Stephen Curry witnessed the double-edged nature of determination during the 2018 NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Despite the Golden State Warriors winning the title at the time, his failure to ensure the Finals MVP award for himself broke his spirit. Now, nearly six years later, Nick Young, one of his former teammates, revealed the intricate details of this whole situation.
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Young recalled the then-Warriors stars, Kevin Durant and Curry, engaging in a healthy competition to win the accolade, and even seemed neck and neck. However, one below-par performance from the latter completely ruined his chances of winning the award.
This ached the Splash Brothers’ heart, resulting in a breakdown, despite a series win. Reminiscing about this moment, Young mentioned on Gil’s Arena,
“I remember they was neck and neck, KD and Steph and then Steph had one bad game…Locker room Steph head was down. Damn near tears after the win. Man, he wanted to win that b***h. KD was trying to give it to him…Steph couldn’t make a shot”.
Steph Wanted The Finals MVP pic.twitter.com/cQbuChUQcz
— Gilbert Arenas (@GilsArenaShow) June 11, 2024
His comments shifted the focus to Curry’s lackluster display in Game 3 of the 2018 NBA Finals. During the visit to Cleveland, Curry failed to make his efforts count. He went just 3-16 from the field, shooting an underwhelming 1-10 from beyond the arc to register just 11 points on the night.
This diminished his chances of winning the award, especially because Durant never took his foot off the gas. Contributing on both ends of the floor, KD dominated the 4-game series with one double-double and one triple-double. This expectedly led to him securing the Finals MVP award for the second consecutive time, allegedly saddening Curry.
However, the truth behind Young’s comments remains questionable to a certain extent. Considering the renowned selfless nature of Curry, these remarks are more than just a bit unbelievable.
Ashley Nicole Moss, an analyst from CBS Sports, hinted precisely towards this on X (formerly Twitter). Re-sharing a clip of Swaggy P’s comments, she added an emoji of a cap, accusing him of publicly lying.
— Ashley Nicole Moss (@AshNicoleMoss) June 12, 2024
So, the fans may only get to know the reality if a few more players from that squad step up to discuss the same in the coming days.
That said, those days are undoubtedly behind Curry. He fulfilled his dream of securing the award in 2022 while spearheading an impressive title win for the Warriors. As a result, his story also received its desired ending.
