When future generations tell the story of basketball, it will be amiss if Curry’s name is not one of the ones at the beginning.
Larry Bird once described Michael Jordan as Jesus in basketball sneakers. Who can ever really dispute Michael Jordan’s greatness? He transcended basketball. He was, and is still, a cultural icon. What he did for the game of basketball has been unmatched.
“Nobody like him” (photo courtesy Bleacher Report)
Then came Stephen Curry. Take one look at the game of basketball now, and Stephen Curry’s impact is indisputable. The number of players who stop at the half-court line and try to make a three is immeasurable. The number of players bypassing layups to take threes … is because of Stephen Curry. Everyone wants to shoot a basketball like Curry.
Whether you agree with the many who think the barrage of threes is ruining the game, the effect remains. Young kids across America lace up their sneakers and spend hours of their week on black tops, trying to be the next Stephen Curry. And it’s not like being the all-time leader in threes, in the NBA, is Curry’s only accomplishment.
He has won NBA championships.
He has been the league MVP. Twice.
He has won an Olympic gold medal. Fade in the lights from Paris, and Curry’s symbolic “night night” celebration still bound off the Olympic courts.
For all he’s accomplished, putting him as the best three-point shooter of all time would undermine his successes. His impact on the game has been one to rival Michael Jordan’s.
It took a seven-game series for the Golden State Warriors to bypass the pesky upstart team, the Houston Rockets. And it doesn’t matter how many people say it; many people did not predict that the Los Angeles Lakers wouldn’t make it to the second round of the playoffs. The Minnesota Timberwolves made it. Their young star, Anthony Edwards, is beginning to hear rumblings of being the face of the league.
Before the series started, choosing either team could have been feasible. Then … Stephen Curry injured his hamstring. Even with that happening, the Golden State Warriors still won Game 1, but now find themselves in a 2-1 hole. Curry is out at least a week with the injury. By the time he is reevaluated, where will the Warriors even be? Curry’s injury took the anticipation out of the series in many ways. Even with Jimmy Butler on the team, the wind seemed to fall out of the sails.
The hours feel like they are ticking on what is left of the Golden State Warriors, as they were once constructed.
Klay Thompson is in Dallas.
Jordan Poole is in Washington.
Andre Igoudala’s jersey is retired in the rafters.
Andrew Wiggins is in Miami.
Kevin Durant is in Phoenix, but many believe heading back to Golden State is not part of his plans.
The Warriors are nearing the end of what once was.
The Western Conference is full of young and upstart teams. The Oklahoma City Thunder. The Houston Rockets. Minnesota. If the Lakers revamp, Luka will still be in his prime. If Memphis can find stability, it will still have solid young players. The Warriors are falling behind. How many more times will they make it to the playoffs? How many more times will basketball fans get to see the allure of Steph Curry? It feels like time is rapidly decreasing. Curry’s injury, not his making, has put that into perspective. The NBA world was robbed of what could have been one of the last times seeing Curry and all his greatness.
On December 14, 2021, in front of a packed crowd at Madison Square Garden, Stephen Curry passed Reggie Miller as the all-time leader in making three-pointers. For a few moments, the game stopped, and the crowd serenaded Curry with much-deserved admiration and respect. Number 30 had etched himself into the league’s history books. Even the Madison Square Garden crowd, so loyally attached to the Knicks, felt the moment’s gravity. It’s not every day that records are broken, and it’s not every day that players like Stephen Curry grace basketball courts.
Everybody in the NBA can play, but very few reach the peak that Curry has. His impact on the game even transcended the historic Madison Square Garden and all its past greatness. In many ways, before then, Steph Curry had arrived. After that, he had a spot of permanence.
When all great players near the end of their careers, fans wonder when the time will come. Where will they be? Will it be an injury? Will it be as if they shower them with confetti after winning a championship? Will it be at the end of a crushing defeat? So many things could happen, or it could be as simple as a message on Twitter or a thirty-minute press conference. Nobody knows when or how it will happen.
The immediate reaction is probably shocking. Then comes the debates and all the chatter about this or that. When it is time for Stephen Curry to hang up his number 30 jersey for the last time, hopefully for one moment before the chatter begins, people will take the time to realize Curry’s impact on basketball. It deserves to be acknowledged.
When future generations tell the story of basketball, it will be amiss if Curry’s name is not one of the ones at the beginning.
Fantastic piece Kristina!