Stephen Curry is in the midst of creating the dagger moment that has defined his career. It’s Game 5 between the Sacramento Kings and the Golden State Warriors, the series tied. The Warriors are trying to expand a 119-114 lead to take control of a game they desperately need to win. Curry takes a short pass from Warriors forward Draymond Green and starts dribbling as if he’s playing keep-away on the playground. Kings big man Domantas Sabonis chases him feebly, as Curry dribbles with his left hand down the paint. Former teammate and Kings swingman Harrison Barnes joins the action. Curry dribbles into the paint and shakes Barnes, who jumps at a left-handed layup attempt that never materializes. As the game clock hits 24, Curry spins back right and turns to the basket, charging through a suddenly open lane to the rim to put up a running floater. Barnes, who has untangled himself from the dribbling exhibition, lunges for the ball, but misses and fouls Curry in the process. The ball bounces around the rim, then … drops. Curry has just closed down another game, dashing a young team’s dreams in the process.
The Confidence Factor
After all the absurd plays and range-expanding shots that have defined his 14-year-NBA journey, Curry has come to a conclusion: The type of confidence required to even attempt these kinds of shots must come from within. It is a mindset, he says, that he’s had throughout his career. “You got to have it,” Curry told ESPN. “The security in myself to know I am who I am and how I play is how I play. Whatever comes out of that you kind of live with. It’s not passive; you have to work. I think that’s the biggest thing. It’s a different way of looking at the game, looking at yourself. Almost like an irrational confidence that comes with it just because you are that type of dude.” Irrational confidence is a requirement when living among the pantheon of greats. Curry’s ability to rain down jumpers has created a new reality across the basketball world. Legions of players who have grown up idolizing him will have something to shoot for in the years to come.
The Gift of Trust and Belief
Curry always understood he needed the right people around him to bring out his full potential. “A combination of work ethic, a combination of opportunity,” Curry told ESPN. “A vote of approval that you get from your coach and team to say whatever shot you take, the way that you play is going to help us win games. Sometimes when that’s expressed out loud, like Mark Jackson talking about me and Klay [Thompson, as the greatest shooting backcourt of all time], Coach McKillop at Davidson leaving me out there when I had nine turnovers my first two games.” It’s a belief both his teammates and his peers across the league admire — and fear. Thompson, Curry’s teammate of 12 campaigns, offered his take. “I see the work he puts in every day on his jump shot, on his playmaking, on his body, so nothing he really does surprises me,” Thompson said. “All the shots he takes and makes, I’ve seen in practice. And he’s responsible for why the game is played the way it is.” With Curry on the floor, everything actually feels possible.
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