OAKLAND – With the shot clock winding down on a second-half Golden State possession Sunday, and the Cleveland Cavaliers still clinging to hopes of evening the series, Steph Curry dribbled backwards and threw up a near one-handed 30-footer that hung in the air long enough to allow even J.R. Smith to glance at the clock and confirm the score.
By the time it bottomed out, two things were clear, at least in my mind: the Warriors were going to win and Curry is the best season-ticket in North American team sports.
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He’s not the best player in the NBA. Lebron James is, and Curry also probably settles in somewhere behind the likes of James Harden, Anthony Davis and his Golden State teammate Kevin Durant in the pecking order.
But none of those guys, for all their brilliance, can equal the sheer joy and excitement Curry delivers on a nightly basis. The unmatched ball-handling wizardry, the off-balance shot attempts, the open-when-he-steps-off-the-bus mentality and the playful histrionics that accompany every impossible shot make you smile, laugh, even fall out of your chair on a nightly basis. Even if you don’t like the Warriors or his antics, it’s difficult to take your eyes off him.
There are contenders in other sports, to be sure, but the nature of those games provide limitations. Connor McDavid thrills with his speed but only plays 40 per cent of the shifts and doesn’t handle the puck on every possession. NFL players play half the game and baseball sluggers get just four to five plate appearances a night.
Again, understanding where hoops sits in the Canadian sports hierarchy, I know not all will agree. Just saying.
Elsewhere from the NBA Finals as we move to Cleveland:
• The Cavaliers are the first team in the four-round playoff era to play the exact same teams in the same order in consecutive years. Like last spring, they beat Indiana, Toronto and Boston to get to the Warriors
• An impromptu "MVP!" chant when J.R. Smith went to the free-throw line Sunday was humorous, but the best nightly chant at Oracle is the long drawn-out "Waaarrrioorrrss" that takes me back to my youth and watching the cult classic of the same name that seemed to be on TV once a month. My friends and I dressed as the New York Yankees "gang" for Halloween.
• The Oakland A’s, who play home games across the parking lot from the Warriors, had one of their smallest crowds ever last week and will soon have the complex to themselves.
The Warriors move across the Bay to San Francisco in 2019, the Raiders (who share the ancient Coliseum with the A’s) are gone to Vegas in 2020. In fact, it’s unclear whether the A’s will stay in Oakland, either.
Despite the failures of the expansion hockey Seals, it’s been a glorious sports run in this city.
The A’s were baseball’s best dynasty in the 70s, winning three straight World Series; the Raiders won two Super Bowls in a five-year span (before adding a third as the L.A. Raiders), and the Warriors are on the verge of a third NBA title in four years. Throw in the 49ers of the 80s and the Bay Area has witnessed some of the greatest teams ever.
