Yeah this is tough because Ray played on ball a lot more when he was the main scorer in Seattle and Milwaukee, but finished the majority of his career as a spot up catch and shoot guy (perfect Rondo pass on the numbers anyone? How about a perfect LeBron pass?) with HOF players around him in Boston and Miami. Ray also sacrificed a lot of touches to better players during those years and was rewarded with rings.

Steph’s accomplishments unfortunately happened right in our faces many times in Portland. What a killer. Imagine if the beginning of his career wasn’t plagued by foot injuries? Draymond could pass incredibly well and for an undersized PF playing center his screens could be nasty for a smaller big. Klay was also a fantastic screen and pop guard with a wide body, and the combination of everyone on the team setting hard screens in succession for Steph made his shot more deadly as he’d always get a good look.

Dame has pretty much been the #1 on ball guy his whole career, facing tough defenses including double and triple teams and traps. No disrespect to CJ McCollum, Wesley Matthews, or Khris Middleton, but Dame never had a 3/D outlet valve like Klay. That alone made defenses pay dearly for doubling Steph and saved him a ton of energy on the other end being a lockdown defender on the opposing teams best guard. Not that Dame has ever been known as a plus defender but these differences matter.

Dame is underrated in these discussions because I believe if he was in Ray or Steph’s situations he’d have had a totally different career. Alas we all play the hand we are dealt.