3 Rings Later, Stephen Curry Remains Heart and Soul of Golden State Warriors

OAKLAND, Calif. — Opening night in the NBA is always special. For the Golden State Warriors, this one had even more to it. As they received their championship rings ahead of a 108-100 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday at Oracle Arena, it was hard to avoid recalling the days when Kevin Durant was still on the Thunder and the Warriors were just a regular superteam.

"It's special," Stephen Curry said of the banner ceremony. "I remember looking up there, and there was only Philadelphia banners, and the '74-'75 team. Coming into Oracle every night, in our practice facility, you look up on the walls and you see the championship banners that we brought back to the Bay. It's amazing. You reminisce on the journey in those moments. Obviously, we're still trying to go for more. It's really hard in terms of putting it all into perspective, but nights like tonight are where you sit back and feel really proud about what you accomplished." 

The Warriors are no doubt looking forward to more rings. But revisiting how they got here is important, too. Before 2016, the Warriors were Curry's. It's easy to wonder what numbers he would've put up if he kept taking 20-plus shots a night, and there's a faction of fans who wish he still did. Why wouldn't you? It's amazing when he does things like this:

Curry's scoring has gone down since Durant arrived, and that's to be expected. He went from 30.1 points per game in 2015-16, to 25.3 in 2016-17, to 26.4 in 2017-18. His field-goal attempts per game dropped from 20.2 to 16.9 over that time. He's sacrificed usage and workload, and that's helped him pick his spots. Curry scored 32 points in the season opener, shooting 11-of-20 from the field and 5-of-9 on three-pointers.

He had plenty of plays that no one else could make. He looked like he was getting back to his superior level, even though Durant, who chipped in 27, was there with support.

Warriors fans' enchantment with Curry is always palpable. There is an electricity in the air every time he touches the ball on the perimeter. The crowd is desperate for him to shake his defender and loft one of his impossible heaves. They want him to suck the oxygen out of the building the way he did pre-Durant.

"It's a different burden. It's a good burden," Warriors big man Jordan Bell told Bleacher Report. "It just has to be that way."

There are flashes of it almost every outing, but Curry has had to change his game to accommodate Durant. Whether the unanimous MVP who stole Warriors fans' hearts still exists is up for debate, but it's a given that Curry doesn't need to be that version of himself anymore.

His points are never quiet. He imposes his impact on the game in a way that makes him seem even more incredible than he already is. Even his plays inside the arc have flair.

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Regardless of his scoring volume, Curry affects the game dramatically, and his teammates know it. There is a feeling that Curry is the sun around which this dynasty revolves.

Reflecting on the journey to this point, head coach Steve Kerr recalled when then-new owner Joe Lacob called for championships on his first night with the team in November 2010.

"Joe set the goal that night. I think there was a young guy named Steph Curry in the building, who this whole thing has sort of revolved around in many ways, as it's sort of crystalized. I was looking, the teams I've played for and why they've worked. In Chicago, it was all about Michael Jordan. But then you think of all the great players around Michael: Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant, Dennis Rodman, Toni Kukoc. You realize you have to have that first domino to fall. Michael was the first domino." 

Adding Durant has changed things, and Curry is still figuring out how to balance his own scoring with that of his superstar teammates. He can look for his own offense early in the clock but has one of the league's premier isolation scorers at his disposal to act as a safety valve. 

The Warriors can run intricate actions to create shots for Curry or Klay Thompson, but if it doesn't work, they have alternatives to relieve Curry from making magic out of nothing.

This makes his sacrifice even more impressive. That Curry is still there. He still gets his points. He still impacts winning more than any other player on the winningest team in NBA history. He just does it a little differently. And it makes you wonder: Does he have yet another level of his mastery to unlock?

"I don't know," Kerr said. "I just know he's awesome." 

That's a pretty good summary.