Curry gives shot of joy we needed
Late Sunday night, while we here on the West Coast were already well into Harry and Meghan and Oprah, Stephen Curry capped off his excellent evening with an excellent quote.
He was asked, after his seventh AllStar Game appearance, about what drives him and what he has left to accomplish.
“I have a lot to accomplish; I don’t have anything to prove,” Curry said. “There’s a little subtle difference there.
“What drives me is having
fun.”
Well, then, mission was accomplished Sunday night. In an exhibition game that a lot of people, including many of the participants, thought was a questionable idea, Curry gave the world a needed dose of optimism. Of joy.
Coming just days before the oneyear anniversary of the national shutdown because of the coronavirus pandemic — a halt that in many way was led by the NBA’s abrupt cessation of games March 11 — the game was entertaining. Though the circumstances and environment were weird, once the game began, the best basketball players in the world embraced the moment.
“It snapped into like, ‘This is the AllStar Game,’ ” Portland guard Damian Lillard said.
In some ways, the game was the most joyful sports moment in more than a year. Maybe because there wasn’t anything on the line. Maybe because it didn’t represent competition that had been shortened or compromised or forced. Maybe because it came in early March 2021, as vaccines are going into arms and the overall outlook in America is becoming more promising.
Or maybe because it involved Curry, who is the human barometer of optimism. The hooping fun factor.
Curry is right — he has nothing left to prove. But he has so much left to enjoy. And he clearly enjoyed Sunday, even if he had earlier seemed ambivalent about flying to Atlanta for the league’s primetime show.
He missed almost all of the 201920 season with an injury and just as he got back on the court, the pandemic shut down the season. The Warriors then were left out of the NBA bubble in the summer. Since this season began, it is clear Curry is relishing simply being back on the court.
“It’s not something I take for granted at all,” he said.
The Bay Area has been on this journey with Curry for more than a decade, seeing him left off the AllStar team in early days because of the logjam of guards in the West. Seeing him look tentative and maybe a little overwhelmed in his early appearances.
“I haven’t shot the ball well in this game, ever,” Curry said Sunday morning (neglecting to mention 2016 when he scored 26 points, including six 3pointers). “So, I’m going to try to change that. But I always enjoy myself to the fullest, so I’m undefeated on that front.”
The whole weekend was condensed into a few hours and before the game, Curry won the 3point contest with his last shot, lighting up social media in the process. The Lakers’ Anthony Davis tweeted that he was “a cheat code, bruh.” Former Warriors swingman Andre Iguodala — Curry’s biggest fan — pointed out the swishing shots weren’t even touching the net and said “y’all not worthy to witness my guy,” and then advised Curry not to do the contest anymore and “make them give you an appearance fee just to mention your name.” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr simply tweeted, “BOOM!” when his player won.
Curry, naturally, dedicated his 3point trophy to his injured teammate Klay Thompson, who won the trophy in 2016 and who is missing a second consecutive season with injury.
“Anytime you’re shooting in this environment, you can’t help but think about how much fun Klay would have out there,” Curry said. “You know he’s trying to get healthy, and he’ll be here next year . ... (The trophy) is in its rightful place right now.”
Curry had set the tone: the night was going to be fun. It was going to be a celebration. It was going to be optimistic.
He pulled up and drained 3pointers. He threw nolook passes. He laughed and shimmied and pirouetted and highfived. In the one move that he said later was choreographed, he and Chris Paul set up each other on backtoback alleyoop dunks.
“It was a pretty cool moment to show off whatever athleticism and hops that we still have in our old legs,” said Curry, who will turn 33 on Sunday.
In an AllStar Game, everyone on the floor is — by definition — a star. And Giannis Antetokounmpo, with his 16for16 shooting and funfilled game, was the MVP.
But Curry was the star of the AllStars. The undefeated MVP of joy and optimism.
“I truly love to play basketball,” Curry said after the game. “We all know our careers have a finite window. You never know when the basketball gods will tell you to hang them up. So as long as I feel healthy and strong, I’ll keep going.
“The joy naturally comes out.”
It has been a long, hard stretch. But judging by the human joy barometer, better days are coming.