NEW ORLEANS — Clearly, Stephen Curry – sporting a bright red headband that prompted Coach Steve Kerr to want to want to call him Seth during the game – took the 2017 NBA All Star Game in New Orleans extremely seriously.
When the two-time MVP was the only defender left standing between the basket and young Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokuonmpo, instead of even attempting to block the shot, he hit the deck and let the Greek Freak abolish the rim.
“I just realized that,” Antentokounmpo said of Curry after the game. “Because I was thinking about it, why did he lay flat on the floor?”
Much to the Smoothie King Center crowd’s delight, Antetokuonmpo got to posterize Curry later, dunking over him with such force that it left Draymond Green in shock with his head on his hands. Curry stayed back to watch the replay on the Jumbotron.
Most of the talk around the Warriors and the All Star Game has centered around Curry’s teammate Kevin Durant and Oklahoma City guard Russell Westbrook being back on the same team for the battle of the East and the West. The two had only exchanged a few heated words since Durant left Oklahoma City after eight years, so it would seem that Curry was the comic relief that everybody needed.
Curry finished with 21 points, six assists, four rebounds and shot 5-of-13 from beyond the arc and the West Team defeated the East 192-182.
For Curry, his proudest moment didn’t come from his sinking his signature 3-pointers followed by a pound to the chest and finger raised to the sky. On Sunday night, he got to do something that he rarely, if ever, does in a game: dunk.
“That’s big for me,” Curry said. “I’ll take it.”
But as is the Warriors’ lighthearted nature, his teammates were not quick to forget, but were quick to poke fun at Antetokounmpo literally flattening Curry.
“That was hilarious,” Draymond Green, who scored two points and dished out assists said. “He got dunked on twice!” A smirking Klay Thomspon added: “That was funny. And (the All Star Game) is supposed to be entertaining. And that might have been the most entertaining part of the night.”
Golden State who boasted four All Stars on the West roster: Curry, Green, Thompson and Durant. All eyes were on Durant and Westbrook, but of the “other” Golden State players, Curry the jokester stole the show. Both Curry and Durant were voted into the starting lineup, but all four players were on the court at the same time for a handful of minutes.
“It was definitely pretty cool to be out there for a minute together,” Green said. “You know, it was great to be out there with everyone. It was a special moment, it’s special always to be an All Star but to be out there with three of my teammates, that was pretty cool.”