This may have been the greatest moment of all time for the greatest shooter of all time.
Stephen Curry is a four-time NBA champion, two-time MVP and the league’s all-time leading three-point shooter whose shooting has transformed not only the Warriors and the NBA, but basketball around the world.
But there was never a golden moment like this in his Hall of Fame career.
The only spot still open in Curry’s overflowing trophy case was for an Olympic gold medal, and he filled it Saturday, just as the U.S. team needed him most in the final, beating host France 98-87.
“It hasn’t been easy, but I’m super excited,” Curry said. “This is everything I hoped for and more, so I’m excited.”
Curry had 24 points, five assists and eight 3-pointers. It wasn’t just what he did that mattered, it was how he did it and when he did it.
With the U.S. team faltering and seeing their double-digit lead shrink to 82-79 with under three minutes to go, the U.S. rallied behind Curry.
Or more accurately, they landed on his hot hands.
Curry scored 12 points with 2:48 left in the game, all of which came on 3-pointers.
“It was an unbelievable moment. I’ve been fortunate enough to play basketball at a high level for a long time, but as far as the excitement and relief of crossing the finish line, this is at a really high level,” Curry said in an on-court television interview after the win.
“It’s special. I knew this was coming soon when we won our last championship two years ago and I was excited to chase it. Whatever it is, whatever mission I take on, I’m going to give it everything I’ve got. … I’ve been preparing for a long time because we didn’t make the playoffs, but these last five weeks with this team, I was just yelling, ‘1, 2, 3, gold medal.’ That’s all I’ve been saying. So for us to finally get it done and for me to win a gold medal, it’s unbelievable. I thank God for the opportunity to experience it.”
Curry’s heat-check 3-point shot, like a dagger protruding from the logo, changed the game and inspired a generation of players to emulate him, but the prototype was on display in Paris on Saturday, and he was on fire.
In the USA’s first four games, he scored just 29 points on 5-of-20 3-pointers, but in his final two games, he scored 60 points on 17-of-26 3-pointers.
Curry overturned a 17-point deficit against three-time MVP Nikola Jokic in the semifinals with a game-high 36 points, and on Saturday he delivered an encore against Victor Wembanyama, one of the sport’s futures.
2024 Paris Olympics
With Wenbanyama putting the home team within 82-79, Curry answered with a 3-pointer just 10 seconds later, then another with 1:53 left, then another and finally a high-arcing shot past a Wenbanyama double-team with 35 seconds left.
It was an exclamation point in victory, and after the game was over, Curry stepped onto the podium, drawing a throng of American fans chanting “USA! USA!” just as he had led Team USA to the gold medal.
“It was one of the best games of his career,” U.S. coach Steve Kerr said in a television interview — a fact that Kerr, who won four NBA titles with Curry at Golden State, knows all too well.
“The shot-making was just amazing,” he said, “but in the context of playing France in Paris for the gold medal, it’s a fairy-tale scenario. But that’s the way Steph is. He likes to have fairy-tale stories.”
Curry not only starred in this story, he also wrote its amazing ending.
