Sniper
Steph Curry's pregame shootaround performance on Sunday was the stuff of legend
Steph Curry is the greatest shooter the NBA has ever seen. This is not news to anybody currently inhabiting Planet Earth, but we’ve said it so often that it’s lost its impact. It’s become a given, like a Tuesday or the cost of gasoline, and that, quite frankly, is unacceptable. We should be cherishing his historic, game-changing reign, but mostly we end up making jokes about James Harden’s fat suit and LeBron James’ hairline. Thankfully, however, Curry decided to serve up a little reminder on Sunday night for those just tuning in (or just tuning out) …
What more needs to be said? It’s ruthless yet precise. It’s flashy yet focused. It’s 10 times more impressive than the All-Star three-point contest and 10 billion times better than whatever the hell that dunk contest was. Just ask the fan in the red jersey who puts his hands to his head in disbelief about three-quarters of the way through the 14-shot barrage. Steph hasn’t even swished his signature, rafter-scraping floater yet and he's already frying this kid's brain like an egg. That pretty much tells the story.
Funnily enough, the NBA’s all-time three-point leader is having one of the worst shooting years of his career in 2021/22. Curry is shooting 42.8% from the floor this season, which would be the second-lowest mark of his 13-year tenure should it hold. It’s also lower than Russell Westbrook’s field-goal percentage, and he's been maligned as an awful, lousy, stinking catastrophe who also happens to have your grandma's jumpshot. Most of that is anecdotal, but it does cast Sunday’s shootaround in a different light:
Was it a sign that Curry is putting in the work and getting right at the right time or that this is how good he is even when he’s bad?
Time will tell, but both are pretty darn impressive.