When Dub Nation needed him most, he was there. Just as he always has been there. With a shake, a shot and a shimmy, he was right there when the moment called for him most. Facing the prospect not just of losing to their new local rivals, not just the end of a season, not just the end of a title defense, but facing the potential end of the greatest dynastic run in NBA history this side of Y2K, Wardell Stephen Curry II, son of Wardell Stephen Curry Sr., was there. Because he has always been there.
The latest installment to the ever-growing list of legendary performances: 50 points on 20-of-38 shooting, including 7-of-18 from 3-point range, as the Golden State Warriors vanquished the upstart Sacramento Kings 120-100. In the process, Curry turned in one of the truly great singular performances an athlete has ever delivered on a playoff stage. Not just in his own illustrious career, not even in Warriors history. What Curry did in the state capital on Sunday will go down as one of the greatest performances in a playoff game ever in Bay Area history. Factor in the threat of elimination, and the gravity of what he accomplished only grows.
Before this season started, I dubbed the 2023-23 Warriors season in which they would be defending an NBA Championship for the fourth time in eight years the “Season of No Panicking.” The rationale was baked in the idea that no matter how bumpy this regular season got (I also wrote this before The Punch for what it is worth) when the biggest games began, and the playoff lights came on, the Warriors would do what they would also do: win.
I did not give Curry enough love in that blog post. I probably should have. Instead I made it more about the team's ability to rise to the moment, find some Strength in Numbers so to speak, and dominate any sad, silly team that thought it could do what no Western Conference team has yet to be able to do: beat the Dubs in a seven game postseason series. But this team is Steph. The greatness, the inability to lose in the western playoffs, and the belief that panicking is not necessary is all due to the presence of Curry. Without Steph, none of this is possible. That is not new information, but every now and then, it is fun to be reminded in person.
There were some in Dub Nation who woke up nervous on Sunday morning. Nervous that the Warriors season was about to end. Nervous that the run was going to end. Nervous that the dynasty could actually end surrounded by the sound of way too much cowbell. It would be an indignant and dismal way to see such a celebrated run come to a crashing end.
Some may have been nervous. I was not. And this is not to flex about being a calmer fan than anyone, or to shame anyone who found themselves in a sweat several hours before tipoff, cleaning their house because they were unable to sleep. We all fan in our own way. I simply chose to fall back on what has been the Warriors true formula for the last 10 years, “In Steph We Trust.”
The Warriors have Steph. The Kings do not.
“bUt wE hAvE dE’aArOn fOx,” some faceless Kings fan might say, which, yeah, but the Warriors have Steph, so the argument you present, while not wrong, is not exactly valid either. Knowing Steph was going to be there for the Warriors was all Dub Nation needed to believe.
And Steph rewarded that belief early. A quick back and forth with Looney to nail his first three of the day to give the Warriors an early 10-9 lead, helping clot the bleeding of what was a 7-2 Kings start, then finishing the first quarter with seven points in the final four minutes to help keep the Warriors down by one.
He came through with 10 more points in the second quarter, mixing his usual brand of running floaters that defy physics and those deep threes we go so nuts for.
He added another 14 in the third quarter, including a circus shot of a floater as he tripped over Harrison Barnes and Terence Davis, drawing the foul and giving the Warriors a 66-62 lead. He made the ensuing free throw (not a guarantee yesterday) while no one knew it at the time, that was Night Night for the Kings. Curry was in his bag. He would not be denied. He “had that dog in him” as we like to say these days.
How do we ever doubt this man?
This is the fanbase of We Believe. What once made us Believe was a feeling of destiny. A level of “Why not us?” attitude that carried us through a rousing first round upset over the Dallas Mavericks in 2007. Since then though, good feelings and destiny have helped, but the real reason We Believe is because for the past 10 years, Stephen Curry has been the reason why the Warriors win. He was the reason why the Warriors beat the Nuggets back in the first round in 2013. He was the reason they hoisted the Larry O’Brien Trophy for the first time in 2015. He was the reason why they won 73 games, and the reason that Kevin Durant was drawn to the Bay Area. And he was the reason the Warriors won another title last year.
Say what you will about the performance of Kevon Looney. Heap all the praise of Klay Thompson and Draymond Green you can. Give Steve Kerr his flowers, too. But we all know the reason the Warriors are still playing basketball and the Kings are not is because Stephen Curry is Him. He has always been Him, and he will always be Him.
The Kings learned the hard way what many great teams in the past have learned: when going against Steph, you have no hope. There is no escape. There is just the man and the no win scenario that you now find yourself in. De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis and Malik Monk experienced the same reality that so many greats have: Stephen Curry exists at another level.
We all know this already in Dub Nation. And after Sunday's performance, there has never been a better time to reassure yourself that all is right in the Land of the Warriors because Stephen Curry is still here. He has always been here. And for the rest of these playoffs, he will still be here. Death, taxes and Stephen Curry ripping the heart and life out of opposing teams in front of a national audience that is still somehow surprised when it happens. Those are the only guarantees in life.
The rest of the league can mess around all its wants, but inevitably, it will find out. The Kings found out. Lebron James knows all about what the Lakers are about to find out. And Kevin Durant or Nikola Jokic will soon see their teams find out. And in June, one of the four teams still standing in the Eastern Conference will get to add their names to the list of those who found out. Maybe the Celtics will learn the same lesson again they learned last June. That would certainly be fun. Maybe Steph will give the City of Philadelphia its third championship comeuppance of the school year. Maybe Steph will crush the spirits of South Beach instead. Heck, maybe he takes his demolition skills to the Big Apple in The Finals (that might be getting ahead of ourselves).
It does not matter who learns the lesson. What matters is the one giving it will still be the one giving it. So long as Stephen Curry is still suiting up for the Warriors, there is no reason to worry. There is no reason to fret. Just sit back, and let Him do his work. It has been the winning strategy for 10 years. Why doubt it now?
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