Remembering Stephen Curry’s 30 greatest moments on his 30th birthday
12. Steph returns with a sparkle
Of every moment on this list, this is both the most recent and the most underrated. As the former inevitably changes, it is unclear whether the latter will follow suit. There is a subtlety to what Curry did on Dec. 30, 2017.
While 2016-17 was in many ways a year of redemption for Curry, it did not see him return to the jaw-dropping heights he reached during his MVP campaign. It was more of the same to open the 2017-18 season. Sure, he was playing the most cerebral basketball of his life on both ends and getting to the line more than ever, but he rarely combusted. He made five 3s just five times through 23 games, a far cry from the 5.0 per game he averaged in 2015-16.
After spraining his ankle late against Charlotte on Dec. 4, Curry missed nearly four weeks of action. The Warriors went 9-2 in his absence, but the offense sputtered. In his return, Curry exploded for 38 points and 10 3s in just 26 minutes, and the Warriors dropped 141 points on Memphis.
It was the start of perhaps the best month of basketball of Curry’s career, in which he averaged 31.5 points, 6.5 assists and 5.3 rebounds on .546/.507/.866 shooting, canning 5.9 triples per game (not a typo) and making 6.8 trips to the line. The Dieter Kurtenbach “peak” Curry had met the Draymond Green “peak” Curry, and he re-established himself as the greatest offensive force in the world.
11. CP3 gets crossed
Curry established himself as an elite point guard in 2012-13, and became a bonafide superstar the following year. Still, Chris Paul was seen as the best at his position, and he and the Clippers solidified their role as big brother to Curry and the Warriors after bouncing them from the 2014 NBA Playoffs.
The following season, Curry and Golden State stole the throne. Usually, such a transfer of power cannot be displayed in a single moment, but this season provided two. There was the ominous State Farm commercial where Curry passed Paul on an escalator, and then there was this:
10. “That could be the greatest move I’ve ever seen in my entire life.”
Three weeks before Curry literally left Paul on the Staples Center floor, he figuratively put down four Clippers simultaneously at Oracle.
Dribbling around an Andrew Bogut screen, Curry split an attempted trap from Paul and Matt Barnes. Normally this creates a gaping driving lane, but not for Curry — two more Clippers awaited him in DeAndre Jordan and Spencer Hawes. This allowed Paul to recover, and Curry was surrounded from all sides.
Normally, the book is to pass out of a triple-team. Instead, Curry went between the legs, behind the back, evaded the pressure, ran backwards to the 3-point line, spun in mid-air to face the basket as he hoisted a 25-foot fadeaway, and put it straight in the bottom of the net.
The shot would get most players a lengthy stint on the bench. Even knowing his superstar, Steve Kerr threw his hands up in confusion when Curry launched the shot. Then Curry did what he does best, finding a new way to impress even those who are most familiar with his talent. Kerr moved his already-raised hands to the back of his head.
“That could be the greatest move I’ve ever seen in my entire life,” said ESPN’s Jeff Van Gundy. Mike Breen and Mark Jackson laughed, to which Van Gundy replied “No. I’m being serious.”
9. Perfect end to a perfect season
Curry could have had the worst game in NBA history to close out the 2015-16 season, and it still would have gone down as arguably the greatest offensive season of all-time, likely still earning him a unanimous MVP.
With several seemingly impossible records in his sights, however, a bad game was out of the question.
Curry needed three 3s to average 5.0 for the season, and eight 3s to reach 400 total. He made 10, obliterating his own record by 116 triples. He had to make at least nine of the 24 shots he took to shoot 50 percent on the season. He made 15, joining the 50-40-90 club.
He needed to score 41 points to average 30 for the season. He scored 46. And he needed to win the game to reach the all-time record of 73. He did, of course.