Steph Curry won his fourth NBA championship on Thursday night, but this time it was different.
The last time the Warriors stepped onto NBA Finals grounds, mega superstar Kevin Durant was on the roster. Durant helped the Warriors win two titles in his three seasons with Golden State.
But when KD decided to leave the Bay and join forces with Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn, all odds were against the Warriors, who missed the playoffs for two consecutive seasons after that.
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The Warriors went from champions, the big dogs of the NBA who made five consecutive Finals appearances and won three, to having the worst record in the league.
Of course, people talked. And while the chatter continued for two years, Curry and the rest of the Warriors put in work that finally paid off when they silenced the critics and doubters on Thursday night.
And after the Warriors defeated the Boston Celtics in six games, Curry was named the unanimous Finals MVP for the first time in his career.
It was a moment he shared with his teammates turned brothers Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala, who have experienced this up-and-down journey together and helped the Warriors bring the Larry O’Brien trophy to the Bay four times in eight years.
Golden State Warriors
Durant was a big part of that success, too, but winning this year after all the adversity was special.
“For sure. You bookend it,” Curry told Yahoo Sports when asked if he wanted to win without his former teammate. “That’s part of it. But nobody in October thought we’d be here. Now we are. With this group. Not compared to any group before it, so it’s pretty dope.”
Green also recognized what the moment meant to Curry, and to himself.
“Of course,” Green told Yahoo Sports. “There’s always things you want to prove. Ultimately, when Kevin came here, the main person who has to sign off on that is Steph. So to open your door, to open your arms and accept someone with open arms, and it goes great and it’s short-lived, it’s a slap in the face.”
Green retracted.
“Not necessarily a slap in the face, when someone chooses to do something else. But a slap in the face like, I opened my home to you. I brought you into this. I made you a part of this. I wanted you to be a part of this until we couldn’t do it no more. Then when you wanna do something else. No hard feelings, no ill will, want you to do great no matter what. It’s a brotherhood.
“But … you’re a competitor and the competitor in you is going to want to prove you wrong, want to show you that you made a mistake.”
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Of course, every championship is special.
And not that Curry had to prove anything to anyone, but the moment certainly put an end to any debate on his legacy.