Whether you love him or hate him, Steph Curry has single-handedly made the NBA actually exciting

If you’ve ever played pickup basketball in your life, you know this scenario. A guy is backing down his opponent from mid-range, then quickly pivots and yells “KOBE” as he fades away and shoots.

This is a decently rare thing. You really don’t see this occur with any other player in any other sport. You don’t see anyone drain a putt in golf and yell “TIGER,” or throw a perfect spiral on target and yell “PEYTON,” and you surely don’t hear anyone say “LEBRON” at any point during a pickup game- the list goes on. It’s not at all because these guys aren’t great at what they do. Rather, it’s because so many players can and will continue to replicate that same action that those greats are producing. It’s so hard to distance yourself that much from the competition, like Kobe did, because so many guys can hit that same shot (or do that same action) with ease.

But as time has gone on, you see an eerily similar scenario to the “Kobe” shot. A guy dribbles up-court, pulls up from an absurd distance and yells “STEPH” or “CURRY.”  It is this shot that Curry has virtually copyrighted and trademarked, based on how consistently he hits it.

Others can putt like Tiger. Others can throw like Peyton. Others can dunk or score like Lebron.

But no one can shoot like Steph. 

No one has seen what Curry has done. Ever. It’s exciting, and I love it.

As a 5-foot 9-inch kid with a vertical that would disappoint even the average Joe, the three point shot is all I have in the game of basketball. For that reason, I have always looked up to the great three point shooters of the game. Non-coincidentally, my favorite player of all time has always been Ray Allen (the reason I became a Celtics/basketball fan in the first place), and I have a life-sized FatHead, youth small jersey and signed ball in my room to prove it. But once the “Big 3” of the Celtics slowly deteriorated and eventually left, I have to admit that I lost a lot of interest in the game of basketball, and it stayed that way for a number of years.

On top of that, basketball was just flat-out boring. Lebron and the Heat ran the league for the most part. Kobe was aging and the rest of the Lakers were coming down from their peak. The Thunder were young and on the rise, but were never truly a threat to the Heat. The Spurs, were well, the Spurs, and although it may sound harsh, they were simply not exciting to watch, as they were lacking a true superstar at the time. The other 26 teams were just irrelevant, for lack of a better word. Overall, nothing exciting was happening. The league was in dire need of an exciting superstar to challenge Lebron as he made his return to Cleveland in 2014.

Enter Steph Curry.

From the beginning, it was hard not to appreciate Steph’s story: he was a longshot NBA player in high school who barely got recruited. He ended up at Davidson, a small D1 college. He later broke handfuls of school records and went off in historic and memorable fashion at the 2008 NCAA tournament, when he carried the 10-seeded Wildcats to the Elite Eight. If that wasn’t enough, he was told by critics around the league that he would never truly “make it” in the league. But leave it to Curry to overcome that one too.

His style of play is just so different than anything anyone has ever seen. No one has ever seen anyone pull up from the absurd places that he pulls up from, let alone consistently drill it. I just don’t see how you can think that’s not exciting. Frustrating for an opponent, yes it may be, but I just don’t see how it is not exciting. It’s new to the NBA, it’s different, and ultimately, it’s making games more exciting. Add in his impressive warm-ups-  his two-ball dribbling drills, practicing near half-court shots and hitting them like they are free throws, and the classic “tunnel” shot before every home game- and that makes for a pretty exciting player. I’d even go as far as saying that Curry has made his pregame warm-up almost as iconic as Lebron James made his pregame powder toss.

During the winter of 2014-2015, I took serious notice of many of Curry’s unbelievable highlights during the times I watched SportsCenter (or as some of you like to now call it, ‘StephCenter’). As the highlights and wins for Curry started to accumulate, so did my interest in him and his leadership of his team. His style of play was just too eccentric to ignore, and it was one that I especially appreciated.

Fast forward to the end of the season, and not only did the Davidson alumni win the 2015 NBA MVP over Lebron, but he (and the Warriors) easily reached the NBA Finals, for a matchup with who else, but Lebron himself. The Warriors won in six games, giving the Warriors their first title in 40 years and spoiling Lebron’s first year back in Cleveland.

Yes, Steph Curry, the 6-foot 3-inch point guard out of Davidson, had taken a ring AND a league M.V.P. from THE Lebron James during his “coming home” tour. Who would have ever thought?

But of course, there had to be more doubt. Many analysts and fans thought this win was a fluke, arguing that Steph and the Warriors didn’t face a true challenge in the playoffs (including a depleted and injured Cavs team in The Finals). So now, Lebron was on a revenge tour, and Curry, despite winning it all, was on a revenge tour himself.

FINALLY. Something to actually be excited about.

At this point, I am all aboard the Curry bandwagon. My love for basketball is at an all-time high, and it even inspired me to start playing myself.

In anticipation of this year’s season, I figured the excitement had reached a point where it was time to buy a Curry jersey. Being the broke college kid I was in October (I know, being broke in October of freshman year was impressive) at the time I bought it, I went to a cheap website and purchased one- for only $20. Although the jersey was extremely fake, my support of Curry was extremely real (as my Twitter followers can confirm). The jersey was in my hands just days before the season, and the rest was history…

Literally history. In a season in which Steph and the Warriors broke more records than a pair of human hands can count, they proved to the league that no, last year was not a fluke. Are people going to try to argue now that watching Steph and the Warriors break records all season was not exciting?

As I write this, Steph and the Warriors are one win away from clinching another title at the expense of Lebron and the Cavaliers yet again. From what I can remember, more people are paying attention to these playoffs and Finals than any other year, which does not surprise me at the slightest.

Now, just for a moment, imagine the NBA without Curry. While it is hard to imagine, it is easy to conclude that it would not be as fun, nor as exciting, to watch. Yes, the basketball being played would be more “traditional” if that’s how you want to put it, but that “traditional,” “same-old” basketball is what turned me away from the game in the first place. The league needed something different, and Curry was that difference maker.

As you reflect on this past season, think about what games and playoff series’ were most exciting to watch. If you answer honestly, I’m confident that a majority of your answers include the Golden State Warriors (aside from Kobe’s 60-point monstrosity in his final game). Seriously. I can say I watched a lot of NBA basketball this year, and I can’t remember one memorable Cavs game (at least from the regular season).

Now, think about all the storylines going into next season. The back-to-back M.V.P. and the Warriors will be circled on every team’s schedule (especially if they end up winning it all), and will have plenty of showdowns with teams along the likes of the Cavs, Thunder, Spurs, and Clippers. There is so much to look forward to, whether you like the Warriors or not.

For this reason, I DO NOT CARE if you dislike when Steph Curry turns the second after he releases the ball and stares at the opposing bench as the ball swishes behind him. I DO NOT CARE if you think Steph Curry is overrated and/or is not the NBA M.V.P. I DO NOT CARE if you think Steph Curry is cocky. I DO NOT CARE if you think the way he plays is “not basketball.” But if you think Steph Curry is bad for basketball and bad for the NBA, boy are you wrong. Whether you love Steph Curry or hate him, you should be thanking him for bringing excitement back to the NBA.

I know I am.