Steph Curry (30) shoots over Darren Collison (7) in a game at Sacramento. Photo: Jose Luis Villegas/Sacramento Bee/Getty
The Oscars were Sunday night but the show of the weekend was Saturday night. The Golden State Warriors traveled to Oklahoma City to take on the Thunder in a Western Conference clash. As I watched the game I sat in my chair in complete awe of what I was witnessing. Two teams were competing at an extremely high level, running up and down the court showing us the majestic beauty of the game of basketball.
There were many reasons this game became an instant classic. First, we got to see Kevin Durant show everyone why he has won an MVP award and that he isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. He is still one of the best scorers the game has ever seen.
Second, we got to see Russell Westbrook matched up versus Steph Curry and it is always a highly entertaining matchup.
Third, the game went into overtime and everyone loves free basketball.
The final and main reason this game was an instant classic was because of what Steph Curry did. Steph Curry is making us think he was built in a factory as if he is a robot of some sort. He is constantly doing something the league has never seen.
Saturday night the Warriors won their 53rd game and have a legitimate shot to break the 1995-1996 Bulls record of 72 wins in a season.
Curry is the major reason why the Warriors are so great and chasing history. Saturday he scored 46 points in just 38 minutes of court time. He tied the NBA record for made three-pointers in one game with 12. He broke his own record of 286 threes made in a season and he still has 23 games remaining in the season. He is also the first player in NBA history with 10 made three pointers in back to back games. All of this is amazing but then Curry did something even more remarkable in overtime.
The Warriors and Thunder were tied at 118 with 4.8 seconds left in the game. The Warriors had a timeout remaining but elected to inbound the ball without using the timeout. The entire arena knew Curry was going to take the shot but it seems like that didn’t matter. Curry caught the ball, ran up court and just pulled up to shoot as soon as he passed half court.
He drained it with 0.6 seconds remaining.
Twitter then went crazy. NBA players were tweeting about Curry in disbelief. I fell out of my chair stunned at the greatness I had just witnessed. I have never seen a player shoot like this. There is no doubt in my mind Curry is already the greatest shooter of all time and it isn’t even close. When Jordan left the NBA he passed the torch to Kobe. Kobe is in his last year and he has passed the torch to Curry.
Steph Curry is only 27 years old. He already has won one championship and looks to be cruising his way towards his second straight. There are too many variables to predict how successful his career will be by the time he retires but let’s take a second to ponder it.
Let’s say he does go back-to-back this year, then what are the chances he three-peats? I believe the Warriors are extremely capable. What we are witnessing right now is what the past two generations have witnessed with Jordan and Kobe. Curry is changing the game, some say for the worse but I say for the better.
Casual fans tune in to see the greatness of Curry. He is the biggest draw in the NBA, even more than LeBron. He is the topic of all discussions when it comes to basketball.
Women want to be with him and men want to be him. Kids across the country who didn’t see Kobe in his prime are shooting crumbled up pieces of paper into trash cans yelling Curry.
We need to take a step back and admire what we are watching because when it is all said and done he could finish as one of the top three basketball players of all time, and maybe even the greatest. Only time will tell on how great Curry will be but all I know is he is the most exciting player to watch in all of sports and with each three-pointer he makes the legend grows.
