A sobbing Stephen Curry was in his father Dell’s arms as the last buzzer of the Golden State Warriors’ NBA Finals victory against the Boston Celtics rang on Thursday night. Curry was equally fatigued, overwhelmed, and relieved.
After the 103-90 Game 6 triumph, Curry had a team-high 34 points and was about to win his first Finals MVP award. However, despite all eyes at Boston’s TD Garden being focused on the future Hall of Famer, Curry managed to take a quick break from the chaos.
“I kind of blacked out,” 34-year-old Curry said to reporters.
Amid a sea of green-clad Celtics supporters, the older Curry was effortlessly identifiable as he stood near the baseline, cigar in hand, getting ready for his son’s fourth NBA championship.
To be honest with you, Curry admitted, “I had no idea he was down there, out on the floor.” I knew time was kind of running out when I spotted him and lost it. It was so unique that I just wanted to savor the experience.
After seen Dell play for the Charlotte Hornets and Toronto Raptors as a child, Curry has experienced these kinds of embraces in the past, first as the encouraging son and then as an NBA champion.
However, after two underwhelming seasons, Curry believed something was different in the closing stages of Thursday’s Game 6.
After Klay Thompson missed two seasons due to two career-threatening injuries and Kevin Durant signed a free agent contract to play for Brooklyn in 2019, it was believed that the Warriors dynasty was over. Golden State was eliminated in the play-in round prior to the 2021 postseason after finishing in the NBA’s bottom half in 2020.
If Curry’s three prior championships demonstrated his potential for Hall of Fame status, then his fourth league title and first Finals MVP honor solidified his status as one of the sport’s most tenacious winners. Curry has demonstrated that he is the “greatest point guard of all time,” according to longtime colleague Andre Iguodala, while head coach Steve Kerr called the 2022 Finals Curry’s “crowning achievement.”Speaking for myself, Curry informed reporters that it has been a year and six days since he began preparing for this season with his exercises from the previous off-season, when we were defeated in the play-in round. Everything paid off. had no idea how it would transpire. had no idea what to expect from the surroundings. Though the emotions strike differently from what you had anticipated,
Curry’s basketball journey has been remarkable, even for those who are not familiar with him or his large NBA family.
Four years after LeBron James, the city’s favorite son, Curry was born in the same hospital in Akron, Ohio. The quick-shooting Dell was a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1988 at the time, but he later became well-known with the Hornets and contributed to the spread of the 3-point shot in the NBA.
In the end, Dell concluded his career in Toronto, where Stephen Curry could frequently be seen hoisting up shots at the Air Canada Centre, where he was a fixture alongside his father and younger brother Seth.