They say history is written by the winner. It might be time to start calling Steph Curry ‘The Author.’
The words to adequately describe what Curry accomplished on Sunday afternoon don’t exist. In a Game 7 on the road against a deeper, more youthful Sacramento Kings team that was bursting with confidence all series and clearly believed they had the ability oust the defending champion Golden State Warriors, Curry carried the Warriors on his undersized back to a 120-100 victory.
Onward and upward the Warriors go, to play LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the Los Angeles Lakers in Round 2. But before turning your attention to the Western Conference Semifinals, make sure to bask in the glow of Curry’s brilliance.
He single-handedly catapulted Golden State forward in Game 7 against Sacramento, scoring 50 points — the most points by a single player in a Game 7 in NBA history — including 16 in the fourth quarter (he was 7-11 in the final frame, or 63.6%). In contrast, the Kings, in total, scored 19 points in the fourth. Only one other Warrior, Andrew Wiggins, scored more for the entire game (17 points) than Curry did in the final period alone.
Curry’s final stat line belongs in a museum, actively patrolled by security 24/7 and protected by bulletproof glass: 50 points on 20-38 from the field (52.6%), including 7-18 from three (38.9%), 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, and, incredibly, only 1 turnover.
It doesn’t get more clutch than that. And it’s worth noting that his masterpiece came against De’Aaron Fox, winner of the NBA’s Kia Clutch Player of the Year Award for the 2022-23 season, who spoke glowingly about his opponent throughout the series, including these choice quotes in the aftermath of Curry cooking his Kings on Sunday:
“He’s one of the greatest players ever.”
“He did everything for them tonight.”
“When he gets it going, there’s pretty much nothing you can do.”
Never content to simply be great, Curry took the opportunity to drive a stake through Kings’ fans hearts by miming Sacramento’s ‘Light The Beam’ celebration late in the fourth, with the game already decided. His on-court antics are part of his legend: he’ll put you to sleep with his ‘night night’ routine; he’ll count up how many points the shot he just hit was worth (hint: it’s usually 3); he’ll point at his ring finger to remind you of his hardware — he seems to come up with new, novel celebrations to meet each moment.
Over and over, Curry has shown why he is one of the All-Time Greats. It’s an impossible task to actually rank the Best Players Of All Time, because there are so many of them, and there are so many variables depending on what era they played in, among other factors.
But he’s in the group, no question. Anyone who disagrees is wrong. Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson; Curry fits into that group seamlessly. In fact, he continues to inch himself toward the top of the list. He’s the most exhilarating player in the modern era, if not ever. Who else can bring the ball up the court, then shoot and score so quickly that the camera actually fails to capture the shot?
Between his four championship rings, two NBA MVP awards, nine All-Star appearances, four First Team All-NBA Selections and one NBA Finals MVP, Curry’s accomplishments are piling up higher than the mountain of three-pointers he’s made in his career (3390, which is 417 more than the player in second place, Ray Allen, and 636 more than James Harden, who is third all-time). Now, he’s poured in the most points ever in a Game 7.
What will he do next?
