The Loop
"He got me": Chris Paul finally gives Steph Curry credit for breaking his ankles five years ago
Stephen Dunn
There are so many ways to be embarrassed on a basketball court. An airball, getting maliciously blocked, playing for the New York Knicks. Yet, nothing is as demeaning and nightmare-inducing than having your ankles broken in front of the entire world.
Slightly over five years ago, Chris Paul—as a Los Angeles Clipper—was dropped on his homecourt by Steph Curry in an eventual loss to a monstrous Warriors squad. There were excuses, most notably that it wasn't a true ankle-breaker as Paul stepped on the opponent's foot, yet the highlight seems to reappear every so often when the internet gets bored. No matter your take, we can all agree that watching Curry KO Paul is what we need in these dire times.
Not sure why the NBA chose this music. It kind of sounds like a C+ Soundcloud rapper beat, but that's neither here nor there.
Perhaps it's due to the anniversary of the event or the need to make amends during this chaotic period, but Paul and Curry jumped on Insta Live on Monday and hashed out the aforementioned play in front of the whole (basketball) world.
As someone who has been crossed up plenty of times, I have to respect Paul bringing the play up himself and making it clear that he knows what truly happened. You could have clear evidence of someone breaking my ankles and it would be a cold day in hell before I admitted what really happened.
Perhaps the best part of the entire live-stream, however, is Curry's reaction to Paul bringing up the incident. It's the same face a golden retriever makes when confused. No way Curry expected for this play to be brought up once again...
With that said, there's nothing better than the internet seizing on an athlete making a mistake, so let's remember some of the best work memorializing the Curry cross and Paul fall.
We had this game of Twister that Kevin Hart sent Paul, which may not be the best game to play during this pandemic, but will hopefully be back one day.
Of course, there's also Paul nearly being hit by a dirty pitch. Most likely against the Houston Astros.
The content machine of the NBA will never stop even during this forced hiatus. Hopefully, we can see the two of them face off once again during this 2019-20 season. Looking forward to seeing whose ankles will take a beating the next time Chris Paul and Steph Curry are head-to-head.