Because he sat out much of last season mainly due to injury, a number of people seem to have forgotten how great of a player that resides in the Bay Area. Behind a career-high scoring performance and a history making performance, this two-time MVP reminded the sports world how great of a player he has been in his NBA career.
On Jan. 3, two-time Kia MVP and three-time
NBA champion Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors scored a career-high 62
points on 18 for 31 from the field, including 8 for 16 from three-point range
and 18 for 19 free throws in 36 minutes in his team’s 137-122 win versus the
Portland Trail Blazers. Curry’s previous career-high was 54 points on Feb. 27,
2013 at the New York Knicks.
Despite a 127-108 loss by the Warriors
(8-8) at the Utah Jazz (12-4) on Saturday night, Curry, who had 24 points on 9
for 19 shooting, including 5 for 10 from three-point range, moved passed Hall
of Famer Reggie Miller into second place on the NBA’s all-time three-pointers
made list, now trailing only Hall of Famer and two-time NBA champion with the
Boston Celtics in 2008 and the Miami Heat in 2013 at 2,973 made three-pointers.
The six-time All-Star’s career-high
scoring night against the Trail Blazers had him join his teammate and five-time
All-Star Klay Thompson; the Brooklyn Nets’ James Harden, and the late five-time
NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers Kobe Bryant as the only players in NBA
history to score 60 points or more in fewer than 37 minutes in the last 20 NBA
seasons.
Thompson, who is out this season because
of torn right Achilles sustained back in the middle of November 2020 posted on
Twitter with a fire emoji, “Sheeesh @StephenCurry30!! Welcome to the club big bro
#62.”
Thompson, a two-time Al-NBA Third Team
selection scored 60 points on Dec. 5, 2016 against the Indiana Pacers.
Curry also became the second oldest player
at 32 years, 295 days old to score 60 points in a single game in NBA history,
as he registered 30 points in the opening half, scoring 21 points in the first
quarter. It was his 10th career 30-point half, scoring 32 points in
the second half.
Only Bryant at 37 years, 234 days old registered
60 points at an older age in the last game of his NBA career back in Apr. 2016
versus ironically enough the Jazz. Third on that list is the late great Hall of
Famer Wilt Chamberlin, who scored 60-plus at 32 years, 172 days old in February
1969.
This game also represented the 27th
time the eight-time All-NBA selection scored 20 or more in a quarter in his
soon to be Hall of Fame career.
“I love it. I love everything about what
this game offers, the competitiveness and the fire,” Curry said after the win. “I
never run from it. Just excited to be in that atmosphere where I get to play at
the highest level and do what I do.”
These moments have been a long time coming
for Curry, who missed 60 of the Warriors 65 games a season ago, 58 of them
because of broken left hand sustained in the team’s 121-110 loss versus the
Phoenix Suns on Oct. 30, 2020.
There have been times this season where the
32-year-old looked like the player that won back-to-back MVPs, with his second
straight by unanimous decision in 2015-16. There have been other times that he
has looked human, mainly because the supporting cast around him is different,
and as mentioned his fellow “Splash Brother” in Thompson is not on the court
with him to divert the attention of the opposing team’s defense.
So seeing him smack the floor and scream
in delight, close his eyes and show off an open-mouthed grin at his brother-in-law
and teammate Damion Lee as he poured water over his head after his stellar
performance against the Trail Blazers earlier this month makes doing what it
took to get back on the court after being limited to playing just five games in
the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic shortened season of 2019-20 and a 2020-21
season with no fans in the second season of the Warriors home the Chase Center
in San Francisco, CA.
“When you have something to be excited about,
you kind of feed off your own energy,” Curry said, adding the “great ones”
learn how to block out the critics and embrace the expectations.
While playing professional sports may come
with critics, it also comes with fans and former great players who will give
you your respect when you show that you have earned it.
Miller showed that respect and
appreciation when Curry passed him into second place on the NBA’s all-time
three-pointers made list at the Jazz on Saturday night.
“We speak for a lot of people around the
world. No. 1, congratulations. This is an unbelievable achievement,” Miller,
current television color analyst for NBATV/NBA on TNT said virtually to Curry
after the game with his seven-year-old son Ryker sitting in his lap. “The work
is not done. Obviously, I know you’re chasing Ray [Allen]. But you are an inspiration
to so many little ones, like mine. And I’m just so proud of all the work
because I know what goes into that.”
“The Millers are very proud of you,
especially this little guy [Ryker]. He is your No. 1 fan. Thank you so much for
what you have done my friend.”
Curry, who reached that mark in 674 fewer games than Miller, said in response it meant a lot to receive that congratulations from the Hall of Famer, and while he knows that he still has a lot more three-pointers left to shoot in his NBA career, to live out that “competitive juice,” to put in that consistent work to become a great shooter at the highest level of competitive basketball, and to follow in the footsteps of legendary shooter like Miller meant a great deal to Curry.
“I appreciate the support,” Curry said to
Miller. “If I’m chasing any record, to have two guys [Miller and Allen] that
have reached back and encourage me the way you all have, it means a lot. So, I’ll
pass that torch on as well. But I appreciate you man. Thanks for all the support.
It means a lot.”
Miller did stoke that competitive flame
also saying to Curry to not leave any room because his son if he does play professionally
could catch him on the all-time three-pointers made list.
Curry responded by saying, “All records
are meant to be broken.”
This proud moment between a Hall of Famer
and a future Hall of Famer showing appreciation for one another is an example
of greatness appreciating greatness. Also, a lot of our world having to be done
virtually, Miller got the chance to congratulate Curry after he surpassed him
on the all-time three-pointers made list with one of his biggest fans in his
son Ryker also getting to show a player that he enjoys watching that same
respect and appreciation.
Curry also got props from a former
Cavalier in now NBATV analyst Channing Frye, who said on Saturday night’s
edition of NBATV’s “Gametime” that those Warriors teams they lost to in three
of their four Finals tilts were “one of the toughest” he had ever seen play.
Frye even went on to say jokingly that he
had “no business” being on the court when the Cavs played against the Warriors
squads, who moved at a speed on both ends that was next level.
Frye said that he had an inkling of Curry
becoming something of this nature from a conversation with former Suns General
Manager and now Warriors head coach Steve Kerr talking about Curry while he was
a collegian at the University of Davidson. That he was the next big thing
coming, which he ended proving right.
“To where he is now has been awesome,”
Frye said of Curry’s NBA career.
It can be easy to forget how good an
athlete, especially a professional one is when they have not played at a
certain level that we are accustomed to seeing them when they are in our
consciousness for a lengthy period of time.
Stephen Curry was out of our consciousness for nearly all of last season because of broken left hand and without him or Klay Thompson, the Warriors fell off the NBA map going 15-50 a season ago.
With his career-high night of 62 points
and climbing to second place on the NBA’s all-time three-pointers made list,
Curry got back into the consciousness of the sports landscape. It is unclear
whether he can lead the Golden State Warriors back to a championship. But it will
not be because he and his teammates did not put the work or dedication into
that effort.
Stephen Curry is a Hall of Famer. He will
go down as one of the best players and shooters to ever play in the NBA. More
than anything, he will go down as one of the most competitive, dedicated, and
honorable players to ever play in the National Basketball Association.
“You heard him say he still has a lot more
in the tank. He wants to continue to climb up the charts. I think it’s amazing
what he’s been able to accomplish,” NBATV’s Stephanie Ready said.
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