THE STEPH CURRY CORONATION

NBA / Basketball

Written by Eddie Huband

As the clock ticked down to zero on Thursday in Boston, what began as a toss-up NBA finals between two evenly matched foes turned into cementation of the legacy of one of the truly great players the league has ever seen.

Source (Background Photo): Getty Images

Yes, I’ll admit, I never really gave Golden State the credit they deserved throughout this playoff run, in fact, I’ve been on record multiple times saying that this roster doesn’t feel like a championship team. In the end, though, it feels like the right result that they were the last team standing, and I clearly overlooked the key component; Steph Curry is absolutely capable of carrying a team on his back to a title.

There’s been a lot of talk about the trio of Curry, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson each getting their 4th ring, but let's be honest, Klay was a semi-shell of himself, and Draymond looked completely washed the first four games of this series. This was without a doubt the Steph Curry show.

Let’s go through the numbers, shall we?

Curry was 31 points, 6 assists, and 5 boards a night while shooting 43% from three for the finals. Sick…

He turned in one of the truly great performances in finals history in game 4, when the Warriors were down in the 4th quarter in front of a rabidly hostile crowd and staring a 3-1 series deficit in the face.

Steph responded with a brilliant display of shooting, carving up Boston for 43 points and 10 rebounds. He was 7-14 from three (50%), and his barrage ended up being the turning point in the series as Boston never won another game.

For a player under 6’5’ to have that kind of impact on the game is truly something the game has never seen.

Now, there’s been a lot of talk about legacy over the past few days, and when you’re looking at Curry’s career in totality, it’s for good reason. The four-time champion, two-time MVP, finals MVP, eight-time All-star, a slew of first, second, and third-team selections, and about a million 3-point shooting records.

Plus, other than Tim Duncan, there hasn’t been a more selfless superstar in this generation. He willingly gave up shots and attention to bring in Kevin Durant for the good of the team, and they got two straight titles out of it (and probably should have gotten a third, ear muffs Raptors fans).

He’s the epitome of a winning basketball player on and off the court.

Another thing that you need to know about Steph is the fact that he solely changed the way the game is played in a way from a philosophical standpoint in a way that no one has ever done save may Magic Johnson.

Remember the days back in 2013 and 2014 when the talking heads all said “you can’t win a championship shooting jump shots”? No one saying that anymore.

All these things were well known by now, but this latest title just solidifies it all.

As I said up in the beginning, I never believed in this Warriors team. I picked Boston to win the series in 5 because I thought they had the better, deeper team and the best defence in the NBA.

I still believe all those things to be true, but what they didn’t have was a top 10 player of all time. Golden State did.

And for those who are wondering, here’s my top 10:

1. Jordan

2. Lebron

3. Kareem

4. Magic

5. Russell

6. Bird

7. Wilt

8. Kobe

9. Shaq

10. Steph Curry

Will we remember this 2022 Warriors team with a broken Draymond and Andrew Wiggins as the second-best player as an all-time great? Probably not. But we will remember the true greatness of Steph Curry.