All that is missing from legendary Warriors guard Steph Curry’s trophy room is a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, and time isn't on his side.
The four-time NBA champion said it himself.
In talking to reporters Friday, Curry explained his gratitude for the opportunity to compete in an Olympic title game with Team USA during likely his only shot at gold.
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“I came into this experience thinking that this would be my one and only time to play in the Olympics and experience this stage,” Curry said. “So, that was part of my sense of relief and joy.
“Like, I didn’t want to be a part of the team that -- this is ‘04 where the team didn’t make it to the gold medal game and get a gold medal. [This] is my one opportunity here. All that stuff, you’re thinking about [it], while you’re trying to have fun playing the game that you know.”
The Americans will face the French for gold on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. PT at Bercy Arena.
Curry, a future Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame selection, has played in six NBA Finals series, but never a Gold Medal Game.
Golden State Warriors
Curry is well aware that, with some close calls, Team USA has won the last four gold medals. And as he mentioned, Curry doesn’t want the Americans to replicate their outing at the 2004 Berlin Summer Olympics, where the expected-to-dominate favorites embarrassingly earned bronze behind Argentina (gold) and Italy (silver).
Fortunately for Curry, he still was a high school student in Charlotte then and not a part of the disaster. But it doesn’t matter, as “‘04” doesn’t have to pay rent to occupy a space at the back of his mind.
“It’s an interesting dynamic because we all signed up for this -- to accomplish a mission -- and we’re one game away from doing it,” Curry added. “We were threatened like crazy for 30-some-odd minutes yesterday until we finally figured it out.”
Nikola Jokić and the Serbians led the Americans by 13 points in the fourth quarter of Thursday’s semi-final game. Curry’s 36 points -- one shy of Carmelo Anthony’s single-game record of 37 in the 2012 London Summer Olympics -- helped the U.S. claw back to win, 95-91.
Victor Wembanyama and the French won’t be any easier foes for the Americans. Both teams are a win away from the same goal and are familiar with each other from their NBA endeavors.
For Curry, this is it. The 36-year-old has nothing left to prove in the NBA.
It is solely about whether Curry will retire from basketball as a gold medalist, or not.
“It’s just a matter of answering the call of ‘What’s it going to take to win one more game?’ and what that means in the scope of your career and all that,” Curry concluded. “For me, it just boils down to the Olympics. I know this is probably my one chance, so let’s go get it done.”
Steve Kerr, Curry’s Golden State and Team USA coach, knows how much the opportunity means for his longtime player; Especially after how poorly the Warriors’ 2023-24 NBA season ended -- without a playoff appearance ensued by Klay Thompson’s free-agent departure to the Dallas Mavericks.
"He said to me last week how excited he is to be back in the mix," Kerr told 95.7 The Game’s Bonta Hill and Joe Shasky Friday. "And obviously last season was tough for all of us not making the playoffs and this is a special feeling to advance to a stage like this with a competitive nature like Steph's.”
Curry and Kerr’s Warriors definitely were out of “the mix” last season, and they haven’t made the moves to give outsiders confidence that Golden State will be any different in the upcoming campaign.
For those reasons, Curry’s one shot at a gold medal means that much more. There is no telling how many more times, if any, he’ll compete for a fifth NBA title.
“It's what he lives for,” Kerr said. “He's so excited to be, as he said, back in the mix, back in the championship picture and trying to win something special. He's absolutely having the time of his life."
It is all or nothing for Curry and Team USA. And the French are coming.