For her unrelenting support of the family, Sonya Curry received a heartwarming shoutout from her son, Stephen Curry. During an event for UnderArmour, a reporter asked the four-time NBA champion, “If you had to gift a pair of game-worn Currys to anyone, from any moment of your career, what moment would it be? And who’s the one person you’re gifting them to?”
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Stephen Curry was impressed by the question and took a moment to gather his thoughts. He quickly picked the person as his mother. The shoes he landed on meant a great deal to the Baby-Faced Assassin.
“I would pick the game-worn Game 4 [pair] from the 2022 Finals and I would give that to my mom,” the NBA’s only unanimous MVP answered. Steph’s explanation also lent a deal of his insight into his career and legacy.
Curry continued, “For me, that’s the favorite game of my career…I would wanna give my favorite moment and those shoes, to my mom, who gave me life.”
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The answer doesn’t just shed light on Steph’s love for his mother. It also tells us a bit about how Curry views his own accomplishments. Despite winning three NBA championships and two regular season MVPs by 2019, none of those accolades meant as much to Stephen Curry as his 2022 Finals victory. And game 4 in particular.
How did game 4 of the 2022 NBA Finals solidify Curry’s legacy?
You see, in the first 3 games, the Chef was cooking. He had done his part, scoring at least 29 points in each outing. But his team had already lost home-court advantage and were down 2-1 after losing game 3 by 16. If the Dubs went down 3-1 in the Finals, it was most likely that there would be no fourth ring or first Finals MVP for Stephen Curry.
In 2017 and 2018, Kevin Durant took the Bill Russell trophy home. During the Warriors’ first championship run, Andre Iguodala (contentiously) won the award. Fans had not forgotten this, and in 2022, Steph had the chance to end those conversations once and for all.
With 7 long-range bombs, Curry scored 43 points and led his team to a 10-point win against the Celtics at TD Garden. 14 of Steph’s points came in the third quarter and he backed it up with 10 rebounds and 4 assists, laying it all out on the court.
Yes, Jordan Poole and Klay Thompson had their moments in this series. But Steph had no reliable second option in this series like he did in the previous runs. The Warriors would go on to win the remaining games by at least 10 points, filling the missing piece in Curry’s trophy cabinet.
Juwan Howard, who was a Boston Celtic that year, said that Steph’s game 4 was the best performance he had ever seen. Howard described it as “I’m him” energy, and it was exactly what the doctor ordered.
