The best NBA father-son combo? It's the Currys
At this particular moment, it can be argued that Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry is the best active basketball player on the planet.
Personally, I’ll still go with LeBron James, but after Curry was just named NBA Most Valuable Player for the second consecutive season and is driving the Warriors toward a second straight title, I can’t argue with anyone who rolls with Curry.
What no longer is up for debate is that Steph Curry has secured his family’s legacy as having the greatest father-son combination in NBA history.
Stephen’s father – Dell Curry – played in 1,083 NBA games over 16 seasons with the Utah Jazz, Cleveland Cavaliers, Charlotte Hornets, Milwaukee Bucks and Toronto Raptors.
In his career, Dell Curry had 12,670 points, 2,617 rebounds and 1,909 assists. An original member of the expansion Charlotte Hornets, he is that franchise’s all-time leader in games played, points and three-point field goals. He was NBA Sixth Man of the Year for the 1993-94 season.
Just completing his seventh season, Stephen Curry already has 11,089 points, 3,393 assists and 2,149 rebounds. He also has 1,593 three-pointers, which puts him 19th on the all-time list. His career three-point percentage of .444 is the highest among the top 50 three-point makers.
With Steph getting 2,375 points this season, the Currys join Jimmy Walker (11,655 points) and Jalen Rose (13,220 points) as the only father-son combinations to each score 10,000 NBA points.
I say the Currys are the best father-son duo because of the balance of the contribution from both parent and offspring to the family’s total numbers.
Still if you consider only the totality of the numbers from the bloodline, it is hard to top Philadelphia’s own Joe and Kobe Bryant.
Obviously, Kobe, who just finished his career as one of the Top 10 players in NBA history, did the bulk of the work contributing 33,643 points, 7,047 rebounds, 6,306 assists, 18 All-Star appearances, 11 All-NBA First Team selections, 9 NBA All-Defensive First Team choices, 5 NBA Championships and an NBA Most Valuable Player award to the family tree.
Jelly Bean, however, did play eight NBA seasons, contributing 5,252 points to the Bryants' total of 38,895 points.
If Stephen Curry, 27, continues on his current trajectory for another eight more healthy seasons, his family will likely surpass the Bryants' point total.
Another great father-son combination with a Philadelphia connection is Hall of Fame center/power forward Dolph Schayes, who was an original member of the 76ers when the Syracuse Nationals relocated, and his son Danny, who played 18 NBA seasons.
Dolph, who had 18,438 NBA career points, 11,256 rebounds and 3,072 assists, was a 12-time All-Star and member of both the NBA 25th and 50th Anniversary Teams.
Danny had 8,780 points and 5,671 rebounds.
Ironically, the NBA father-son combo that might pose the biggest challenge to the Currys could be Steph’s teammate Klay Thompson and his father Mychal.
Mychal Thompson was picked No.1 overall by the Portland Trailblazers in 1978 and went on to play 13 NBA seasons. He won titles with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1987 and ’88 and finished with 12,810 points, 6,951 points and 1,073 blocked shots.
In his first five NBA seasons, Klay Thompson, 26, has already won a title, made two All-Star teams, scored 7,112 points with 1,269 rebounds and 855 assists.
With Klay’s title, the Thompsons join the Guokases (Matt Sr. with the 1948 Philadelphia Warriors and Matt Jr. with the 1967 Sixers), the Barrys (Rick and Brent) and the Waltons (Bill and Luke) as the only fathers and sons to both win NBA champions.
A generation from now this might be revisited if the son of a current or recently-retired superstar is putting together a stellar NBA career, but for now the title of best father-son combination belongs to Dell and Stephen Curry.
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