Draymond Green once called Stephen Curry the GOAT without hesitation. With 4,058 career three-pointers, which is the most in NBA history, and averages of 24.7 points and 6.4 assists per game, Curry has bent defenses and record books in equal measure. But this week, Green surprised even his most loyal listeners. He didn’t crown Curry. He didn’t even mention LeBron James or Michael Jordan. Instead, he hopped on Threads and handed the title to someone outside the NBA entirely. 

“I stand corrected… A’ja the 🐐 before 30 and everybody else is now chasing her 🤷🏿‍♂️🤷🏿‍♂️,” Green posted. For anyone who knows him, the statement carried weight. This wasn’t just small talk. It was Draymond, a four-time NBA champion and former Defensive Player of the Year, shifting the GOAT conversation in a way nobody expected. The recipient, A’ja Wilson, the Las Vegas Aces superstar, is still just 29. Draymond’s praise of her is hard to argue with.

Wilson’s trophy case is already stacked with four MVP awards, which is more than anyone in WNBA history, two championships, three Defensive Player of the Year trophies, and a Finals MVP. This season, she averaged 23.4 points and 10.2 rebounds while taking 51 first-place votes to claim her fourth MVP, beating out Napheesa Collier and Alyssa Thomas. Numbers like that certainly strengthen her case. And Green’s admiration of Wilson isn’t new.

On his own podcast, The Draymond Green Show, he has called her the “best thing since sliced bread” in the WNBA. He’s pushed back against the notion that Caitlin Clark alone is driving the league’s popularity, reminding listeners that Wilson is the real backbone. “To me, she is the American dream,” he said. That admiration even went beyond the court.

When Wilson released her book, Dear Black Girls: How to Be True to You, Green committed to buying 100 copies to distribute to young girls. “I know how hard it can be to get books, especially coming from places like we come from,” Green said. “That is my commitment to the book.” So, what does this mean for Stephen Curry, the longtime GOAT in Draymond’s eyes? That question is what makes this moment fascinating. Green has spent years upholding Curry’s place among the all-time greats.

“With all due respect to LeBron James, with all due respect to Michael Jordan, there’s no one in the history of the NBA that has been schemed against and guarded the way Steph Curry is guarded,” Green once said. “The way the game of basketball is played is because of Steph Curry.” And he’s right again. Curry, now 37 and still lighting defenses, has dominated games, yes. But he’s also redesigned them. His gravity has created dunks for teammates in NBA Finals settings because defenders refused to leave him open on the wing.

The Warriors dynasty doesn’t exist without that pull, and neither does the current shape of modern basketball. What makes this more wholesome is that even when Curry shot an advertisement for Chase Bank with Kevin Hart and Wilson, he jokingly captioned it, “Always a time with @kevinhart4real and officially welcome @aja22wilson to the fam… They’re cool and all, but there’s only one C.O.A.T. 🏀 🤫.” The “COAT” in question here translates to Greatest Cashbacker of All Time, but it highlighted what everyone already knows.

How Stephen Curry paved the way for future MVPs

Curry’s legacy isn’t boxed into just his shot. But at the end of the day, his currency is still buckets. Even Shaquille O’Neal recently demanded Curry be mentioned in GOAT debates during a TNT broadcast after Curry led a comeback at Madison Square Garden with 28 points and a pair of dagger threes. To make it even better, even Green has earlier said that, “He 100 percent is in that conversation.” And the numbers behind those buckets? That’s where his case gets bulletproof. 

25,386 regular-season career points, a lifetime three-point percentage hovering near 43%, and four NBA championships. He’s the NBA’s all-time leader in made threes with 4,058 and counting. His MVP seasons in 2015 and 2016, including the league’s first unanimous MVP, changed how teams evaluate efficiency. He’s earned two scoring titles and eleven All-Star appearances. Even at Curry’s age, he’s still averaging 24.5 points per game this season, proving his prime refuses to end.

But Curry’s influence isn’t just on hardwood. He’s become a revolutionary presence in women’s sports as well. His most recent book, Shot Ready, even climbed onto the New York Times bestseller lists, while his foundation continues to support women’s basketball programs at youth levels. He’s often spoken about elevating female athletes, even adding sneakers in the women’s section, a request by a 9-year-old. In some ways, his push for visibility in women’s sports makes Green’s praise of Wilson even more poetic, as Curry has helped pave the way that Wilson now commands.

Wilson’s early resume is so overwhelming that even a teammate of Curry, who has witnessed every legendary shot and clutch moment, felt compelled to tip his hat her way. That hasn’t changed in Dub Nation’s hearts. But this week showed that greatness is no longer confined to the NBA.

A’ja Wilson has built a resume strong enough to force comparisons outside her league. If Draymond Green’s latest declaration is any indication, the conversation is strengthening. And Stephen Curry, the man who reshaped basketball itself, is fine company for the one rewriting history on the other side of the hardwood.