Warriors’ Steph Curry on being an All-Star: ‘It never gets old’
As the NBA approaches the first anniversary of its March 11 shutdown, Warriors star Stephen Curry reflected on his recent challenges of getting back on the court, including a season derailed by a hand injury, his team missing the resumption of the season in the bubble and the pandemic that delayed the start of the 2020-21 season.
In all, Curry played just one basketball game in 14 months before this season. During his press conference ahead of Sunday’s scaled-down All-Star Weekend, Curry expressed appreciation for not only being able to play again, but also being able to return to his All-Star level.
“With the injury last year and the pandemic and everything that’s happened over the last year,” Curry said, “to know how much work I put in to get my game back to where I wanted to be and to be healthy and to be able to play at a high level, it means a lot.”
Curry missed 60 of 65 possible games last season recovering from a broken hand. He returned for a March 5 game against the Toronto Raptors and missed the next two games with flu-like symptoms before the NBA season was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
This resulted in nearly nine months between games for Curry and the Warriors. Now Curry is leading the league in points scored and 3-pointers made, and led all guards in votes for the All-Star Game, earning his seventh All-Star selection of his career.
“It’s not something that I take for granted at all,” Curry said. “I know how much hard work goes into it. I know what it means to be recognized as an All-Star and it definitely means a lot.”
In addition to being a starter on Team LeBron, Curry will also participate in the 3-point contest, which during this year’s showcase will take place before tip-off of the All-Star Game. Curry leads a field including Donovan Mitchell, Zach LaVine, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and Mike Conley.
Because of the pandemic, the league is condensing the multi-day event into a single night at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena. Curry and the other participants traveled to Atlanta Saturday and quarantined in their room except for time to practice. Despite the restrictions, Curry said he is still honored to be at the event.
“(I) absolutely get butterflies,” Curry said of playing in the All-Star Game. “You have an appreciation for it. It never really gets old.”