Getty Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors.
Anytime someone changes the norm of a system, there is bound to be backlash and criticism. History has shown whenever someone did anything that was outside the box, the conventional majority would ridicule that and try to minimize change.
Look back at Shaquille O’Neal when he dominated games around the rim, there were a lot of haters who thought it was unfair how he steamrolled through opponents. His dominance forced blocks and charges to be called differently, just to give opposing teams the chance to compete.
Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors is doing something similar with how his dynamic shot-making has propelled the league to be heavy on shooting threes.
A lot of old heads like Charles Barkley and even O’Neal ironically have openly criticized how everyone shooting threes has ruined the aesthetic of the game. Even one of the best coaches ever, Greg Popovich, has expressed his displeasure with how three-point heavy the game is now.
“I still hate it,” Popovich said in 2015. “I’ll never embrace it. I don’t think it’s basketball. I think it’s kind of like a circus sort of thing. Why don’t we have a 5-point shot? A 7-point shot? You know, where does it stop, that sort of thing. But that’s just me, that’s just old-school. To a certain degree, you better embrace it or you’re going to lose. And every time we’ve won a championship, the 3-point shot was a big part of it. Because it is so powerful and you’ve gotta be able to do it. And nobody does it better than Golden State, and you know where they’re at. So it’s important. You can’t ignore it.”
The NBA is a copycat league, so it was only a matter of time before other teams tried to duplicate what Curry and the Warriors have been doing with their shooting. The traditional big man who cannot shoot has been cast aside and replaced by guys who can defend multiple positions and shoot threes.
Steph Curry Talks About the Positives with His Impact
After Curry hosted the 2022 ESPYs in Los Angeles, he talked to LA Magazine about what he thought about the criticism that he ruined basketball.
“Anytime you change or disrupt the way a game is played or the way something’s been done for years, for decades, there’s always going to be people that love it and people that hate it.” Curry says.
Not all kids can grow to the size of the Shaqs or the athleticism of the Jordans. Curry continues and talks about how his impact has opened the eyes of young kids to dream of the possibility of making it to the league.
“It’s just stretching people’s imagination of what’s possible out there on the court and for young kids to know it’s possible—but you have to work for it,” he added. “It takes time, so many reps, a lot of focus and dedication and discipline, but it’s possible.”
Curry Worked Out with Old Teammate
After spurning the Warriors last season for the Lakers, Kent Bazemore is hoping to latch back on with a team. A recent photo went viral of Bazemore working out with Curry recently. Bazemore shared the picture so maybe he did it intentionally, in hopes to get teams to show interest.
Just Steph working out with a FA.
Bazemore had his second stint with the Warriors in the 2020-21 season, but left to play with the Lakers last season, thinking he had a better chance to win there. We all know how that played out.
The Warriors probably do not have interest in Bazemore, especially with the abundance of young talent they would rather play than the 33-year-old veteran.