If he is today part of the list of the best players in history, Stephen Curry took a long time to put his name there. In 2015, when he had just exploded, Shaquille O’Neal painted a… singular portrait of him.

How far away it seems, the time when basketball fans learned to discover his style, so particular and revolutionary for the time. Certainly already an All-Star the previous season, Stephen Curry really made himself known to the general public in 2014-15. A campaign synonymous with coronation as MVP and NBA champion, during which many observers fell in love with his game:

The first knighthood reserved by Shaquille O’Neal for Steph Curry

At the end of this successful summer of 2015, Curry almost single-handedly initiated a huge change in the league. In his wake, the game gradually focused around the backs and the 3-point shot, which was not necessarily to the taste of Shaquille O’Neal . 

But if he regretted the withdrawal of the big men, the latter was nevertheless impressed by the prowess of the Chef. The Dallas Morning News reports:

I like watching Steph Curry play. I’ve never seen anything like him. A little fullback who dominates like him, I’ve never really seen that. Nash has done it from time to time, but Steph Curry has really taken the league by storm. I saw him a few weeks ago in New York and no disrespect, he looks like a little baby. He has no muscles in his arms or pectorals!
Much more slender and light at that moment, Curry actually showed a certain physical deficit compared to the majority of his opponents. That didn’t stop him from crushing them, which also explained the great admiration Shaq had for him. He already seemed to consider him more dominant than Steve Nash, which became an irrefutable truth in the years that followed.

The first unanimous MVP in history in 2016, Steph has also added three other championship titles to his list of titles, as well as a Finals MVP trophy in 2022. Without forgetting the muscles so dear to O’Neal, which allowed you to become a better defender and resist the physical impact of opposing defenses. 

Enough to justify the declarations of love that the former pivot was able to address to him more recently.

Barely having reached the rank of superstar, Stephen Curry was immediately entitled to praise from a Shaquille O’Neal who was nevertheless grumpy at seeing the big men take a back seat. Compliments that he continued to receive in the following years.