Who is better: Stephen Curry or Kevin Durant? It’s a tough question with no convincing answer. Durant might be a significantly better defender, but he doesn’t open up the offense with his gravity like Curry does. The debate is truly endless.
But one distinction is clear: Stephen Curry is much more important to the Warriors’ identity and success than Kevin Durant. Over the past few years, the team’s net rating is much higher when Curry is on the floor. In fact, when Curry is off the floor, the Warriors aren’t much better than an average team.