Cam Johnson and Trey Murphy believe Steph Curry is the most unique player ever
To hear two of the league’s premier young shooters talk about Stephen Curry is to understand how deeply his influence runs through today’s NBA. Brooklyn’s Cam Johnson and New Orleans’ Trey Murphy III both recently framed Curry not just as an all-time great, but as something even rarer: the most unique player the game has seen.
It is not a casual compliment. Johnson and Murphy are part of a generation that grew up as Curry turned the three-point line from a strategic tool into a central weapon. For wings whose careers are built on spacing, movement, and shooting versatility, Curry is less a template than a singular phenomenon who reshaped what is even possible for perimeter players.
Calling him “most unique” reflects how difficult it is to find a true historical comparison. Curry combines off-the-dribble range that stretches several feet beyond the arc, relentless off-ball motion, and elite ball-handling within a frame that looks far more relatable than the typical superstar’s. He broke the old rules about what a good shot is, yet did it with such efficiency that the league had to recalibrate its math.
From a league-wide perspective, the impact is everywhere. Offensive systems are increasingly built around deep spacing, five-out alignments, and guards who can pull up from well behind the line. Young players train step-backs and off-movement threes as foundational skills, not specialty moves. Yet as Johnson and Murphy implicitly acknowledge, copying Curry’s style and replicating his effect are very different things.
Their admiration also highlights a subtle truth: Curry’s uniqueness is not only about shooting range. It is the blend of skill, conditioning, processing speed, and unselfishness that makes him the focal point of an offense even when he never touches the ball on a possession. For shooters like Johnson and Murphy, that constant gravity is the ultimate ideal.
In a league filled with unicorns and positionless stars, there is still a strong argument that Curry stands alone. The fact that rising specialists see him as incomparable only reinforces how thoroughly he has rewritten the modern perimeter game.
It is not a casual compliment. Johnson and Murphy are part of a generation that grew up as Curry turned the three-point line from a strategic tool into a central weapon. For wings whose careers are built on spacing, movement, and shooting versatility, Curry is less a template than a singular phenomenon who reshaped what is even possible for perimeter players.
Calling him “most unique” reflects how difficult it is to find a true historical comparison. Curry combines off-the-dribble range that stretches several feet beyond the arc, relentless off-ball motion, and elite ball-handling within a frame that looks far more relatable than the typical superstar’s. He broke the old rules about what a good shot is, yet did it with such efficiency that the league had to recalibrate its math.
From a league-wide perspective, the impact is everywhere. Offensive systems are increasingly built around deep spacing, five-out alignments, and guards who can pull up from well behind the line. Young players train step-backs and off-movement threes as foundational skills, not specialty moves. Yet as Johnson and Murphy implicitly acknowledge, copying Curry’s style and replicating his effect are very different things.
Their admiration also highlights a subtle truth: Curry’s uniqueness is not only about shooting range. It is the blend of skill, conditioning, processing speed, and unselfishness that makes him the focal point of an offense even when he never touches the ball on a possession. For shooters like Johnson and Murphy, that constant gravity is the ultimate ideal.
In a league filled with unicorns and positionless stars, there is still a strong argument that Curry stands alone. The fact that rising specialists see him as incomparable only reinforces how thoroughly he has rewritten the modern perimeter game.
