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Warriors' Steve Kerr Says Stephen Curry Is 'Our Magic Johnson, Our Tim Duncan'
June 22, 2022
Stephen Curry has now led the Golden State Warriors to four championships in the past eight years, making him an immortal figure in the history of the franchise.
"Steph is our Magic Johnson, our Tim Duncan," head coach Steve Kerr said on the Damon & Ratto radio show Tuesday. "He's the face of the franchise. Everything has been built around him. For that reason, I will always think of this title as Steph's crowning glory."
Curry was fantastic during the team's run to a championship this season, averaging 27.4 points, 5.9 assists, 5.2 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game in the postseason, shooting 39.7 percent from three.
And he finally earned his first NBA Finals MVP award after averaging 31.2 points and 5.0 assists per game in the Finals, toppling the Boston Celtics in six games.
It was the team's first title since Kevin Durant's departure for the Brooklyn Nets and followed two straight seasons in which a retooling Warriors team missed the playoffs and dealt with a wide swath of injuries.
That made it particularly sweet for those members of the team who have been around for the duration of the dynasty like Curry, Kerr, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.
"Just combining our championship pedigree and our experience with some fresh energy, some guys that are really hungry to take that next step. But, we built this for 10, 11 years. And, that means a whole lot when you get to this stage because you know how to win, and everybody who's been a part of that knows what it's about," Curry told ESPN's Lisa Salters after clinching the title in Game 6 (h/t Sports Illustrated's Madison Williams). "This one hits different. This one hits different for sure."
Green added that he believes, deep down, that Curry wanted to prove to Durant that he was wrong for leaving the Warriors.
"There's always things you want to prove," he told Yahoo Sports' Vincent Goodwill. "Ultimately, when Kevin came here, the main person who has to sign off on that is Steph. So to open your door, to open your arms and accept someone with open arms, and it goes great and it’s short-lived, it's a slap in the face. Not necessarily a slap in the face, when someone chooses to do something else. But a slap in the face like, 'I opened my home to you. I brought you into this. I made you a part of this. I wanted you to be a part of this until we couldn't do it no more.' Then when you wanna do something else, no hard feelings, no ill will, want you to do great no matter what. It's a brotherhood. But ... you're a competitor and the competitor in you is going to want to prove you wrong, want to show you that you made a mistake."
Whatever the case may be, there's no disputing Curry's legendary status for both the Warriors and in NBA history, period. When the last decade or so of NBA basketball is recounted in the years to come, the first two names that should be mentioned are LeBron James and Curry.