Steph Curry had a very memorable line last year about his then-teammate Gary Payton Jr., the chiseled son of Hall of Famer Gary Payton. GP2, as he’s sometimes known, used sheer strength to assert his will on the court so effectively that Curry called Payton “the tallest six-foot-three man in the world.”
Curry, of course, meant that Payton’s strength allowed him to play much bigger than his height. That strength left a lasting impression on Curry — and he has flattered GP2 with it, if imitation really is the sincerest form of flattery.
For all Curry’s talents, this year he has notably added a major dose of strength to the package, and his coach and teammates (and opponents) are in awe.
After Curry’s second straight 40-plus point outing in a victory against a strong Cleveland Cavaliers team, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr could only shake his head and marvel.
And yet even with Curry’s soaring to #2 on the NBA scoring leaders list with 33.3 ppg, Kerr didn’t talk as much about Curry’s incomparable shooting as about the new Curry strength.
“[Curry] is much bigger and stronger, much more capable of defending at a really high level and sustaining two-way basketball for an entire game and just knocking down shots from all over and finishing at the rim. He’s unbelievable,” Kerr said in the postgame.
Kerr admitted he had “run out of adjectives,” to describe Curry’s power over the game, his dominance.
Earlier this season, Curry teammate Draymond Green voiced a similar admiration. Describing the new Curry, Green said: “He is strong. And when I say strong, I mean strong.”
