OAKLAND – Stephen Curry’s quite a few duties because the unofficial host of the NBA’s All-Star weekend have taken the Warriors star throughout the Bay Space.
Friday, he was, amongst different stops, at Oakland’s McClymonds Excessive for a fitness center restoration ceremony. Sunday, he’ll be entrance and middle at Chase Heart for the primary occasion.
Saturday, the 11-time All-Star was again the place it began for him with the Warriors — the sector in Oakland, the place Curry and the opposite stars participated in a morning apply. After that, it was again throughout the Bay Bridge to attend Saturday night time’s abilities, 3-point and dunk competitions on the home Curry helped construct – Chase Heart.
“This is a cool celebration, a ceremony of being in this arena,” Curry mentioned after the exercise in Oakland, within the constructing the place he gained three of his 4 NBA championships.
“But you can’t necessarily, for me, even allow the celebration of it to take your foot off the gas pedal and what I’m still trying to accomplish out there on the court,” Curry added. “So it’s an interesting balance.”
Curry has spent 16 transcendent seasons with the Warriors, the previous 5 on the state-of-the-art Chase Heart. Saturday, again the place it began, Curry spoke concerning the good outdated occasions and what’s to come back. The 11-time All-Star made it clear that he believes he nonetheless has rather a lot left within the tank, borrowing a popular culture reference to hammer the purpose dwelling.
“I made a reference to ‘Coming to America 2’, where they had, like, the live funeral thing,” mentioned Curry, 36. “Everybody’s celebrating you, but you’re still there, witnessing it. I don’t want it to be that at all. But you do want to celebrate, to some extent, for sure.”
Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry performs basketball with a baby throughout the NBA All-Star apply session at Oakland Enviornment in Oakland, Calif., on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Space Information Group)
Just about everybody in attendance on Saturday in Oakland let Curry hear their appreciation when he emerged from the tunnel he made well-known. Preceded by former teammate Kevin Durant, who obtained the second-loudest ovation, Curry was the ultimate member of the Shaq’s OG’s group to come back out for apply.
The practically full area crowd did its finest to revive the ghosts of Oracle Enviornment previous. It was a becoming capper to the last decade Curry spent in Oakland, the place he matured from a 3-point wunderkind to a world celebrity.
Far more so than his ultimate sport in Oakland in 2019, when the Warriors misplaced the NBA Finals to Toronto in Sport 6 – the identical sport Klay Thompson tore his ACL.
“This is a moment for sure,” Curry mentioned. “The idea of knowing we made the move to Chase Center and been in San Francisco the last six seasons, to have a little bit of a moment to honor and reminisce about the 47 years that we played in this building, the 10 years that I had growing up in the game inside of these walls, the energy in this building that can come back just like that, I’ve enjoyed it to the fullest.”
Curry has worn a whole lot of hats this All-Star weekend, however the significance of this event goes past that. He’s an icon within the sport, and this joyful commemoration could also be remembered because the final nice second of his Warriors profession.
But when he has something to say about it, he’s received just a few extra identical to it nonetheless to come back.
“He changed the game,” All-Star teammate James Harden mentioned. “From his aura, and obviously his shooting and his presence. Being in this arena gives me some nightmares, because when I had to go against him, it was like a real battle. We literally created teams just to beat the Warriors.”
Whether or not he ruined the sport, as former Warriors coach Mark Jackson as soon as implied, or modified it for the higher, Curry reworked how the NBA and the broader basketball world perceived taking pictures from distance.
His legacy is safe. So what’s subsequent?
“Every team is trying to figure out how to make the necessary moves if your goal is to win a championship,” Curry mentioned. “(We’re) trying to do that on a daily basis. So for us as players, you just do your job and make sure you’re staying prepared and healthy and available and handling our business.”
For now, the long run can wait. Curry has obligations because the face of the franchise this weekend.
He isn’t collaborating within the 3-point contest, to the frustration of many. However he shall be ubiquitous even in his absence from the occasion.
“He’s done so much for the game, and it’s going to be sad when he and guys like KD, LeBron and us remove ourselves from the game,” Harden mentioned. “It’s going to be sad. But this is an opportunity for us to celebrate him.”
Curry will do some celebrating this weekend. However he’ll do most of it when the work is lastly accomplished.
Within the meantime, he’ll in all probability make just a few extra threes. In spite of everything, it’s what he does.
“That impact is pretty surreal to me, just because that’s the way that I’ve seen the game since I was a kid,” Curry mentioned. “I love expanding my range. But even more, I love the work that goes into earning and deserving that confidence. That’s the message that I preach all the time.
“I want everybody to be inspired, if you love basketball, to be able to shoot, get better and stretch your range. I would love for you to be inspired to do that, but you also got to work at it too. The ruining the game thing, it is a charge and a challenge. If you want to do that, then get in the gym, get your reps in and earn it.”
Initially Printed: February 15, 2025 at 7:00 PM PST
