The Selfless Steph Curry Legacy
By: John McCormack
After Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday, Warriors forward Andre Iguodala had a pretty strange answer to a question asking why he plays hurt. Iguodala’s answer was pretty simple. His answer was none other than his teammate, Steph Curry.
"I like Steph. He’s a good dude. … I’m trying to do whatever it takes to protect his legacy. I’m all for it."
–Andre Iguodala on what motivates him to play hurt pic.twitter.com/ncwfVr3Df6
— ESPN (@espn) June 3, 2019
Look, I get what Iguodala was saying but it’s just a weird thing to hear from someone who used to be the face of a franchise. I get that Iguodala is Curry’s biggest fan by saying he’s the second best ever and that he’s disrespected by other players (which I agree with). But saying your NUMBER ONE priority to keep playing is because of Steph Curry? It’s just a weird statement for me to hear, but I get and understand what he’s saying.
Iguodala continues with that by saying that he’s never seen a “Curry-like” player before and he’s just happy to be apart of it and keep it going forever. I mean, I agree. I hope this Curry run never dies and I hope that Curry is the first and last player who did what he did. He is 100% in the top 5 of players who transformed the game, but Iguodala doesn’t need to keep playing to keep Curry’s legacy. Curry can do that on his own.
But after Iguodala said this, it got me thinking that Curry really is a once in a lifetime superstar. Granted there will always be a super athletic dunker and a flashy point guard, but I don’t know if there will never be another 6’3 guard that pulls up from half-court like its a layup, and people expect it to go in.
As we know Michael Jordan is a six time champion, multiple MVPs, and accolades. But Jordan had a bad reputation as a lockerroom cancer, and let’s not forget his “retirement.” Which we know is because Jordan had a gambling addiction and David Stern couldn’t kick the best player out of the league, so Jordan “retired.” Curry and Jordan’s paths are almost similar. They both struggled early in their careers and then became dynasties. Curry and Jordan have even had similar types of teammates. Iguodala and Scottie Pippen are similar type players, but you’d never hear Pippen say that about Jordan. Because Jordan was selfish.
Both Curry and Jordan, obviously, have changed the game but Curry came without any baggage. You never hear that Curry is demanding too much from his teammates or causing drama to get them traded (looking at you LeBron). Instead Curry always worked with what he had and made the most out of it, and we can’t say that about too many superstars.
Most NBA superstars need everything to be perfect or they cause drama. However, I have never heard of a story where Curry has complained about a teammate or a coach. Instead he just goes with the flow and plays his game and I think ultimately that’s why Curry’s legacy will never die.
John McCormack (Uncle_Mac4)