Welcome to the Basketball Hangover. We’re here to talk about the daily happenings in the NBA!
Damion Lee cools off a spicy hot Stephen Curry, who went for a volcanic 62 points.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images.)
So the demise of one Stephen Curry has been greatly exaggerated. As it goes for most sports talk, really.
Most professional athletes aren’t idiots; they can hear all the talk, even though most would deny that they listen to the noise. We’re all human; people like juicy talk. So, of course, Stephen Curry being mentioned as… overrated, to put it mildly, would get to him. I mean, I can get that Steph could ignore his social media accounts for a few days or whatever but someone (whether it’s a teammate, media member, or a team staff member) is going to catch wind of it and tell him.
What gets me, though, is the amazing recency bias people have. Suddenly, Curry isn’t a great player anymore. Somehow, Curry is being treated like he hasn’t done anything. And Steph not winning a Finals MVP is somehow an INDICTMENT on his legacy. Um, what?
Curry literally changed the game. He made it okay to shoot from distance whenever players pleased. Curry shooting from deep became one of the most exciting things in basketball. He was a box office hit. He was destroying three-point shooting records. Yet social media decided that he wasn’t good anymore. Or good ever.
Remember that in 2015, they weren’t even anywhere near as favorites to win it all. But Curry led the team to an incredible 67-15 record. They won the championship that season. No, they weren’t a cavalcade of all-stars yet. But Curry was nearly unstoppable with a then-record 286 made threes. Klay Thompson was behind him with 239 threes. And it was Draymond Green‘s first year as a starter. Somehow, this gets glossed over. People just want to talk about Curry not winning Finals MVP. They’re always looking for something to complain about.
2016 was a record-setting year for both Curry and the Warriors. Curry made an eye-popping 402 three-pointers that year. The Dubs won 73. A monumental collapse, however, led to Cleveland winning the championship. But since the Warriors had quickly become the model franchise, strange circumstances led Kevin Durant to signing with the Warriors. The Warriors would go on to win in 2017 and 2018. It became a complicated legacy for both Durant and Curry somehow even though we saw very similar team-ups in Miami with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh.
Somehow, Curry leading a Durant-less Warriors team in a sweep against the Portland TrailBlazers have also gone under the rug. Especially since people love to compare Damian Lillard to Curry. Obviously, it’s easy to say that Lillard is better than Curry now because Curry had been inactive while Dame had been torching the last couple of seasons.
Which leads us to Sunday. The Warriors drew the Blazers again on Sunday.
Like I said, these guys aren’t unaware of what’s being talked about. I’m sure Curry heard that he didn’t deserve being the only unanimous MVP award-winner. I’m sure Curry heard that “anyone could win a team with four all-stars.” I’m sure he heard that he can’t carry a terrible team to the postseason (which is, by the way, extremely disrespectful to the rest of the roster; not that I wasn’t guilty of saying stuff like this before and after the fact). You know, even though Curry led the somewhat out-of-nowhere 2015 Warriors to the championship.
So Curry showed everyone what he had been doing his entire career. He decided to shoot early and often. He got inside the paint. He had deft floaters. And of course, he was shooting some ridiculous off-balance threes. Curry had 21 after the first quarter. He ended with 31 at the half.
And he never stopped, try as the Blazers might. It was really an all too-familiar sight and somehow, the critics who probably never made a lay-up in their lives, seemed to have forgotten what Dell’s son did for the better part of the last decade. He broke his career-high of 54 points at the free throw line. Then for good measure, he made two late threes to put his total to 62, joining his Splash Brother Klay in the 60-point club. 62 easily blows away the highest scoring game by a player this season; James Harden, C.J. McCollum, and Ja Morant all scored 44 points each earlier.
Stephen Curry is still a really really really good basketball player, guys.
I just think it’s so ridiculous when people slander like this. Again, recency bias comes into play. Yes, Lillard is fantastic. Yes, LeBron James is still amazing after all these years.
But the great ones always answer when the noise gets too loud. Then Curry reminds us that what he did in the 2010s was not a mirage of some sort. Curry is one of the greatest players to ever play in the league. Winning a scoring title in 2016 was not a fluke. Winning three championships is a testament to what he had done. Two league MVPs were well-deserved. So what if he didn’t win a Finals MVP? The numbers are there; anyone can look at them if you have the internet. But apparently, career playoff numbers of 26-5-6 are not enough to silence the haters. His career scoring playoff average is only Top 10 of all-time.
If that 62-point game doesn’t shut people up, well, those same people probably deserve 62 punches in the face. Stephen Curry’s basketball resume speaks for itself. And he’ll gladly show you again what he’s capable of in case your braindead self starts tweeting stupid things yet again.
Bullet Passes
This is the first game this season that Russell Westbrook did NOT get a triple-double. He ended with 24-5-10. However, the Wizards did upset his former teammate, Kevin Durant, and the Nets.
Nets had two chances to win the game. But Kyrie Irving‘s three rattled out and Durant’s midranger was a bit long.
Luka Doncic sat out against the Bulls and Chicago took advantage. Zach LaVine scored 39 points as the Bulls go to 3-4. I’m a little bit surprised, for sure.
Paul George also went for 39 as the Clippers outlasted the Suns.
Marc Gasol returned to Memphis for the first time since he got dealt two seasons ago. It’s nice that he got a tribute video from the Grizz but it’s probably best to hold that off until the fans come back?
Denver really needed that win against Minnesota.
Sticking with the Nuggets, Nikola Jokic is averaging a RIDICULOUS 22.3 points, 11.2 rebounds, and 12.8 assists. He went for 19-12-12 against the Wolves and it’s his 4th trip-dub in 6 games. In the other two games, he missed a couple of triple-doubles by a rebound each. Good grief.
NBA Scoreboard
Jan. 3, 2021
Watch This Play
Jayson Tatum is back with another game-winner. Poor poor Blake Griffin got dusted.
Jayson Tatum DELIVERS! 😱 pic.twitter.com/Pa4zuCwN8Q
— NBA TV (@NBATV) January 3, 2021
Tatum’s second game-winning shot already this season. But I’m probably more sad about how Blake looked in that play.
Everyone, please take care of yourselves during this pandemic. And that goes for everyone involved with the NBA as well.
You can find Rey-Rey on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
You can also check out Rey-Rey’s podcast, Rey-Rey Is Fundamental, for more basketball content and, really, whatever else.