What The 2022 NBA Finals Means For Steph Curry

Stephen Curry’s resume is incredible.

It boasts three NBA championships and two NBA MVP trophies. Curry has made the most three-point shots in NBA history and is one of the very few players under six-foot-five to terrify opposition defences.

Curry’s frame shouldn’t intimidate anyone, but his signature three-point shot has devastated opponents and fans alike.

Cast your mind back to game five of the 2022 Western Conference Finals. The Warriors lead the best of seven series three wins to one. They are just one victory away from ending the Dallas Mavericks’ season.

Late in the game, Curry slipped behind the Mavs’ defence and planted himself in the corner with just over two minutes left on the clock. Andrew Wiggins, the Warriors’ explosive forward who produced a career-altering playoff series, spotted Curry completely alone in the corner. In one motion, Curry caught the ball and rose off the ground to generate the perfect amount of arch on the ball before flicking his wrist. His hand hung in the air as he watched the ball touch nothing but the net.

That shot only added three points to the Warriors’ score, but Dallas fans both in Texas and around the world felt like a stake had gone right through their hearts.

The Mavericks’ season was over, while the campaign of the Warriors was just beginning.

For the first time in 58 years, the Golden State Warriors will now face off against the Boston Celtics in the NBA finals.

Boston’s Jayson Tatum, the 24-year-old superstar, is looking to cement himself as one of the NBA’s premier players. While Curry is looking to finally secure his spot as one of the 10 best players to ever step foot on a basketball court.

Although Curry has three championships to his name, he has never been awarded an NBA finals MVP, the award given to the best player during a finals series. In 2015, the Warriors’ grizzled veteran Andre Iguodala won the award for his defensive work on LeBron James.

In 2017 and 2018, the Warriors’ newly-acquired megastar Kevin Durant, who many believe to be the best player in the world, won the accolade.

Many respected analysts believed Durant joining the Warriors would ruin the NBA and criticised Curry for needing another superstar teammate to win his next two titles. Curry has heard the noise, and he’s determined to prove the doubters wrong.

Starting Friday, Curry has the perfect opportunity to silence his critics once and for all. If he wins his fourth title, along with a finals MVP, all without a superstar teammate, his basketball legacy will become immortal.

Standing in his way are the Boston Celtics who match up well against the Warriors. Boston has multiple defenders to throw at Curry and as a team, the Celtics' defence ranks as the best in the league.

At the other end of the court, Boston’s offence has had some issues in the closing stages of games, but Tatum has been on a tear the entire post-season.

The Celtics are young and hungry, while the Warriors have plenty of playoff experience.

It will be a very close series and you can expect some remarkable individual performances from opposing stars Curry and Tatum.

Curry enters his sixth finals series in eight years, and if he manages to capture a fourth title, he ties his long-time rival LeBron James and sits just one behind Lakers legends Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant.

He’d need just two more to join the magical mark of six set by the game’s greatest player Michael Jordan.

Should Curry triumph in this series, at age 34 you wouldn’t bet against him eclipsing Jordan’s historic number.

Series prediction:

The Warriors will enter the finals with three extra days’ rest and will have spent the last few days going through light practices.

On the contrary, Boston has travelled across America to reach San Francisco, the home of Golden State, and have played in two extremely physical series against Milwaukee and Miami.

It will be one of the best finals series in the last five years, but it’s time for Curry to finally get that finals MVP he has been circling for years.

The Warriors to win in seven.