Steph Curry Almost Broke Down in Tears After Losing to Kevin Durant, Ex-NBA Star Recalls Warriors Locker Room Incident

Until 2022 Stephen Curry had all but one among his accolades. But how badly did he want it? The accolade in discussion is the NBA Finals MVP award. The debate regarding Steph Curry not winning any was quite prevalent before 2022. So much so that even the GSW star wanted it, or, at least that’s what it seems from the revelations made by former NBA star Nick Young.

Appearing on Gil’s Arena, Young revisited the 2018 NBA Finals when Curry came close to winning the award but it was eventually Kevin Durant who claimed it. “I remember they was neck and neck, KD and Steph. And then Steph had one bad game. KD was hitting. Locker room Steph, head was down, d*mn near tears… He wanted to win that b*tch,” he said. Young further claimed Durant wanted Steph to win the award, but The Golden Boy scored his lowest ever in the finals.   

The ‘one bad game’ mentioned by Young was Game 3 of the 2018 NBA Finals. Prior to that, Steph had scored 64 points in the two games combined, while KD had scored 52 points. But in Game 3, Curry could manage just 11 points — a repetition of his NBA Finals’ lowest score that came earlier in the 2016 Finals. And although the 10x All-Star made a comeback in Game 4 with 37 points, it didn’t prove good enough against KD’s 43 points in Game 3. 

Notably, this was not the first instance when fans were speculating that Curry would claim the Finals MVP. When Andre Iguodala won the award in season 2015, Steph didn’t receive even a single vote for himself. Even though he averaged 26 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 6.3 assists in the Finals, Iguodala was credited for his defensive efforts on Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James. However, the answer to the question that Curry had been facing for a long time came with the 2022 Finals. 

Steph Curry’s 2022 sigh of relief          

The Golden State Warriors clashed with the Boston Celtics in the 2022 Finals, and the GSW claimed a 4-2 win in the series. And The Golden Boy put up an impressive stat-line of 31.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 2.0 steals per game in the series. 

Thus came an end to a series of media headlines till season 2022 claiming to contemplate — why Stephen Curry has not won NBA Finals MVP? Once this question was null, the 4x NBA champ discussed the feeling during an appearance on ‘Lead by Example’. “It felt amazing only because I knew I didn’t have to hear about it ever again. It was about us winning again. That’s why I was crying on the court,” he said. 

The 10x All Star further re-emphasized his biggest relief was that he’ll never have to hear about it again. With this, Stephen Curry now stands with almost all the awards and accolades a point guard can hope for.  

Stay tuned for more such updates. And to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the Reese-Clark rivalry and more, watch this video.