Today, it is impossible to talk about the best point guard in history without mentioning the name of Stephen Curry among the main candidates. Present in the league since 2009, the Warriors leader has become an absolute legend of the orange ball, all while revolutionizing the latter. If basketball today gives pride of place to three-point shooting and point guard shooters, it is largely thanks to him.
His first seasons in the NBA, however, did not suggest such a scenario, the crazy shooter often being disturbed by ankle problems. But for some players active at that time, everything changed one evening in February 2013, during a trip to the Knicks. Then a member of the New York squad before joining LeBron James at the Cavs, Iman Shumpert remembers it like it was yesterday:
The 54 points against the Knicks, the genesis of the legend Steph Curry?
Steph, I’m sure you would have been the best light-skin player of all time anyway, it was meant for you. But I felt like when you came to the Garden, that’s when you decided to violate the league. I saw it coming! His confidence was changing. I felt deep inside that we were giving birth to an animal!
He started doing things that were thought impossible to do in the league. He started doing it, he was too fast when he drew his jumpshots, it was too much. (…) After this match, he became very disrespectful. He started doing crazy things, shooting from 10 meters, turning around after shooting without watching it go in. We asked ourselves: “Have you become Gilbert Arenas or what? »
More than ten years later, this meeting in Gotham can indeed be considered the genesis of the Chief. Incandescent against Carmelo Anthony & co., the man who would later become a double MVP and quadruple champion scored 54 points at Madison Square Garden, all at 18/28 shooting. Golden State lost that day, but no one forgot this crazy performance… which called for many others.
54 days until the NBA season, so here's Steph Curry hanging 54 on the Knicks. 🔥👀 pic.twitter.com/8TSVgE4O31
— Hashtag Basketball (@hashtbasketball)
August 24, 2017
Building on his card against the Knicks on February 27, 2013, Stephen Curry continued to practice his game until it allowed him to reach the heights of the NBA. From there, everything changed for the leader as for basketball as a whole, reinforcing a little the symbolic nature of this performance in New York.
