Stephen Curry Recalls a Kobe Bryant Memory After Getting MVP Chants Against Lakers at Crypto.com Arena

There’s been much hand-wringing over the state of the NBA and its ratings, which are down from a year ago. Thursday night’s game between the Warriors and the Lakers, though, was just the tonic the league needed to show that fear is overblown, as Steph Curry and LeBron James engaged in one of their famous back-and-forth battles. In the end, it was Steph’s Warriors who got the dub, winning 123-116 to move to within a game of the Lakers in the standings with six games to go.

Curry scored 52 to beat the Grizzlies on Tuesday, then followed that up with a game-high 37 in L.A. 89 points within two games is a baffling number. He even received MVP chants in the fourth quarter, a rarity for a visiting player but entirely appropriate given how he and his team are playing right now.

The Warriors were once thought to be a play-in team at best, but they’ve taken the West by storm since trading for Jimmy Butler. Thursday night’s win moved them to 19-2 when both Curry and Butler play, and it proved that they could beat the Lakers after losing their first three meetings of the season.

After the game, Curry was asked about getting MVP chants as a visitor, and it prompted him to remember a story about playing Kobe Bryant early in his career.

“I remember my first couple years, we used to chant ‘Beat L.A.’ in the bay, at Oracle [Arena], but Laker fans were way louder when Kobe came in, so it was kind of a weird dynamic seeing the one side of it to seeing what it is now. It’s sports, it’s fun. Embrace it all.”

Steph vs. LeBron in the first round is a dream matchup

The Warriors-Lakers rivalry is alive and well, and arguably better than ever considering the trade deadline brought the rivalry Jimmy Butler and Luka Doncic. If the season ended today, the two teams would meet in the 4-5 matchup in the first round, which would be a best-case scenario for the NBA and its fans.

Steph vs. LeBron has been the NBA’s premier rivalry for over a decade now, when the Warriors and Cavs first met in the Finals in 2015. The two have waged some truly epic battles, and at ages 37 and 40, respectively, rarely shows any sign of slowing down. Getting a best-of-seven between them to kick off the postseason would be tough to top.

When Steph attended the Inter Miami-LAFC game on Wednesday night, he was booed by the Los Angeles crowd. It had to feel good to get the last laugh by booing them back and then dropping 37 on their heads one night later as visiting Warriors fans serenaded him with MVP chants.

We don’t ask for much, basketball gods. Just give us seven games of this.