WESTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS
The First Steph There are many reasons for the Warriors’ run of success over the past four years, but it begins and ends with Stephen Curry. By Darryl Howerton
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2018 | THE FINALS
GARRETT ELLWOOD/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES
here was a game in the past where Steve Kerr felt compelled to show Stephen Curry the box score. It wasn’t from any of Curry’s five 50-point games during his illustrious nineyear NBA career, nor the game this January where he scored 44 points, doled out 10 assists and made 8 of 11 three-point attempts. Nor the February contest where he scored 49 points. No, in this particular game a year ago last March, the Warriors’ head coach showed Curry a box score and pointed out how his poor shooting numbers did not affect the positive influence he still was having on his teammates. “That’s your shooting totals, and that’s your plus-minus,” says Kerr, in the NBA YouTube video titled “Steve Kerr with Words of Encouragement for Stephen Curry.”
