Kenny Smith: Mark Jackson didn't just save Steph Curry's career he saved the NBA

The shot that was never supposed to matter this much

The 3-pointer was originally just a gimmick a rule added to spice up scoring in an era dominated by grind-it-out defense. Nobody expected it to become the backbone of championship basketball. Then Stephen Curry happened, and the entire sport rewired itself around him.

The numbers tell the story better than words can. In the 1980s, the Boston Celtics led the NBA in 3-point attempts per game with an average of just 4.3. Fast forward to their 2024 championship run, and that same franchise was launching 42.5 threes a night nearly ten times as many. That's not evolution, that's a full-blown revolution, and according to two-time NBA champion and 'Inside the NBA' host Kenny Smith, none of it happens without one man: former Golden State Warriors head coach Mark Jackson.

Kenny Smith's bold claim: Jackson saved Curry and the league with him

Smith didn't hold back when explaining just how close Curry came to never becoming the player who redefined the game. "Steph Curry, before he got there, did not play in the fourth quarters of games," Smith said. "They used to play Monta Ellis, and they would say Steph could not play in the fourth quarters because defensively, he could not handle that. I used to watch the Golden State Warriors, and they used to say that, and he was going to be traded until Mark Jackson got there."

It's a striking claim, and there's no quarter-by-quarter data available to fully confirm Curry was benched in every fourth quarter as a rookie. But the broader point that his roster spot was genuinely in question checks out.

How close Curry actually came to being traded away

Curry arrived in Golden State as the No. 7 pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, joining a Warriors team that had gone 29-53 the year before. Stephen Jackson led that squad in scoring at 20.7 points per game, while Monta Ellis the 2006-07 Most Improved Player was the incumbent starting shooting guard, averaging 19.7 points in 2008-09.

As a rookie, Curry started alongside Ellis but was clearly the second option, even while logging heavy minutes (36.2 per game). The tension between the two backcourt pieces eventually boiled into real trade talks: Golden State reportedly discussed shipping Curry to the Milwaukee Bucks in a deal for center Andrew Bogut.

Instead, the Warriors moved Ellis in the Bogut trade and kept Curry. That decision made just before Jackson took over as head coach — cleared the runway for everything that followed. Jackson later said trading Ellis made it far easier to build a system and a culture designed entirely around Curry's strengths, laying the groundwork for the dynasty that came next.

Two playoff runs, one firing and a franchise turning point

With Curry as the centerpiece, Jackson's Warriors went 47-35 in the 2012-13 season, reaching the playoffs for the first time since the beloved "We Believe" squad. The following year, Golden State surged to 51-13. But after a first-round playoff exit, Jackson was fired — despite delivering back-to-back postseason appearances.

Steve Kerr took over from there, and the rest is NBA history: multiple championships, an offensive revolution, and Curry cementing himself as a two-time MVP and the greatest shooter the game has ever seen.

"He saved the league" and got nothing in return

For Smith, Jackson's impact goes far beyond one franchise. "He saved not only the franchise, but he saved the league," Smith said. "You think of Steph Curry, he saved basketball by making this dude what he is and allowing him to be who he was. He saved basketball and changed the culture of the way we play today based on the way Steph plays."

Yet since leaving Golden State, Jackson has never landed another NBA head coaching job more than a decade later. Various theories have floated around as to why, but none of it changes the fact that the man credited with unlocking Curry's greatness has been on the outside looking in ever since.

Would Curry have figured it out anyway?

It's fair to credit Jackson for giving Curry the opportunity and the system he needed at a critical crossroads. But it's just as fair to wonder whether a talent like Curry relentless, singular, generational would have eventually broken through with or without that specific coach. Either way, Jackson gave him the break, and Curry delivered on a scale nobody, not even Jackson, could have fully predicted.