Steph Curry’s Gravity Is Still Warping Defenses at 37 - And Now There’s a Stat to Prove It
The NBA has officially put a number on something fans, coaches, and defenders have known for years: Steph Curry bends the geometry of the basketball court like nobody else. The league recently unveiled a new proprietary stat called “gravity,” which measures how much defensive attention a player draws compared to what floor spacing alone would predict.
No surprise here - Curry sits atop the leaderboard.
This new metric essentially captures what we’ve been watching for over a decade: defenders glued to Curry even when he’s 30 feet from the basket, teammates reaping the benefits of wide-open looks, and entire defenses shifting their shape just to account for his presence. It’s not just about shot-making. It’s about the threat of it - the way Curry’s mere location on the court forces defenses to make uncomfortable choices.
The Subtle Power of Presence
Take a closer look at a Christmas Day possession against the Mavericks. The Warriors ran a simple empty-side pick-and-roll with De’Anthony Melton and Trayce Jackson-Davis.
On the surface, it’s a straightforward action. But watch the weak side.
Brandon Williams is so locked in on Curry in the corner that he can’t rotate over to help. That leaves Cooper Flagg as the only potential helper.
He steps up, which leaves Al Horford wide open on the trail for a three - one of four he hit in his 14-point night.
That’s Curry’s gravity in action. He didn’t touch the ball.
He didn’t even move. But his presence dictated the defense’s choices.
That’s the kind of impact that doesn’t always show up in the box score - until now.
According to the league’s new gravity metric, Curry leads all players with a gravity score of 20.0 - nearly three full points ahead of Kevin Durant, who sits in second at 17.2. And when you break it down further, Curry’s off-ball perimeter gravity is where he truly separates himself.
He leads the league in that category with a staggering 28.6, nearly 10 points ahead of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. That gap is massive. And it’s a direct reflection of how Curry creates four-on-four situations just by standing in the corner or running off a screen.
Off-Ball Chaos, On-Ball Precision
Of course, there are also the classic Curry sequences that fans have come to expect - the ones where he’s darting off screens, drawing two defenders, and creating chaos. But interestingly, Curry doesn’t lead the league in on-ball perimeter gravity. That title goes to Luka Dončić, followed by Anthony Edwards, Durant, James Harden, and then Curry.
Why? It comes down to usage and system.
While Dončić and Harden play in heliocentric offenses where everything runs through them, Curry’s role is more balanced. He’s still the Warriors’ primary creator, but the offense isn’t built solely around him dominating the ball.
In fact, he only spends 28.9% of Golden State’s offensive possessions with the ball in his hands - that’s just the 42nd percentile league-wide.
And yet, even in those shorter touches, Curry’s impact is profound.
Take the Warriors’ “Head Tap” set. Curry comes off a zipper screen from Jackson-Davis, draws two defenders instantly, and immediately hits the roll man for an easy dunk. It’s quick, decisive, and devastating - a perfect example of how Curry doesn’t need to dominate the ball to dominate the game.
Or look at a possession where Curry sets up an away screen with Gary Payton II. He steps inside the arc to pull his defender in, then curls off Payton’s screen and draws two defenders again.
But instead of forcing a pass to the roller, Curry anticipates the help rotation and skips the ball to Moses Moody in the corner. Three points.
Easy money.
Gravity That Creates Opportunity - For Everyone
When Curry does start with the ball in traditional pick-and-rolls, the defense almost always sends two. That opens up four-on-three situations that the Warriors have mastered over the years. Payton, in particular, has become a key piece in those sequences - not just as a screener, but as a short-roll passer.
In one possession, Curry runs a split action and sets a rip screen for Jimmy Butler. The Mavericks switch, and Klay Thompson ends up top-locked on Curry.
That forces Flagg to step up, which opens the lane for Payton to slip inside, catch the pass, and find Butler for the easy bucket. It’s a chain reaction that starts with Curry and ends with a layup - and it’s all thanks to gravity.
These aren’t just flashy highlights. They’re the building blocks of Golden State’s offense.
Curry’s ability to draw defenders - whether he has the ball or not - creates opportunities for everyone else on the floor. It’s why players like Payton and Horford can thrive in these moments.
It’s why the Warriors’ offense still hums when Curry is in motion, even if he’s not the one finishing the play.
Still the Center of Attention at 37
At 37 years old, Curry remains the most feared offensive weapon in the league - not just for what he does with the ball, but for how he changes the game without it. Defenses still treat him like the most dangerous player on the floor, and now, for the first time, there’s a stat that proves just how much defensive gravity he generates.
But honestly, we didn’t need the numbers to tell us that.
We’ve seen it for years - the double teams 35 feet from the rim, the defenders chasing him through a maze of screens, the wide-open teammates cashing in on the space he creates. Now, with a little help from the league’s new metric, we can quantify what our eyes have always told us: Steph Curry still bends the game to his will.
And he’s not slowing down anytime soon.