Why Steph’s Warriors burden, at age 36, is heavier than ever

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Why Steph’s Warriors burden, at age 36, is heavier than ever originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – The Warriors don’t want to be in this line with the NBA’s ordinary folk, standing behind the velvet rope watching the league’s bougie teams get waved through the VIP entrance. It’s humbling, particularly for a franchise of glorious decoration.

The Warriors once were NBA royalty, the league’s most popular celebrities, living on the privileged side of velvet rope.
They are here now, after finishing 10th in the Western Conference and waiting with the generics assigned to the NBA Play-In Tournament, because only a thin layer separates them from outright mediocrity.

Because their roster has been skimmed to one All-Star: Stephen Curry.

Are his shoulders, sculpted by thousands of hours in weight training, strong enough to carry the Warriors through the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday and the rest of the play-in tournament? And, ultimately, into the exclusivity of the NBA playoffs?

“I think it’s pretty obvious it’ll be a disappointment,” Curry said Monday, “if we’re not in a playoff series and have an opportunity to compete at that level.”

They were last season, when Curry not only led them to the No. 6-seed and an automatic playoff berth but also submitted a tour de force performance – 50 points, eight rebounds, six assists over 38 minutes – against the Kings in Game 7 of the first round to get the Warriors into the conference semifinals.

“He’s one of the great clutch players in the history of the league,” coach Steve Kerr said. “We know that.

“He led the league this year in player efficiency in clutch minutes,” Kerr continued. “We’ve seen him win championships, win Finals MVP. I mean, Steph Curry is Steph Curry. So, that performance did not surprise me. Because he’s that guy. He’s ‘him,’ as [Los Angeles Lakers guard] Austin Reaves said. He was sublime in that game.”

Curry by last April had experienced 134 playoff games over eight previous postseasons. He worked his way up to that epic game to push Golden State into another playoff series. He was 24 years old in…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/why-stephs-warriors-burden-age-031123433.html

Author : NBC Sports BayArea

Publish date : 2024-04-16 03:11:23

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