Stephen Curry looks great in an A’s beanie

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There’s not much happening in baseball right now during the MLB lockout, but basketball is going strong for those who also follow the NBA. In particular, Bay Area fans have been able to enjoy the resurgent Golden State Warriors, who hold the second-best record in the league despite a recent slump and appear to have returned to championship contender status.

Earlier this month, Oakland A’s fans who tuned into the Dubs game got an extra treat.

The Warriors visited the Dallas Mavericks on Jan. 5, and that night the Mavericks were hosting a jersey retirement ceremony for Dirk Nowitzki, their former superstar player. Nowitzki is an all-time great who spent his entire 21-year career in Dallas and brought home a championship in 2011, and he’s a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame when he becomes eligible next year. He’s kind of a big deal.

Amid the festivities, the Warriors chipped in some respect for the universally beloved Nowitzki. In addition to participating in the pregame video tribute played at the stadium, Golden State also released another video on Twitter. See if you notice anything at the 1:12 mark, when Stephen Curry appears on screen.

Very few have changed the game like 41 has.

As Dirk Nowitzki gets his jersey retired tonight in Dallas, the Dubs reflect on an iconic career. pic.twitter.com/K4mhgrcWNq — Golden State Warriors (@warriors) January 5, 2022

Steph is wearing an A’s beanie! And it looks great on him.

For four decades the Warriors and A’s played their home games next door to each other, with the Coliseum and Oracle Arena sitting side-by-side and sharing a parking lot, until the Dubs moved across the bay a couple years ago. Now they play at Chase Center in San Francisco, closer to another certain MLB team, so it’s fun to see their biggest star still representing the green-and-gold.

Granted, Curry has often been seen sporting gear from both the A’s and Giants over the years, so the point here isn’t about him exclusively picking one side or other. It’s just nice to know he hasn’t forgotten about Oakland entirely.

From a basketball perspective, it was cool to see the Warriors taking part in Dirk’s ceremony. He could arguably be considered an inspiration for Golden State’s recent dynasty, as a player who pushed the boundaries of deep shooting for his position before Curry came along and further revolutionized the concept of stretching the floor. And from an A’s fan perspective, it was extra neat to see our team’s logo pop up, on the head of one legendary superstar while he was talking about another legendary superstar.

Trey magnifique!

Warriors news: Furious Stephen Curry wrecks chair before game-winner

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Stephen Curry saved the day for the the Golden State Warriors on Friday night with the sweet step-back to win the game at the buzzer. But it wasn’t all sunshine for the superstar throughout the game against the Houston Rockets.

Earlier in the game, the Warriors point guard was seen taking out his frustrations on an innocent piece of furniture:

A pissed off Stephen Curry kicks the chair on the Warriors bench. 😡 Steph has 17 points through 3 quarters, but is shooting just 4-of-15 from the field.pic.twitter.com/XdSzxahhdw — ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) January 22, 2022

Steph Curry and the Warriors largely struggled for most of the night, trailing for more than 90% of the game and at one point facing a 15-point deficit.

Even the Warriors star’s final line wasn’t anything to write home about. Stephen Curry finished with 22 points on a subpar 6-for-21 and 4-for-13 on three-pointers. He did have 12 assists on the evening, but the shooting we’re all accustomed to seeing just wasn’t there for the lead Splash Brother. But of course, all is forgiven when you hit a game-winning jumper.

Steph Curry’s game winner from the stands 🔥pic.twitter.com/J4NRNPTqwf — ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) January 22, 2022

The shot was surprisingly Stephen Curry’s first ever game-ending buzzer-beater for his career. He’s had a handful of game-winners in the past, but none of them left zeros on the clock like this one.

It’s largely been a struggle for Stephen Curry as of late. But hopefully this dagger is the jolt he needs to get things going once again.

Stephen Curry responds to people who say he “ruined basketball”

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Believe it or not, there are many analysts and pundits in the NBA who don’t appreciate the game Stephen Curry displays. We are talking about the revolutionary of the long-range shooting game who constantly embarrasses his opponents. Old school commentators are convinced that the golden era of basketball was when shooting three-pointers wasn’ as “abused” as it is today. But they fail to evolve their opinion at the same time the game is evolving thanks to players like Stephen Curry. They want more physical players like LeBron James or Michael Jordan without offering Curry a break for shinning amongst giants of the game with a different spin to it.

Curry laughs off at the accusations.

In a recent exchange with the press, Curry addressed this exact criticism and confirmed the reason he rejects it: “I’ll get tagged on something on social media, like, ‘You ruined the game,’” Curry said on The Athletic. “Anybody who knows basketball knows where I stand on that. It’s an amazing way to play the game. It opens up the creative. Everybody loves to shoot the ball. But you can’t skip the work and years and years and years and years of reps that I put in and everybody on this level has. So, don’t skip that process. It is a fun way to play, and it’s dope to know that everybody feels an attachment to it.”

It’s not only Curry the one who gets accussed of ruining the game, LeBron James is also accused of doing this for different reasons. James was recently accused of the same thing but for becoming the first NBA Super Team when he moved to the Miami Heat to play alongside Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Legendary players like Curry or LeBron will always have to live with that criticism for anything they do. It’s inevitable and reacting to it too much will make them seem like they care. None of them should care about nay sayers, they are trailblazers of the game of basketball.

