Hoops Habit
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Each NBA team’s most clutch player of all-time

By Josh Cornelissen

Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images
Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images /
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Golden State Warriors, Stephen Curry
Golden State Warriors, Stephen Curry (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /

Most clutch player in Golden State Warriors history: Stephen Curry

The only unanimous MVP in the history of the NBA has proven himself in every phase of the game, from hot starts to cold closes. Few players have gone on shooting streaks like Stephen Curry, who in a series of seconds can hit multiple 3-pointers and demoralize the opposing team.

One of his signature moves is sprinting to the corner after offensive rebounds, ready to receive a pass and bomb a second-chance triple. One of his early marquee moments came in the 2015 postseason when the Warriors missed a shot down three in the closing seconds, only to grab the offensive rebound and fling it to Curry in the corner. The sharpshooter nailed the 3-pointer as Anthony Davis jumped towards him, propelling the game to overtime and an eventual Golden State Warriors victory.

As memorable of a shot as that was, it is not the most clutch play of his career. The two-time MVP and three-time champion did what only he can do, closing out a game from an impossible distance.

Key Moment: In February of 2016 the Golden State Warriors played a marquee Saturday night game in Oklahoma City. After a torrid start to the season under interim head coach Luke Walton, things had been rocky the past few weeks after Steve Kerr’s return. Although the Warriors would go on to win an NBA-record 73 games, in this one, tensions were high. At halftime, Draymond Green and Kerr would get into a shouting match loud enough to be heard by reporters outside the locker room.

With that backdrop, the Warriors fought to send the game to overtime. With the game tied and only a handful of seconds remaining, Curry dribbles across half court. The defender backpedals to the 3-point arc, ready to contest a shot from a reasonable position. Curry was and is nothing resembling reasonable, and he coolly pulled up from 40 feet.

Bang! Bang! Mike Breen’s iconic call was perfect for the shot, which won the game and gave Curry his NBA-record 12th 3-pointer of the game. The Warriors would see the Thunder again in the playoffs when Curry would propel his team to a victory in Game 7.