Why I Am a Warriors (but really STEPHEN CURRY) fan
Let's face it... I'm a Warriors fan because I grew up in Fremont and all "my" teams are the local ones. I started with baseball in 1971, added football in 1972, and then basketball in 1973. So someone could call me a bandwagon Warriors fan and I'd say, "You're right. Rick Barry, Cliff Ray, and Keith Wilkes' bandwagon. I remember when Jim Barnett played for us." So I was lucky enough to root for that early ring to soften the blow of the next four decades of mediocrity.
So instead of telling a pedestrian story chock full of personal flourishes, I would rather approach the question this way. I have always loved both following and playing sports, always playing something several times a week my entire life. However I am pretty mediocre as an athlete. Even if I went out for varsity sports, I would at best have been an end-of-the-bench guy at a small school. I have certainly played more basketball than anything else, but if someone asks me how good I am, I will say, "Well I'm short, old, and slow, but if you set your expectations there, I'm a pleasant surprise." That's my way of saying my strengths are hand-eye coordination, game IQ, and a continuous effort to have as broad a skill base as possible.
I don't know about you guys, but that leads me to root for players that seem like the idealized version of myself. Narcissistic, maybe - I just find it the natural way to relate to the top of the pyramid. I will always connect to the team-oriented finesse guy as opposed to the powerful, intimidating specimen.
So on the 49ers that means the greatest to me is Joe Montana. Considered slight and with a weak arm, he wasn't even drafted until the 3rd round. But he became great because he threw an accurate ball, soft enough to be easy to catch, and placed so well his receivers could run a long way with it. He meshed perfectly with Walsh's system, having an unprecedented number of options where making the right choice was the key to being unstoppable. Not fast, but just fast enough that you can't quite catch him. And perhaps the most inspirational thing... if he did throw an interception that had any kind of runback, he was usually the guy who made the tackle. It wouldn't even be a fancy tackle; he'd just put his head between the runner's legs and wrap him up, as if somebody taught him it wouldn't look macho, but it would work every time. Everyone watching the game sees that... all the way back to the last row or at home on TV. Lots of people say, "I'll do anything to help the team win," but Joe went and did the last job anyone would expect of him because it contributed. (I always wanted to tell Joe that myself; I'm still mad I spaced on it when I did get a chance to meet him.) Guys like Ronnie Lott and Terrell Owens were fantastic, but those guys were real mano-e-mano power guys - that's not my jam. Joe was my superhero form.
On the Giants, no guy fits my ideal better than Tim Lincecum. While it's true his success was based on power pitching, he arrived at it unconventionally. He took his relatively small body and developed a motion with his dad that took his considerable athleticism to generate that unholy power that no one with that build had ever done. Plus, the little character bits we got to see were endearing to me - goofy impressions, the pot bust, the changing hair, the half-Asian bloodline. He was another great underdog whose brilliance seemed to be a cheat code generated through his own hard work and craftiness.
In basketball, the antithesis of my ideal is Shaq. There's a guy whose whole game is force. "I am bigger and stronger than you, and I will impose my will by simply pushing you out of my spot." I hate playing those guys. And then here comes this guy in the 2009 draft, 7th pick after some other PG's go, the pick not even lauded by most Warrior fans on GSOM... and he is THE ONE. Stephen Curry doesn't plow through you, he shoots over or around you. I know what it's like to go onto a new court and have guys let you shoot from outside until you show them they'll pay for it. Steph does it even when they've seen it before... they just can't believe he'll shoot from 30 feet and they were foolish to not contest. Steph takes your doubt that he's a true PG by developing amazing handles that weren't genetic gifts like Kyrie Irving, but a product of his determination and work. He takes Magic Johnson's no-look passes to the next level and makes the completely blind assist. His team ethic is such that he can be a back to back MVP and still get the last guy who won one to come to his team because he assures him with total credibility that he only cares about the winning, not the credit. Rusty Simmons told the story on a Warriors Huddle that Steph was dropped by a soft drink company and then when his star rose they came crawling back with a truckload of dough and he said, "You guys weren't so interested in me when I had bad ankles. I'm sticking with what I've got." Hell yeah! I want to be the guy that does that! He one-upped R.E.M. when they told Microsoft they couldn't buy "It's the End of the World as We Know It" as the theme song for Windows with that move. And on top of all that, he's still happy to be his goofy little self, making lip-sync videos of "Frozen" with his wife that he's been with since high school and posting them. His confidence with being himself is the exact opposite of guys like Shaq - a guy whose whole game is "¿Quién es más macho?" whose machismo is so dominant that he wouldn't even improve his crappy free throw game by shooting underhand because he thought it made him look weak.
I could go on, but you all know the story. I love the Warriors because I was born here. But I'd love Steph Curry no matter what. Virtually every single thing he has done on and off the court I would be proud to do. And I can't believe people resent things like how he expresses his joy with a shimmy or turning around before the ball comes down. I would do that in heartbeat. It is way cooler than hacking the crap out of someone and then glaring at them.
You go, Steph! Your next contract negotiation is going to go something like this:
Bob: "Here's the most money we can possibly give you by NBA rules. Please sign it."
Steph: "OK. (signs.) Wanna play NBA2K now?"