Carmelo Anthony had the first-hand experience of witnessing one of the best performances that Stephen Curry ever put up. His 54-point explosion at the Madison Square Garden in 2013 is often described as the Golden State Warriors guard’s coming-out party. However, Carmelo Anthony was well aware of the sharpshooter’s unreal talent long before the world found the then-‘Baby-faced Assasin’.
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In the latest episode of “7PM in Brooklyn with Carmelo”, the New York Knicks legend was asked about Stephen Curry’s iconic 54-point performance at MSG on February 27th, 2013.
Speaking on the matter, ‘Melo’ shockingly revealed that he wasn’t taken aback by the youngster’s performance. When asked why, he talked about how Chris Paul, Curry, and he used to work out together in the offseason.
“Steph used to come to the workouts. I would never let people into the workouts… My first couple years, I’m in the gym, CP is coming out of college. First year, he’s coming to the workouts now. CP brings Steph to the workouts…
I’m watching Steph, he’s like just studying all the sh*t… I saw everything that we was seeing in college when he was in Davidson and then made that run in the tournament. All of that up close in person,” Melo said.
Steph was relatively unknown in the NBA prior to the 54-point outburst. But, Melo was conscious of the fact that the scrawny guard had the potential to go on a scoring rampage on any given night. So, after reading the scouting report, he hilariously asked his teammates to chase the “sicko” around as much as possible on defense.
“By time when we get to New York. I know he’s a sicko. I’m reading the scouting report, I’m like ‘nah, you can’t leave him. You have no responsibility tonight, just chase him around’,” Antony claimed.
After spending multiple hours with the 6ft 2” guard in the gym, Anthony was sure that nothing, other than injuries, could stop him.
“He’s battling injuries… I knew that was the only that would hold him back, would hinder him from doing everything else. Him being small and short, that was a narrative on him… But you still knew the type of talent and skill that he had,” Anthony said.
When Stephen Curry first joined the league, the common criticism against him was indeed his size. Countless analysts believed that he was nothing more than an above-average scorer, and would never develop much past that.
However, not only did his iconic performance at Madison Square Garden put the world on notice, it also turned out to be the genesis of something that no one saw coming.
Stephen Curry developed into an MVP-caliber player after the 54-point performance
The world-famous performance against the New York Knicks saw Stephen Curry start to get the recognition he deserved.
Becoming a household name after that contest, the guard did a great job in consistently improving. He even led the Warriors to a 47-35 season and made it all the way to the conference semifinals during this campaign.
However, it was the 2013-2014 campaign that was his breakout season. Assuming the role of the Bay Area side’s leader, Steph recorded 24 points and 8.5 assists on the season. For this impressive campaign, he was even rewarded with an All-Star and All-NBA Second Team nod.
It didn’t take The Baby-Faced Assassin long to take the next big step. In 2015, Curry was named the league’s Regular Season MVP and led the Warriors to an NBA championship win.
Since the Dubs’ first title win of the 2010s, Curry went on to win another MVP, three more titles, a Finals MVP, and was selected to seven All-NBA Teams & eight All-Star Games.
Truly, the 54-point outing against the Knicks should have been seen as a sign. Having been underrated and criticized all his life, the Golden State Warriors star was licking his lips at the thought of revenge.
And boy, did he get it.
