Klay Thompson said he’ll always remember Sunday’s win as The Steph Curry Game.
Game 7 in Sacramento, where the Kings fans were having their ‘We Believe’ moment after 17 years of playoff drought. The Warriors didn’t want to come back up Interstate 80 a third time, but they were responsible for the bus rides after you-know-whatting the bed at Chase Center in Game 6.
As Draymond Green revealed on the Game 7 postgame podcast of “The Draymond Green Show” Sunday night, he couldn’t sleep that night. At 3 o’clock in the morning, he sent Steph and Klay a text. Curry texted him back at 6 a.m. and said he couldn’t sleep either. Steph also said he wanted to deliver a message at Saturday's team film session.
From the sounds of it, Curry’s speech could have saved the dynasty.
“He delivered such a powerful message,” Draymond said. “It was incredible.”
Draymond then proceeded to paraphrase what Curry told the team. You can just imagine that steely look in Steph’s eyes when delivering his message.
“It was, look, ‘We just got embarrassed last night (in Game 6). We got embarrassed on our home floor with an opportunity to close out a team. And we never showed up.
“If you getting on this bus, you making a commitment to this team. I don’t care how many minutes you play. I don’t care if you play a single second. I don’t care if it’s points, rebounds, whatever it is. But you getting on this bus, you are saying – I am going to do whatever it takes as far as my preparation goes to win this game.
“We not going out like that. Like Game 6? We not going out like that. We have an opportunity to play in Game 7. They’re rare, they don’t come around. Take advantage of the moment and embrace the moment.’”
Then Steph went out and became the first player in NBA history to score 50 points in a Game 7.
You can hear the weight of the words Curry used, per Draymond’s recounting of the speech.
We not going out like that.
That’s not just the threat of losing a seven-game series. That’s the weight of the crown talking. Steph, Draymond and Klay don’t want to abdicate the throne anytime soon.
“When he delivered that speech, I can’t say I knew he was gonna come out and get 50,” Draymond said. “But I knew he was gonna come out and do something incredible. And I knew there was no way he was gonna allow us to lose that game.”
The Kings battled at an intensity so high that Kevon Looney called it the hardest first-round series of his career. An early exit in the playoffs could have set off a chain reaction of events, with general manager Bob Myers’ contract expiring this summer and his future uncertain. Draymond could have decided to opt out of his 2023-24 contract and start a bidding war for his services.
Those departures are still possible this offseason, but it might be a lot harder for those guys to walk away after such an intense moment conjured by Steph.
Steph’s skill is mesmerizing, his conditioning is otherworldly and his killer instinct has been praised by Kobe Bryant. But his ability to lead the entire franchise is something few players in the NBA have ever possessed. When Steph speaks, everyone listens.
The Warriors aren’t going out like that.
