“He Was Stephen Curry Before Stephen Curry”: Shaquille O’Neal Recalls Nuggets Legend Who Changed the NBA

When it comes to being the king from deep, there is only one name. Stephen Curry made history after he beat Ray Allen’s tally of threes. Steph quickly became the face of the league with his unreal shooting prowess. However, according to Shaquille O’Neal, A Denver Nuggets legend was Curry before the Baby-Faced Assassin.

One of the reasons Curry is a fan favorite is his insane shot-making. Steph has pure skill and is an elite scorer. However, he is most known for his three-point shooting. But there was a Nuggets legend who walked the court much similar to Stephen Curry does.

High school scorer Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf constantly draws comparisons to Curry, and it seems even the NBA greats think the same.

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In his podcast, Shaquille O’Neal spoke about Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf and compared him to Stephen Curry.

Shaquille O’Neal says there was another Stephen Curry

For the longest time, Shaq has said Curry is his favorite player in the NBA. However, the mention of Rauf had all the podcast guests in awe as they spoke about the Nuggets legend. Surprisingly, O’Neal made a shocking comment and said Rauf was Curry before the Chef.

The Big Diesel said: “He was Stephen Curry before Stephen Curry.”

Rauf is regarded as the best talent to come out of Mississippi State. He attended LSU and further continued his impressive name. He averaged a whopping 30.2 points as a freshman. After declaring for the draft, Rauf had his struggles for a few years. But in 1993, he has his breakout season putting up nearly 20 points per game.

He quickly turned into an important piece for the Denver Nuggets as the Turkish started showing his flair. He even took part in the NBA dunk contest during the All-Star weekend.

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Stephen Curry also said he saw the resemblance between him and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf. Curry admitted he learned a lot from his game as well. Do you think the Turkish player lived up to his true potential? Let us know your views in the comments below.