What Preseason Championship Odds Say About Curry

[Stephonit]

There are people out there that say Curry has only been successful because of how great his team is and that he has never carried a team before. One of the ideas borne out of this is that Curry is a great ceiling raiser but not a great floor raiser. I don't know where this idea came from but preseason championship odds taken from Basketball Reference completely contradict this notion.

Here I'll present some of the preseason championship odds of some selected teams to get an idea of the real lay of the land.

Among championship title runs that have been described as the least likely and therefore most impressive one often hears mention of Hakeem's carry job or Dirk's in 2011 or the Pistons' supposedly no star run. No one refers to the 2015 Warriors title for some reason. But here are the preseason championship odds for those championship teams:

2015 Warriors: +2800
2011 Mavericks: +2000
2014 Pistons: +1500
1994 Rockets: +1200

Based on the above Curry and the Warriors had the most impressive longshot win. Maybe there's a team that won the championship with longer odds but I am unaware of it and would like to be informed if there was.

We see a similar pattern among frequently cited carry jobs that were ultimately futile but impressive for how far they got despite how unlikely they were to succeed.

2013 Warriors: +15000 (eliminated 2nd round)
2008 Bulls: +5000 (eliminated 2nd round)
2006 Lakers: +2500 (eliminated 1st round)
2006 Cavaliers: +1800 (eliminated 2nd round)

The evidence would suggest that Curry isn't just one of the best ceiling raisers ever but one of the best floor raisers as well.

This year the Warriors' preseason championship odds were placed at +3000. Should Curry and the Warriors somehow win once again this year I think conversations for Curry being the best player of all-time will have to start in earnest.

[SouBeachTalents]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHAG6CVYScY&t=1m18s

[Bronbron23]

There are people out there that say Curry has only been successful because of how great his team is and that he has never carried a team before. One of the ideas borne out of this is that Curry is a great ceiling raiser but not a great floor raiser. I don't know where this idea came from but preseason championship odds taken from Basketball Reference completely contradict this notion.

Here I'll present some of the preseason championship odds of some selected teams to get an idea of the real lay of the land.

Among championship title runs that have been described as the least likely and therefore most impressive one often hears mention of Hakeem's carry job or Dirk's in 2011 or the Pistons' supposedly no star run. No one refers to the 2015 Warriors title for some reason. But here are the preseason championship odds for those championship teams:

2015 Warriors: +2800
2011 Mavericks: +2000
2014 Pistons: +1500
1994 Rockets: +1200

Based on the above Curry and the Warriors had the most impressive longshot win. Maybe there's a team that won the championship with longer odds but I am unaware of it and would like to be informed if there was.

We see a similar pattern among frequently cited carry jobs that were ultimately futile but impressive for how far they got despite how unlikely they were to succeed.

2013 Warriors: +15000 (eliminated 2nd round)
2008 Bulls: +5000 (eliminated 2nd round)
2006 Lakers: +2500 (eliminated 1st round)
2006 Cavaliers: +1800 (eliminated 2nd round)

The evidence would suggest that Curry isn't just one of the best ceiling raisers ever but one of the best floor raisers as well.

This year the Warriors' preseason championship odds were placed at +3000. Should Curry and the Warriors somehow win once again this year I think conversations for Curry being the best player of all-time will have to start in earnest.

Right so Cleveland losing it's second and third best player had nothing to do with steph and Warriors winning.

That's fine but that means curry lost in 2019 to kawhi fair and square.

[Stephonit]

Right so Cleveland losing it's second and third best player had nothing to do with steph and Warriors winning.

That's fine but that means curry lost in 2019 to kawhi fair and square.

There isn't much proof to say that Cleveland having their second and third best players would have assured them the victory. At no time after the start of the season were the Cavaliers clearly superior to the Warriors.

In 2019 there wasn't as much uncertainty. The Warriors were clear favorites over the Raptors when at full strength. This is not to knock the Raptors, they won fair and square, but that's just how it was.

But none of that is really related to the post. Stephen Curry has won a championship and brought a bad team to the playoffs at the longest odds as well as anyone. By the metric used here he may be the best in history.

[hold this L]

Injuries are part of the game. Noone truly knows what would happen in 2015, 2016 or 2019 if everyone is healthy. Bron like Ronaldo being superhuman machines that never get injured for example, are large reasons for their greatness.

[SATAN]

This year the Warriors' preseason championship odds were placed at +3000. Should Curry and the Warriors somehow win once again this year I think conversations for Curry being the best player of all-time will have to start in earnest.

They won't and Curry isn't even in anyone's top 10 list apart from the small amount of Curry stans left. Didn't read the rest.

[8Ball]

There isn't much proof to say that Cleveland having their second and third best players would have assured them the victory. At no time after the start of the season were the Cavaliers clearly superior to the Warriors.

In 2019 there wasn't as much uncertainty. The Warriors were clear favorites over the Raptors when at full strength. This is not to knock the Raptors, they won fair and square, but that's just how it was.

But none of that is really related to the post. Stephen Curry has won a championship and brought a bad team to the playoffs at the longest odds as well as anyone. By the metric used here he may be the best in history.

Curry is a great player and all, top 20ish, but let's wait for him to get 1 fmvp vote first. Hold your horses.

[Stephonit]

Curry is a great player and all, top 20ish, but let's wait for him to get 1 fmvp vote first. Hold your horses.

Any award where Rachel Nichols has a 10% say in the outcome is trash. The NBA Conference Player of the Week Award is probably closer to reality. You were probably buying the Lillard>Curry junk the media was selling too. Thank you for exposing the level of your acumen.

[Axe]

Any award where Rachel Nichols has a 10% say in the outcome is trash. The NBA Conference Player of the Week Award is probably closer to reality. You were probably buying the Lillard>Curry junk the media was selling too. Thank you for exposing the level of your acumen.
If i have cp3 over curry atm, does that mean i'm delusional?

[Stephonit]

If i have cp3 over curry atm, does that mean i'm delusional?

CP3 actually beat Curry once in the playoffs and pushed his team hard on several occasions, enough to be considered a rival—even the more accomplished in the rivalry at one time. Given that I would not say delusional as a matter of respect for someone who has accomplished what he has against Curry. But you're still wrong.

[Stephonit]

Curry looks like he is on the road to getting his team to the playoffs. Will this be one of the greatest carry jobs of all-time?

[tpols]

Yup... it's only hindsight that the warriors were massive favorites. They were underdogs in 2015 and 2016 yet overachieved massively because Curry is one of the best players ever, and he helped spur the greatest teamwork ever. No team has ever had anything called the "Death Lineup" before. And we see now that dray and klay are just simple all stars at best. They didn't need these monster teams with multiple superstars.

[Stephonit]

Other notable benchmark seasons and the preseason championship odds:

2019 Lakers: +1800 (missed the playoffs)