Among the many stars that shine in the NBA, Stephen Curry seems to be the most popular of them all. His jersey sales are the highest compared to the others and, with him and his team appearing in the Finals in the last 3 years national wide and winning two of them, he's pretty famous. Also, the fact that he's someone new and winning, adds marketing to the NBA. Sure, Lebron James, is the greatest player in this era, but to others they need someone new. In this year however Curry suffered from injuries that prevented him from appearing in most of the regular season but now in the playoffs word has it that he's cleared to play.
Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry are the Four Stars of the Warriors team, with Kevin Durant being labeled as the best player, however he is far from the most valuable. That honor belongs to Stephen Curry. His impact as the center of the Warriors' offense, a sharpshooting planet pulling defenders into his field, is what truly sets him apart from his contemporaries.
After an inconsistent regular season, the Golden State Warriors started 5-1 in these N.B.A. playoffs, erasing any doubts about their worthiness as a legitimate title contender without their point guard star. Now, as they appear to be hitting their stride, the defending champions were bolstered by the return of Curry. When he returned to face off against the Pelicans in game 2, many fans were excited to see his return and his importance showed. Being on the court, Curry changes the game. Driving lanes widen for this teammates, Open shots become much easier, which is horrible, especially when Golden State has that many good shooters and defenders must pick up the ball immediately or run the risk of Curry sniping from long range.
According to NBA.com, Klay Thompson expresses his joy in seeing Curry return. "It’s his ability to get easy baskets for us." Thompson said. "I think he uplifted the crowd as well. That was fun to hear the ovation he got. And he just bailed us out when we got stagnant. We missed him, I was happy we went 5-1 (in the playoffs) without him and it’s great to have him back." The fans were happy to see him as well, Draymond Green said "Just him walking on the floor, you know, it was kind of electric in here. Pretty fitting, for sure."
With Stephen Curry back, the Golden State Warriors look better than ever to win the championship again. However, things wont be easy. They still need to get past the New Orleans Pelicans and potentially the Houston Rockets or Utah Jazz if they do beat the Pelicans.
