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The NBA was the unloved brother of American sports 45 years ago when Magic Johnson and Larry Bird showed up with cleanser, polish and charm. Elite talents and extreme competitors bound by the kind of racial dynamic that enthralls this nation, they rescued the league.
Michael Jordan came along a few years later and his flair for the spectacular, along with the global technology boom, turned the NBA into the league heard around the world.
With those Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famers in their 60s, Stephen Curry, who celebrates his 37th birthday Friday, has bundled their best attributes and taken the league to another level.
It’s more than being the first player to reach 4,000 career 3-pointers, from all areas of the court, which has accorded Steph one-name status and the title of “greatest shooter ever.” That’s only the beginning, for there is no more dazzling showman in the NBA and no more committed ambassador for basketball – or, perhaps, American sports in general.
“Steph is something like we’ve never seen,” says Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, a Hall of Fame guard and NBA champion who has spent the past 27 years in various capacities within the NBA.
Billups is not wrong. Fans around the globe – all ages, faiths, genders and skin tones – are bewitched by a superstar that radiates Magic’s exuberance but sprinkles it far beyond the lenses of cameras. By someone who has Larry’s gift for scoring and sensation but has expanded it to the outer edge of creativity. By someone who has Michael’s broad appeal but with a smoother exterior and expressing a more generous heart.
If Curry were someday to run for political office – and he declines to rule it out – his resumé would offer a comprehensive thread of humanity, benevolence, kindness and common sense too often missing in 2025 America. He’s a glorified soul with a basketball, a year-round Santa bearing gifts to the unprivileged. A hooper faithful to peace, justice and compassion.
“He might be the greatest human being …,” former teammate Andre Iguodala said recently, “after…
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Publish date : 2025-03-14 08:05:00
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