At the end of all the parties, speeches, appearances, practices, commercial breaks, more commercial breaks, and just a teeny bit of basketball squeezed in there, the All-Star Game at Chase Center made Stephen Curry very, very, extremely happy on Sunday evening.
Which meant that it was a complete success for him, the Warriors, Warriors fans, the NBA, and maybe the entire world.
Because everything about this sport — especially in the Bay Area — seems better and bouncier when Curry is grinning ear to ear after making a half-court shot, helping lead Team Shaq to victory in this odd new All-Star format (that Curry helped conceive), and serving as the unofficial master of ceremonies over these three lively days.
“It was awesome from start to finish,” Curry said after basically racing up to the podium and proudly setting the trophy next to him. “The highlight is obviously the game. That’s what everybody is looking forward to. … But everything kind of went exactly as it should. It was a 10-out-of-10 experience, for sure, hosting the game here.”
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That is not to say, of course, that Curry couldn’t use a solid few days of sleep this week — he’s almost 37. He needs his nap time! And good thing for him the Warriors don’t play until Friday in Sacramento. Curry even told the crowd in the middle of the three-game tournament format that he just took a snooze, presumably in the locker room.
But Curry had more than a bit riding on this game. And though the product was a mixed result and played to a mostly quiet crowd, Curry’s goals for this weekend were all achieved. He wanted a more competitive feel to the activity after the recent steep decline into All-Star carelessness. He wanted to make sure the main players had a lighter minute-load than has at times occurred in the past. He wanted to showcase the game’s best players. He wanted the Bay Area to shine.
And, yes, Curry wanted his loaded squad to win the tournament, and he wanted to make a bunch of 3-pointers while the winning was happening.
“It was cool,” Kevin Durant said of watching Curry’s MVP performance and the entire All-Star experience. “The whole weekend the Bay Area came out and showed major love.”
Let’s not get into the statistics or even the scores. I wasn’t counting and neither were you. (OK, here are a few: Curry was 4-for-8 from 3-point distance in the championship game. He also had a combined 10 rebounds in the two games.) This was about Curry, Jayson Tatum, Kyrie Irving, Durant, and the rest of Shaq’s team putting on a show after several days of entertainment and celebration. This was about seeing stars on the other teams do special stuff, too — Victor Wembanyama did some amazing things for his international-focused squad.
So yes, the All-Star Game can be better than it was Sunday. The NBA can do more things to make sure the crowd and TV audience aren’t bored out of their minds during the intermissions. If they keep this four-team format, it absolutely needs some major tweaks. But the players seemed to care just a little more than in recent years. You have to grade this one on a curve to deem it a clear win for the league, but context matters. Curry, who also won All-Star MVP in 2022, matters.
“Kyrie yesterday at practice … right before we took the floor, he’s like, ‘Yo, we playing this year?’ “Curry said. “I was like, yeah, and he’s like, all right. You saw him, he was guarding Donovan Mitchell physical; he was short spurts playing, keeping the intensity going and all that.
“So it all mattered. Everybody was professional tonight. Everybody showed up, did their job and did right by the game.”
There was also some pretty nice Curry history. He became only the fourth player in NBA history to have won two All-Star MVPs in addition to two regular-season MVPs, and one Finals MVP — the other three are LeBron James, Michael Jordan, and Magic Johnson.
Well, that is a list.
And I’m not sure that any of the other three ever swished a half-court shot just in the flow of play the way Curry did in the championship game on Sunday.
“The half-court shot, I was going to take one at some point,” Curry said. “(Nikola) Jokic was picking me up at halfcourt, which was hilarious.”
This was just a continuation of the good weekend vibes for Curry, who was giddy during Saturday’s open All-Star practice at the old Oracle Arena, which, of course, was the Warriors’ home at the start and height of their four-championship run.
I admit I was moved, too, when I saw Curry start up the practice the same way he used to end his famous pregame warmups at Oracle — with a hearty heave from the tunnel about 40 feet from the basket. He came up just short, but the roar from the crowd full of Warriors fans made it feel like a perfect shot.
“I got real emotional yesterday going back,” Curry said. “I’ve been back a couple times before but not with a crowd and not with a basketball floor on the ground and being able to reminisce.”
Curry went into this weekend slightly worried that this event would take on the feel of a funeral for the Warriors Dynasty — sympathetic applause and pat on the back for services rendered. But the Warriors are 3-1 since trading for Jimmy Butler at the deadline, and their mood is considerably raised these days.
Also, as is his habit, Draymond Green stirred up some attention by making a clear prediction to his national audience on Sunday.
“I got Draymond on the telecast guaranteeing we’re winning a championship,” Curry said with a smile. “I love the expectations and having something to play for. He’s lighting a fire for sure.”
Curry was loving a lot of things and was relieved about a lot of things on Sunday night. He and the NBA got through this weekend, possibly on an upswing. And Curry proved that he is still a star among stars, which makes everybody associated with the Warriors truly, madly happy.