than shot creation. He knew that Green’s weakness was offenses, and to avoid having him be the weight that sinks the whole ship, have him captain the ship and facilitate the offense.
The key concepts of the offense Kerr pioneered originally in 2014 have spread to every team in the league and are currently absolutely essential for winning in this NBA. Kerr knows how to use his 3 best players in the best possible way. There is no dynasty without him. In fact, had Mark Jackson kept his job, Green would be yet another defensive power forward who is a liability on offense.
So now we know what makes a successful big three. 3 stars who can excel at their own thing, but can also cover up for their partner’s weaknesses using their skillset. And finally. A head coach, who can identify each player’s skillset and weakness, then carefully craft an offense and defense around these supposed strengths and weaknesses until they don’t become weaknesses at all, just strengths.
How Do They Compare?
The NBA has seen many prolific trios who have won championships. Micheal Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Dennis Rodman, who won 3 rings together in the 2nd half of Jordan’s career after returning from his disastrous baseball stint. Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, and Bill Laimbeer of the Bay Boy Pistons, who won 2 championships and also beat Jordan, Larry Bird, and Magic Jordan in those championship runs. Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish who won 3 rings together while furthering the iconic Celtics-Lakers, as well as creating the Magic-Bird rivalry.
Other superstar trios in the modern NBA include LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh who won 2 rings together. Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce, only won 1 ring together. Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili, who ruled the NBA before the Warriors’ trio came along to the tune of 4 NBA championships.
There are many amazing trios that existed before and will exist after Golden State’s trio fades away into basketball history. But what separates this Warriors’ big three from others is how their play styles melt perfectly together. How none of them let their superstar egos get in the way of winning. How they all worked together to be where they are, and rely on the individual brilliance of one person. The Warriors are the blueprint in this modern NBA for a variety of reasons, and their big three is at the top of that list of reasons.
It’s very possible that we may never see another big three like this ever again. A big three that wasn’t focused on setting records, or individual records. But rather a trio that wanted to win more than anything and was willing to sacrifice their own individual numbers for the good of the whole team. If Steph Curry demanded that he control the offense and have the ball in his hands at all times such as Rockets’ James Harden, it’s likely that the Warriors don’t even win 1 championship.
So enjoy what we are witnessing while they are still here. It is entirely possible if not likely that Curry, Thompson, and Green have won their last championship together. Enjoy their brilliance, even if you were on the other side of their supernova. They changed the game together, for the better. They are the blueprint. They are greatness and it’s highly unlikely we see a trio like them ever again.
