Ex-NBA Champion Reveals Surprising Reason He Prefers Guarding Kyrie Irving Over Steph Curry

Trying to lock down Steph Curry? Well, good luck—it’s like chasing a shadow that keeps multiplying and darting just out of reach. Jeff Teague, a seasoned NBA vet and champion, knows this struggle all too well. After twelve years of tip-offs and tough matchups, he’s had enough encounters with Curry to claim that defending him is downright brutal—tougher even than trying to guard Kyrie Irving, who’s no slouch himself. The thing is, while Kyrie’s moves are fierce and predictable in their own right, Steph’s relentless motion and cunning off-ball instincts create a maze of screens and directions that leave defenders spinning. It’s a relentless game of cat and mouse, and from Teague’s perspective, the chaos that Curry brings to the court is something else entirely. Honestly, hearing this made me rethink what “tough defense” really means in today’s NBA. Ready to dive deeper? LEARN MORE.

That definitely says something about Curry’s game, given Irving’s handles, lethal step-back and finish make him such a 1-of-1 player.

But Teague stood on his claim.

“They’re both tough covers, but I’d rather guard Kyrie [Irving],” Teague said on his “Club 520 Podcast.” “At least you know where Kyrie’s going to be. You going to catch him right at that pass, wherever he’s going to be at in ISO. You look one way, Steph takes off the other. And then you got to catch up. He just causes too much havoc once he moves.”

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In the end, there really is no right answer. Your options are to get beat on an island by Irving or beat running around chasing Curry like a headless chicken.

It looks like Teague prefers the latter.

“It’s harder to guard those players because you have to go around so many screens,” he said. “You always constantly getting screened and hit. ISO players, it’s just you and him.”

There have been numerous horror stories from former and current NBA players about how taxing it is to defend Steph Curry on the court.

Teague isn’t the first player to express this about Curry.

While defenders hope the ball stays out of the sharpshooter’s hand, Curry is equally or even more dangerous without the ball as he never stops moving.

“Steph is constantly moving, hitting through screens,” Teague continued. “You’re scared of him hitting a 3, so you don’t want to go out there, but you’ve got to be locked in for sure.”

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NBA champion Jeff Teague, who played in the league for 12 seasons, had his fair share of run-ins with the Warriors superstar and explained why Curry is tougher to guard than one of the game’s purest and most skilled scorers ever.