Paris CNN —
Stephen Curry’s career highlight reel is filled with dagger three-pointers in huge moments. In just three minutes on Saturday, he added four more that might be sweeter than any of the others.
As the clock ticked down inside the final few minutes, Team USA was reeling and the French fans in the Bercy Arena were losing their minds. France had pulled within three points as the game wound down, threatening to pull out a massive upset that home nation fans were finally allowing themselves to think might actually become a reality.
In the timeout as the game got close, Curry told head coach Steve Kerrr that he wanted the ball in his hands.
“He actually suggested, in the timeout with about three minutes left, he said, ‘Let me run a clear side pick-and-roll with LeBron and we’ll spread the floor,’” Kerr said. “I said, ‘OK, let’s do that, because I’ve seen this before, and it usually works out well.’ And then he put on that show down the stretch in the last few minutes, and it was pretty amazing to watch.”
Out of that timeout, Curry got the ball at the top of the key and – bang. The US lead was back to six, and suddenly the mountain that France had to climb got just a bit taller. A points-less possession from the French and some Kevin Durant free throws stretched the lead to eight before the French cut it back to six on their next time down the floor.
With the crowd in Paris again going nuts, the noise from their voices and their drums echoing around the building, Curry again had the answer. Another three and the lead was suddenly nine with under two minutes to play.
The French answered with a three of their own, but there was no question what was coming the next time the Americans came down the floor. Off a pass from Devin Booker with 1:19 left, Curry buried another three and the US was back up by three possessions.
What came next though was just the Steph Curry-est shot that Steph Curry has ever made.
After Victor Wembanyama sank his own three to bring the French again within six points, Curry got the ball at the top of the key. The French defense knew what was coming – Nicolas Batum and Evan Fournier were both marking Curry, two of the team’s best defenders on the greatest shooter in the world.
Usually, defense wins championships. But no defense is strong enough to contain Steph Curry when he’s feeling it.
“We’ve seen it before. Got a hot player, you gotta keep firing him,” Booker said to reporters. “He’s the best shooter to ever live, and today was another test of that.”
Curry dished it to former teammate Durant and took a few steps to his right. He stopped on a dime and came back to the top of the arc to try and find some space but found Batum and Fournier once again in his face. So, instead he dribbled once behind his back, took a step backward and – while falling away, his right leg rising in to the air between Batum and Fournier – threw up a shot that was the heat check to end all heat checks.
And, because it was Curry who shot it, it fell.
“I was just trying to settle us down. All we wanted to do was get a good shot. It had been a while since we had good possession,” he said afterward. “(Finally) the momentum was on our side. At that point, your mind goes blank. You don’t really care about setting or the scenario or anything. It’s just a shot.”
But later, he admitted to reporters, “That impressed me, I impressed myself with that one.”
The noise that erupted from the French crowd contained so many emotions that it might be hard to describe them all. Shock, incredulity, amazement, frustration, heartbreak, all wrapped together in one moment.
The noise that came from Curry was easier to understand. The best shooter of his generation ran down the court, beating his chest and screaming into the Parisian night. He held the USA on the front of his jersey out for all to see as he soaked in the moment.
It was Curry’s first Olympics, and he said before the game began that he had been having more fun playing in this tournament than he had had playing basketball in a long time. And when Curry is having fun playing basketball, there’s just no way to stop him. The gold medal that went around his neck Saturday night is proof.
“There’s a lot of relief. It wasn’t easy but, damn, I’m excited, man,” he said. “This is everything that I wanted it to be and more, so I’m excited.”
