SI Sportsperson of the Year 2018: Golden State Warriors:
(Curry’s) changed the game as much
as any who’ve come before him, so dangerous as a shooter—the greatest ever, we
can now all agree—that he’s as valuable off the ball as on it, creating a
vacuum of defensive attention wherever he is not. And he does it all with a joy
and humility that, while much celebrated, also happens to be genuine. “The
reason for all this,” says Andre Iguodala. “The soul of the team,” says guard
Shaun Livingston. “Our universe revolves around him,” says GM Bob Myers. Says
Kerr, who won titles as a player with Jordan and Duncan and is fully aware of
his current good fortune: “I cannot stress how much he’s meant to everything
we’ve done, the humility and joy.” Then Kerr suggests that SI just give the
Sportsperson Award to Steph...
Perhaps more than any Warrior, he understands the battle at hand. “I feel like my role is to not let success derail how we got here,” he says, now sitting in a back room of the hotel restaurant. “We have to overcome human nature.”
This is how Curry sees the world: a constant battle between, as he says, “the carnal and the spiritual.” The former encompasses all that’s supposed to be important: the money and the accolades and the individual. The spiritual is what really matters: family, faith, and the intrinsic rewards of doing a job the right way...
Klay Thompson, the second-longest tenured Warrior, who can be as Zen-like in affect as Curry, says, “Whenever Steph speaks, everyone listens. We all respect him because he walks the walk. He lives such a wholesome, beautiful life. It shows itself in the way he plays.”...
“Without Andre, I don’t think any of this happens,” says Kerr. He’s speaking not only about the titles, though Iguodala has been instrumental in those, but the culture. “Once he did that, no one else could complain.”...
Curry leads a corps of players who speak up, including when he publicly (and proactively) turned down a White House visit with President Trump in ’17, saying, “hopefully that will inspire some change when it comes to what we tolerate in this country.” (Trump then tried to rescind the invitation.)...
As much as Kerr hates making it about himself, he’s an obvious influence on the players. “It starts with Steve,” says Livingston. “He’s such a gifted speaker at voicing his ideas and opinion. We’re following his lead.”...
It’s all the sacrifices, small and large, that can become contagious, from Iguodala’s to Curry’s to the ones we never learn about. It’s Thompson’s being self-confident enough not to need a spotlight. (“Not low maintenance, but no maintenance,” as Kerr says.) It’s donating $10.7 million, hosting hundreds of events last year and refurbishing more than 75 courts, so many that the legends—Nate Thurmond Court in the Panhandle, Al Attles Court in Oakland—are now joined by a host of others: David Lee Court, Stephen Jackson Court and (ahem) Joe Lacob Court in Alameda. It’s center David West appearing as the guest speaker in the team’s regular Q&A series for employees last year during African-American History Month. It’s the whole team going nuts, including Iguodala’s stripping off his shirt, after new acquisition Jonas Jerebko hits a game-winning tip-in against the Jazz, who had let him go. It’s Kerr’s giving a $1,000 bonus to every team employee—there are more than 200—each time Golden State wins a title. It’s Kerr’s hating to see that fact in this story.
Perhaps more than any Warrior, he understands the battle at hand. “I feel like my role is to not let success derail how we got here,” he says, now sitting in a back room of the hotel restaurant. “We have to overcome human nature.”
This is how Curry sees the world: a constant battle between, as he says, “the carnal and the spiritual.” The former encompasses all that’s supposed to be important: the money and the accolades and the individual. The spiritual is what really matters: family, faith, and the intrinsic rewards of doing a job the right way...
Klay Thompson, the second-longest tenured Warrior, who can be as Zen-like in affect as Curry, says, “Whenever Steph speaks, everyone listens. We all respect him because he walks the walk. He lives such a wholesome, beautiful life. It shows itself in the way he plays.”...
“Without Andre, I don’t think any of this happens,” says Kerr. He’s speaking not only about the titles, though Iguodala has been instrumental in those, but the culture. “Once he did that, no one else could complain.”...
Curry leads a corps of players who speak up, including when he publicly (and proactively) turned down a White House visit with President Trump in ’17, saying, “hopefully that will inspire some change when it comes to what we tolerate in this country.” (Trump then tried to rescind the invitation.)...
As much as Kerr hates making it about himself, he’s an obvious influence on the players. “It starts with Steve,” says Livingston. “He’s such a gifted speaker at voicing his ideas and opinion. We’re following his lead.”...
It’s all the sacrifices, small and large, that can become contagious, from Iguodala’s to Curry’s to the ones we never learn about. It’s Thompson’s being self-confident enough not to need a spotlight. (“Not low maintenance, but no maintenance,” as Kerr says.) It’s donating $10.7 million, hosting hundreds of events last year and refurbishing more than 75 courts, so many that the legends—Nate Thurmond Court in the Panhandle, Al Attles Court in Oakland—are now joined by a host of others: David Lee Court, Stephen Jackson Court and (ahem) Joe Lacob Court in Alameda. It’s center David West appearing as the guest speaker in the team’s regular Q&A series for employees last year during African-American History Month. It’s the whole team going nuts, including Iguodala’s stripping off his shirt, after new acquisition Jonas Jerebko hits a game-winning tip-in against the Jazz, who had let him go. It’s Kerr’s giving a $1,000 bonus to every team employee—there are more than 200—each time Golden State wins a title. It’s Kerr’s hating to see that fact in this story.
Warriors players on joy:
"I feel like a lot of people
confuse joy and happiness," Warriors forward Kevin Durant
told ESPN. "I think happiness is a feeling that it's fleeting. It means
you can go back and forth all the time. I feel like joy is something that you
can stand on. And when you're enjoying what you do, you don't mind the
adversity, the tough times, the challenges. The little obstacles you got to
climb to get to where you want to go. I think joy is something that we can
always hold onto."
In his 14th season in the league,
veteran point guard Shaun
Livingston might have summed it up best: "Happiness can be fleeting.
It can be temporary. ... But joy is kind of long-lasting. It's a spirit that's
inside you."
Curry is the
embodiment of the Warriors' spirit of joy. The two-time MVP is not only the
centerpiece of everything they do on and off the floor, he is also the spark
plug of energy that his teammates feed off of each night.
"It just
helps to have him on the court, just to kind of keep the energy going,"
Livingston said. "Keeps us positive. Keeps our body language up. That's
the way that he plays, doesn't get down on himself. And that helps the rest of
the guys just to keep playing."
Beyond providing
that scoring punch, Curry knows he has the power to pull the best out of his
teammates, and it's a responsibility he doesn't take lightly.
"At the end
of the day, you have to be very purposeful and reminding yourself what you're
doing for a living," he said. "We should take everything seriously,
the highs and the lows and whatnot, but if we can somehow keep that the most
consistent thing that we do and just have fun playing, you can weather the
storm."
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