Stephen Curry first game back from knee injury scores 40 (27 pts in 4th QT/OT) vs Blazers in 2016 WCSF Game 4
Remember that Dray and Klay damn near took the Warriors to the WCF without Steph.
Even though I’d take the 17 Warriors in a series, 16 Warriors played the game of basketball better than anyone ever has IMO. The Rockets series and the Blazers series before this showcase it the best.
One comment I saw on the Warrior sub from a fan recently is that they would trade the 17 and 18 titles for one in 2016. And it was in the context of a highly upvoted post about not wanting to retire KD’s jersey anymore after his recent comments.
Obviously the KD version of the team is better but it’s striking that even Warriors fans generally seem to have more fondness for a team that didn’t win the championship over ones that did.
There’s just a certain romanticism about watching a homegrown team drag your franchise out of the mud that can’t be replicated by a mercenary squad. Don’t get me wrong, I think Durant choosing the Warriors was one of the best things that’s ever happened to the franchise, but it definitely took away from the connection we felt with the team.
Yea I think it’s definitely a natural thing to feel and I don’t think Warriors fans are wrong for it. In other cases I’ve seen that winning can inspire enough fondness to overcome the detachment feeling that comes from more mercenary teams for both fans and detractors. Examples to me are LeBron’s Heat or the Kawhi Raptors (for Raptors fans after losing DeRozan). Some Laker fan attitudes toward LeBron are mixed but they still adore the 2020 team despite it being one of the most mercenary teams to win a championship.
So I thought (wrongly) at the time there was a chance people might eventually get over the KD move like people eventually got over LeBron’s move to Miami. But all the other factors of just how overpowered the team felt, and the way KD’s game and personality came to take away from the spirit of the team that won before, means that the consensus didn’t change.
Another way I can think to put it is that the 17 and 18 Warriors are very few, if anybody’s, favorite team. Outsiders understandably never got over how unfair it felt and both Warriors fans and players have other teams they prefer in that same timespan. So that leaves KD, and at this point I’m not sure those are even his favorite teams either and he might remember a particular team USA more favorably or something.
I’m sure those “fans” are probably young or bandwagoners.
After the turmoil Warriors went through for 40 years. 4 titles in 7 years is a godsend.
KD says shitty things about his time with the Warriors. But like, oh well lol.
When it comes to 17 and 18. They are cheap rings, where as the 16 Warriors were all “natural” so I get it. Plus 73 win team… 3-1 choke after coming back 3-1 itself. I would want that season to end with a title too.
Cheap rings are crazy af to say when you observe all these stacked ass teams that can’t win shit. That stuff is hard to do, and the fact you think it was so easy for them speaks volumes to how great they were.
The biggest KD haters are curry fans
That was a peak 3rd quarter warriors game.
I believe former teammates and Curry himself have said that one of the secrets to these third quarters was Curry reading his Twitter mentions at halftime, especially if he was having a bad game.
4:19 is so nasty 🔥
Handles. And no call on the finish
2-16 when he checked in lol imagine what he would’ve done if healthy this playoff run.
Man, if steph never got injured in 2016… obviously started wearing down by the thunder series.
delete this
Warriors lost the finals because bogut and iggy got injured.
lol that fan at 6:52. Truly unreal.
That “fan” was actually the blazers owner at the time. Paul Allen
yeah nobody had ever seen what curry was bringing..made no sense. still doesn’t.
Show me Paul Allen’s expression
man Klay’s form is just damn perfect.
Was this the injury where he slipped on a puddle of Motiejunas sweat? I still haven’t forgiven him for being so damn sweaty lol
This was his famous “I’m back” game. Wonder how he got hurt again for the Finals tho
Bro a grade 2 MCL is a 6-8wk injury that he came back in 2wks from
He was injured this game lol and remained a step slow throughout the entire playoff run after
I know you’re trolling but he was visibly 2-3 steps slower than his regular season form
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Just because he had legendary playoff performances injured doesn’t take away from the fact he was injured
Steph had a grade 2 MCL sprain
That’s a 6-8wk injury…he came back in 2wks
He was visibly slower than the regular season, even in these performances.
Idk what to tell you
I never once talked about his finals performance
I’m just stating facts that Curry had a grade 2 MCL sprain, I didn’t make that up and pull it out of my ass
He was objectively injured during the playoffs
Honey, yes you did. The comment you responded to was talking about his Finals performance. You said it was because of his MCL Sprain.
remained a step slow throughout the entire playoff run after I know you’re trolling
remained a step slow throughout the entire playoff run after
I know you’re trolling
You are in fact not stating facts lol. You’re trying to make out Curry played or looked worse after he came back. He looked physically great and played excellently.
Until the Cavs hounded him on D and enforced their physicality against him. This is the only part of the run after where “Curry looked a step slow” and he didn’t look physically slow. He looked mentally slow. His decision making in those last 3 games is awful.
Just take the L dude - you’ve deleted every comment and will delete this one soon too
He was injured in the Rockets and Blazers series, but plenty healthy for these series.
“visibly slower” Literally everyone is slower, the game is slower, players move less and use the strength considerably more. Like what point are you trying to make, that Curry got defended harder than the regular season?
He’s always a lot slower come playoff time. The 18 run he looks even slower than 16.
It can be, if it was a 6-8 week injury. But MCL sprains vary in their severity, he actually had a Grade 1⁄2 tear. He’d have been out further if it was bad enough. He didn’t even have offseason surgery. MCL sprains can heal in a few weeks with good enough rehab.
You’re trying to blame his poor Finals performance on his knee. When he played just fine on that knee, until he was up 3-1 in the Finals. Of course you don’t know what to tell me, you can’t explain his poor play and when shown evidence, his knee did not effect his play. You’re like IDK WHAT TO TELL YOU. lol
I get the 3-1 jokes hurt, but ya boy just choked. A Knee owie did not make his decision making that bad.
he was visibly 2-3 steps slower than his regular season form
He absolutely was not, until the Cavs started to clamp and hound him. He was fine in this series and OKC. He played normal as anything after he came back from injury.
slower than his regular season form
This is such a nothing thing to say, when everyone is a bit slower come playoff time. Curry legit just played at his normal MVP level v Blazers and OKC. 30/6/6 with 2 steals on 61TS%
Where as Finals Curry… 22/3/5 on 58TS%. Like after they went down 3-1 v OKC, Curry played out of his fucking mind. It’s some of the best basketball he ever played.
If his MCL was an issue, it would have been an issue the entire time. It was not. Like the Warriors even went up 3-1, so really it didn’t start being a problem until the last 3 games of the series? That’s his only truly game effecting poor play after his injury.
He only had 2 weeks of recovery lol. He obviously came back without being fully healed. Coming back from injury into playoff intensity is obviously gonna wear you down quicker. You have to pace yourself, because if you don’t you’ll either reaggrivate it or sustain an even worse injury.
If Steph was actually healthy, they wouldn’t even go down 3-1 to the thunder, and woudn’t need klay’s legendary game 6 to survive.
Look at every other playoff series steph has played, he’s been fantastic.
Why is 2016 the only outlier? Oh, because it’s the only time he got properly hurt mid-playoffs.
Not to mention he missed the Olympics because of the injury, despite originally planning on being a part of the team.
Delusional gibberish
He wasn’t hurt for the Finals, the injury Warriors fans try to prop up all the time is the one that had him out for Rockets and most of this series. If he was hurt, he’d be on the bench.