Warriors news: Stephen Curry sounds off on brutal Jordan Poole display

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The Golden State Warriors succumbed to an upset of epic proportions against the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night. The Dubs fell 121-117 to a lowly Pacers squad that was missing arguably their six best players not named Chris Duarte for the contest.

Stephen Curry didn’t have much help in this one. The Warriors point guard finished with 39 points on 12-for-27 shooting, playing a team-high 44 minutes and virtually carrying the offense single-handedly against a balanced Pacers attack.

Arguably the biggest underperformer on the night was Jordan Poole, who made just one shot out of seven attempts and had only five points in 25 minutes. Poole also missed badly on two game-tying 3-pointers in the final 23 seconds of overtime, failing to even hit the rim on either one, before Stephen Curry missed their final attempt on the evening:

Steph misses the potential game-tying 3 😬 pic.twitter.com/jByO8Ke7g2 — Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 21, 2022

After the game, Stephen Curry was vocal about Jordan Poole and the challenges he’s facing right now with a drastic role shift since the return of Klay Thompson.

Via Anthony Slater of The Athletic:

“It’s tough. It’s the nature of the NBA,” said Stephen Curry on Jordan Poole’s new role off the Warriors bench. “Something I know is not a surprise in terms of his role changing with Klay back. It’s just maintaining his aggressiveness and his confidence in himself that he can make plays and get himself into the game a little quicker coming off the bench.” “I’ve never had to do that, so you don’t know what it physically feels like, mentally feels like to find your way coming off the bench like that, but I just want him to be assertive, be aggressive.”

In the six games Jordan Poole has played behind Klay Thompson this season, he has gone a brutal 19-for-56 (33.9%) from the field and 8-for-33 (24.2%) from the 3-point arc.

It’s no surprise that his best game since Klay’s debut was during the second night of the Warriors‘ back-to-back set in which Thompson didn’t play. Jordan Poole finished that game with 22 points on a solid 8-for-19 shooting clip and went 5-for-9 from distance.

Curry was vocal that it is just a matter of time before Jordan Poole figures out his new role. The Warriors need him to do just that, and Steph has faith he’ll get things sorted out with experience:

“Just see the floor the way he can and know that it’s going to get better as he continues to get the reps,” Stephen Curry continued. “That’s all you can ask for is just being locked in mentally and try to assert yourself as quickly as possible when you get in the game. We obviously need him to be impactful, be a threat and do what we all believe he’s capable of doing.”

Steph Curry on Jordan Poole, quiet since his role shift: “I’ve never had to do that, so you don’t know what it physically feels like, mentally feels like to find your way coming off the bench…I want him to be assertive, be aggressive.” pic.twitter.com/358hqn8gQh — Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) January 21, 2022

The Golden State Warriors have sputtered as of late, winning just three of their last nine contests.

With Draymond Green missing most of those games, Klay Thompson getting his feet wet, and Jordan Poole finding his new place in the hierarchy, growing pains were to be expected. But just as Stephen Curry believes that Jordan Poole will find his way with time, so too will the Warriors.

Warriors: Stephen Curry on Klay Thompson brutal shooting slump

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Klay Thompson hasn’t exactly been lighting it up for the Golden State Warriors since he made his highly-anticipated return to action in mid-January. Especially considering how Thompson was shooting the ball prior to his two-year injury hiatus, it would be safe to say that the five-time All-Star is currently in the midst of a brutal shooting slump.

Warriors superstar Stephen Curry has now spoken out about Thompson’s current predicament and unsurprisingly, Klay’s Splash Brother isn’t worried at all:

“I think he had that quote last game, I kept telling him, ‘A hundred and one. You shoot 100 shots, you miss it, once 101 is going in,’ ” Curry said, via Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports. “I’m going to keep telling him that message, because it’s going to come.”

Steph was talking about Thompson’s earlier statement about his shooting slump wherein he said, “I don’t care if I miss 100 shots in a row. I’m never going to stop shooting the ball. I love it too much and I work too hard.” Curry is clearly on the same page with his Warriors teammate and he is extremely confident that Thompson will be able to get his groove back sooner rather than later.

Klay had his worst shooting night on Thursday as the Dubs suffered a 121-117 overtime loss to the Indiana Pacers. Thompson logged 23 minutes of action — the most he’s played since his return — but he went just 6-of-17 from the field for 12 points. He also missed all seven of his attempts from deep — the first time he’s failed to drain a triple in the six games he’s played so far this year.

Despite Thompson’s current struggles, Curry claims that he’s willing to put his money on the notion that Klay is going to get hot again in the near future:

“Everything he’s gone through is hard, for two and a half years,” Curry said. “I’m betting on him to be able to figure it out over time. There’s no doubt about that — well, I know him and his mindset, the confidence he has in himself.”

Curry then talked about how Thompson’s extended time on the shelf has impacted his current form. The fact that he’s has been away from the game for such a long time has unsurprisingly affected Klay’s current shooting form significantly:

“Everything he’s gone through, two and half years off, the minutes restriction, not really being able to find a flow — it’s tough,” Curry said. “But you have to keep the big-picture mindset of everything he’s going through. “Obviously we’re rockin’ with him, and every shot he takes we think it’s going in. Nothing changes on that.”

As Steph noted, however, there’s just no way the Warriors are losing confidence in Klay Thompson. Every single member of that organization — and their fanbase — is certain that Thompson is going to get back to his old form sooner rather than later. He’s just too good of a shooter to not get his groove back. As Curry said, Thompson’s confidence isn’t wavering at all, so neither should ours.