Retired guard Nick Young caused a tremor on social media by claiming that Stephen Curry was in “damn near tears” following the Golden State Warriors’ Game 3 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2018 NBA Finals. The guard’s horrible outing had ensured that Kevin Durant would win the Finals MVP when the Warriors won the series, which allegedly left him distraught. However, there is evidence pointing to the contrary.
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In an interview with former Warriors general manager Bob Myers in 2023, Curry spoke about his somber mood following his team’s crucial Game 3 road win in Cleveland. According to Curry, he was aware of the media debates about whether he or Durant deserved to be Finals MVP, but knew the debate had ended after the third game of the series. Curry scored 11 points in that game while Durant recorded an absurd stat line of 43-11-7, tipping the balance of the scales in his favor.
lmaoooo we haven’t revisited that moment in awhile 🤣 https://t.co/QcsBAZgK3Y pic.twitter.com/2wcHZKgHof
— ♕𝕕𝕒𝕧𝕠𓅓 (@shpillo_) June 12, 2024
While he was happy with the win, Curry claimed that his disappointment stemmed from his own poor performance. He added that he was beating himself up about it, prompting Andre Iguodala to give him a pep talk en route to the locker room. The clip of the duo heading back went viral, sparking rumors that he was upset about losing the Finals MVP. Curry said,
“Andre had his arm around my shoulder on the way back through the tunnel. Like, we just won, [but] I was down on myself because of how I played and everybody took it out of context.”
Curry admitted that he had thought “once or twice” about whether he’d have won the Finals MVP had he played better in Game 3, but wasn’t bogged down by it. Instead, he was upset about not playing as well as he should have.
It’s easy to envision why Young believed Curry’s gloomy mood after the Warriors’ Game 3 win was linked to him losing out on the Finals MVP award. The guard had lost out on the coveted prize to Iguodala and Durant in two of the previous three campaigns. The talking heads in the media had begun discrediting the two-time MVP by claiming he was fortunate to be part of a super team and couldn’t win without them.
Young mistakenly believed that Curry heeded media chatter and was upset about giving more weight to those accusations with his Game 3 performance. However, the guard wasn’t concerned about that and was frustrated about having a terrible outing.
Curry would go on to prove his doubts wrong with his 2022 FMVP. What makes it sweeter is that Durant hasn’t been able to make a Finals appearance since leaving the Dubs, shutting down all talk of Curry ever “needing” Durant to win a ring.
