Getty Skip Bayless, then of ESPN, attends the IAVA 7th Annual Heroes Gala in 2013.
For the first three-quarters of Game 1 of the 2022 NBA Finals, the Golden State Warriors resembled the dynasty crew of yore, unleashing an offensive barrage on a tough Boston Celtics team. Over the final 12 minutes of the contest, though, Dub Nation’s whole world was turned on its head.
Led by Jaylen Brown and Al Horford, who combined to score 21 of their team’s 40 points during the final frame, the Celtics came back from 15 down to steal a 1-0 series lead. Along the way, the Beantowners were allowed to shoot better than 51% from downtown.
So, given what transpired, what did Skip Bayless do in the wake of the Warriors’ epic collapse?
The Fox Sports host attacked Dubs star Stephen Curry for being un-clutch. Naturally.
Skip Does Skip Things (Once Again)
“On the biggest stage in the biggest moment, Steph Curry displays no clutch gene. He shrinks and disappears.” — @RealSkipBayless
While the Warriors’ defense struggled to rotate on the perimeter or properly close out on three-point shooters down the stretch, Bayless had other ideas about what the “guts of the issue” were in the loss.
“To me, this game — from start to finish — was all about effin’ Stephen!” he declared. “I have made the case to you again and again, and I should have listened more closely to myself: on the biggest stage, in the biggest moments, he displays no clutch gene.”
This is, of course, the same “effin’ Stephen” who scored a game-high 34 points and set a Finals record by hitting six triples during the opening quarter. He also ranks third among postseason participants (minimum four games played) in fourth-quarter scoring at 7.8 PPG, with shooting splits of 51-43-90.
According to Skip, though, Curry’s performance during the big moments leaves a lot to be desired.
“What do I see? I see that the greatest shooter ever is the greatest until the stakes are highest. And then he’s nowhere near the greatest,” Bayless opined.
He further credited the C’s for not being intimidated by Steph, while taking another shot at the baller in the process.
“I credit Boston hugely because they’re the one team not impressed with all of his showboating, hot dogging, mouth-guard wagging out of his mouth, ‘I’m going to put you to sleep,’ all of the antics that go with Steph Curry’s 3s — they’re not impressed,” Bayless said. “They’re not overwhelmed. They’re not intimidated. They’re not shrinking and quitting because they say, ‘He’s just too great.’ They just shrugged and moved on.”
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Dub Nation Lights Him Up
Needless to say, fans weren’t overly enamored with Bayless’ latest round of anti-Steph rhetoric.
“You want Steph to chunk up bad contested shots in the last 5 minutes when everyone else on his team had downed tools?” wondered one tweeter. “He [singled-handedly] kept his team in the game in the first three quarters. Celtics took the lead every time he sat to rest. KD was right about you!”
“Why is this show on again? This is not sports journalism. It’s biased opinions from some people who never played a professional sport in their lives,” read a second comment. “Waste of time.”
“I honestly cannot believe you get paid to talk about sports with a comment like that,” a third respondent wrote. “Seriously the stupidest take I have ever heard.”
“Has nothing to do with Steph. On the biggest stage, the most experienced playoff team of the last 8 years failed to show up for Steph. Not Klay, not Draymond, and not Poole,” added another fan.
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