So much for Stephen Curry's lone Olympics being forgettable.
The Golden State Warriors superstar firmly put weeks-long struggles with Team USA behind him when it mattered most on Saturday, leading the Americans to a 98-87 win over France for Olympic gold Olympic gold with one of the most ridiculous late-game shot-making displays of his career.
Needless to say, Curry's performance in France will be one both Dub Nation and his millions of fans across the globe can savor forever. Let's dive into takeaways from the four-time NBA champion's successful quest for his first gold medal.
What about twos?
Curry's barrage of triples with the United States' back against the wall versus not just versus France, but also Serbia in the semifinal will be the most indelible memories from his time at the Olympics, and rightfully so. Team USA sorely needed Curry to win its fifth consecutive gold.
Yet as his page turns toward the Warriors and 2024-25 NBA season, one especially lagging aspect of Curry's play at the Olympics is at least cause for mild worry. All eight of his made field goals in the gold-medal game came from beyond the arc, no surprise given the 36-year-old's increasing reliance on the long ball with Team USA.
A whopping 73.3% of Curry's 30 made field goals in France were three-pointers. He attempted just 14 twos in six games. More troubling with regard to the imminent twilight of Curry's NBA career? The off-dribble separation he so easily yielded en route to a title against the Boston Celtics two years ago was largely absent at the Olympics, and he labored even more creating space from defenders while penetrating and trying to score in the paint.
Curry, obviously, played a far different role with Team USA than he will with Golden State going forward. But additional on-ball reps and primary scoring responsibilities could only compound his more glaring issues of shaking defenders from behind the three-point line and blowing by them to finish at the rim, especially after Curry took clear steps back in that regard last season.
Familiar turnover frustrations
Remember Curry's mindless behind-the-back turnover in crunch-time of Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals? Sorry for the reminder. Watching Curry so carelessly cough up the ball during the most critical junctures of Saturday's game no doubt had Steve Kerr seeing flashbacks from eight years ago, at least.
The extremely casual nature that caused this turnover is simply flat-out unacceptable while initiating offense with just a few minutes left of a close, must-win game.
Curry helped the French close the gap in the third quarter with a pair of similarly unnecessary miscues across just three possessions.
Entering his 16th NBA season, Curry won't be suddenly changing his basketball stripes. These types of turnovers have been a frustrating hallmark of his game for more than a decade. Kerr constantly harping on them hasn't much much of a difference, and neither did playing a more supporting role for the Americans at the Olympics.
Don't expect anything different from Curry come late October.
Steph Curry, king of the clutch
Curry scored seven of the United States' last 11 points in their instant-classic 94-89 win over Serbia in the semifinal, a preamble to his crunch-time heroics 48 hours later as gold hung in the balance. The greatest shooter of all-time drained four threes in five possessions from the 2:48 mark of the fourth quarter until the game clock read 35 seconds remaining, extending Team USA's lead from three to an insurmountable nine.
Curry's final splash put the white-hot extent of his heater in perfect context. It didn't matter that France ran an extra defender at him to force the ball out of Curry's hands, that everyone at Bercy Arena knew he would be the one to let fly nor that he launched while fading to his right over the outstretched arms of Nicolas Batum and Evan Fournier.
The reigning Clutch Player of the Year was simply inevitable, the same story Kerr has seen time and time again in Golden State.
“It's right up there with all of the greatest games of his career,” Kerr said of Curry. The shot-making was just incredible. But under the circumstances, on the road, in Paris, against France for a gold medal, this is storybook stuff, but that's what Steph does. He likes to be in storybooks.”
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