Not that Steph Curry's legacy needed the help, really. He's done just about everything there is to do on a basketball court, from a magical college career and four NBA titles to two NBA MVPs and four first-team All-NBA nods, and he's long cemented his status as the greatest shooter ever.

But that's sort of the catch, isn't it; the superlative was always qualified, greatest shooter ever. Curry has always been denied entry into that most rarefied of debates, the inner-most of the inner circles, the greatest players — period — of all-time. That room always seemed reserved for players a little bigger, a little stronger, a little more assertive defensively, offensive games a little more 20th century.

Even ahead of his first Olympics, Steph managed to fly a little under the radar, most of the attention on guys like LeBron James and Kevin Durant. So there's perhaps some poetic justice in Steph barging through that door by checking off the one box he hadn't checked: Olympic gold medalist. Because after a second straight late-game masterpiece, following his eruption against Serbia with a late 3-point barrage to bury France in front of a hostile crowd, there can be no qualifications: Curry is one of the four or five best to ever do it, bar none, and even that might be selling him short.

Curry has authored more than a few audacious, back-breaking 3s in his career, and maybe this is just recency bias talking. But you'd be hard-pressed to find a better one than his final bucket in the gold medal game: moving to his right, draped by two defenders, over the outstretched arm of 7-foot-4 Victor Wembanyama to seal the game.

That is Steph's unique genius, distilled. The airtight handle; the fear he strikes into opposing defenses, the way he makes them willing to sacrifice all of their principles to scramble in his direction; the way it simply doesn't matter anyway, because he can make any shot from any angle and distance. Curry's career is far from over, but there can be no better exclamation point. So, in the long afterglow of a fifth straight gold medal, let's be willing to give the man his flowers: no qualifications, no implied upper limits. Basketball has never really seen an offensive force like him, and he's still out here doing it at age 36, against defenders who grew up watching him play, with everything on the line. 

James will rightfully be considered the GOAT, or second only to MJ, when all is said and done. And he deserves to be praised at the tail end of his spectacular Olympic career, going out with another near triple-double and a third gold medal. Durant is Team USA's all-time leading scorer, and has a claim of his own to the inner sanctum. But Curry has been implicitly held in a different and slightly lower category, and he announced in the loudest and grandest possible manner on Saturday that it's time for that to change. Maybe a fifth title will come before retirement, maybe it won't. Even if he retired tomorrow, though, he'd be among the four or five most transcendent talents to ever step on the court, and he deserves to stand shoulder to shoulder with LeBron on the podium.