SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – A day before the Golden State Warriors' title-clinching 103-90 win over the Boston Celtics at TD Garden on Thursday night, Stephen Curry proclaimed himself the "petty king" because he remembers everything said about him and the team over the last three years.
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Once the championship celebrations began after Game 6 of the NBA Finals, the team's pettiness was dialed to full blast.
First, after soaking in the moment on the court, the team continued the party in their champagne-filled locker room, which quickly led to players bellowing chants of "F--k Draymond" in reference to the vulgar phrase that the Boston crowd yelled at Draymond Green throughout the Finals.
In his press conference, Klay Thompson also seemed to revel in fighting back against perceived slights. His gripe was directed at Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. who, after a regular season win over the Warriors on March 28, tweeted "Strength in Numbers," which has been one of the Warriors' slogans during their championship years.
Thompson remembered that apparent shot.
"Strength in numbers is alive and well," Thompson said. "There was this one player on the Grizzlies who tweeted 'Strength in Numbers' after they beat us in the regular season, and it pissed me off so much. I can't wait to retweet that thing. Freakin' bum. I had to watch that. I'm like, 'This freakin' clown.' "
Thompson, as of this writing, has not yet retweeted Jackson.
Finally, Curry, the "petty king" himself, had multiple responses to the barrage of criticism he has faced over the years.
"What are they going to say now? What are they going to say now?" he shouted during the locker room celebration.
"I hear all the narratives," Curry told NBC Sports Bay Area's Kerith Burke postgame. "You hear everything about what we (as a team) are and what we aren't, and what I am as a player and what I'm not. I have a hard time figuring out what they're going to say now, so this is pretty special."
He specifically remembered what a panel of media members said - and also did - during an episode of ESPN's "First Take" towards the end of last season. The guests were asked how many championships Curry would win over the next four years and two of the panelists – Kendrick Perkins and Domonique Foxworth – held up a zero.
Curry mimicked that gesture during his postgame press conference.
"Clearly remember some experts and talking heads putting up the big zero on how many championships we would have going forward because of everything that we went through," he explained. "So we hear all that, you carry it all, you try to maintain your purpose. Not let it distract you, but you carry that weight. And here it all comes out so this is special."
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