It’s been a long-ass season for Steph Curry.
The current incarnation of the Golden State Warriors (26-28) doesn’t exactly strike fear in the hearts of opponents, which means every night, the Baby-Faced Assassin has to go supernova just to give his team a fighting chance at victory.
So with rookie James Wiseman out with a meniscus tear, starter Kelly Oubre out with a sore wrist, and sixth-man Eric Paschall on the bench with a hip flexor strain, Monday night looked to be much of the same as the Dubs took on a blossoming juggernaut in the Denver Nuggets. And when the dust settled, Chef Curry not only pulled out a surprising victory—and a blistering a 53-point assault—but he also made history.
With his career total of 17,784 points (and counting), he surpassed NBA legend Wilt Chamberlain for the most points in franchise history. Not bad for a guy who didn’t receive a single scholarship offer from a major school and plummeted to the 7th overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft.
“It’s crazy,” Curry said after his Warriors won 116-107. “Anytime you hear his name, it’s kind of daunting because you know his records are so hard to—some of them are even impossible to eclipse, I think. You understand how great of a player he was.”
He continued, “I can’t remember how many games he played as a Warrior, and how many I’ve played, but to be anywhere near him in any record book or now be on top, it’s surreal, and it’s wild. Because if you grow up in the game of basketball and you hear his name, you know it’s something extremely special, no matter what it is.”
While it took the Davidson product exactly 745 games to score that many points, while only taking Wilt the Stilt a mere 429, that by no means takes away from Curry’s magnificence on the court. Never forget that Wilt played in an entirely different era where averaging 50 points and 26 rebounds per game—I ain’t lying, see for yourself—was even possible.
The three-time NBA champ only needed 19 points on Monday to set a new franchise record. I just don’t think we expected him to surpass that total in the first quarter.
“We all figured he’d find a way to get 19 points tonight,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “But maybe not in the first quarter.”
Where there’s a Steph, there’s a way.
Kudos to Steph for continuing to do the damn thing. You’re an absolute joy to watch and its a privilege to witness you single-handedly revolutionize the sport before our very eyes.