The Golden State Warriors did all they could to clinch a higher seed, before moving on from the regular season. They won their season finale 123-116 against the Utah Jazz.
Despite their efforts, the Warriors finished 10th because the Lakers and Kings also won their respective games.
Stephen Curry watched helplessly from the sidelines, as he was out with an ankle injury for the final game.
To add salt to his wounds, Steph missed out on another accolade to his teammate Klay Thompson, who had no idea if he was even eligible to achieve that rare feat.
Until Sunday’s season finale, Stephen Curry was this year’s league leader in free-throw percentage at 92.3%. He knew he was in competition with Bogdan Bogdanovic (92.1%) and Damian Lillard (92%).
But Klay Thompson came out of nowhere to upset his Splash Brother’s chances and steal his award at the last minute. Klay headed into Sunday’s game with 122 free throws, 3 shy of the criteria for the award.
Notably, the 5-time All-Star shot 5 of 5 from the charity stripes against Utah, taking his season free-throw total to 127!
Klay surpassed Steph’s free-throw percentage, finishing with a whopping 92.7% to bag the trophy. His last-minute victory seemed to have irritated Steph that he demanded a change in the 125 free-throws rule. He said in an interview, “Yeah, I’m gonna see if they rewrite the rules.” Steph then revealed that they had no clue, including the winner himself! “He didn’t even realize he gets a little plaque or trophy or something”.
He was reportedly even more annoyed with Klay’s nonchalant response to beating him to the title. “Oh, that’s cool,” he remarked.
Klay Thompson is not the first teammate to steal Stephen Curry’s spotlight at the last minute. 2 years ago, the Baby-Faced Assassin faced a similar situation with Jordan Poole. It was a heated battle till the final game and Poole beat Steph with a free-throw percentage of 92.5%. Interestingly, Steph finished with 92.3% that season as well. JP became the youngest player in NBA history to lift the trophy for the best free throw shooter. Despite the loss, Steph showed true sportsmanship and presented Poole with the award at the start of the following season.
After Klay beat him, Steph revealed if he was okay with the trophy staying in Golden State despite him losing. He hilariously replied, “No, I hate losing. Absolutely not.” The Baby-Faced Assassin has always been a fierce competitor, be it against opponents or his teammates. In an interview with former Warriors President Bob Myers, Steph revealed a “healthy insecurity” that he possessed for what’s coming next, despite his immense success. And that’s what keeps on driving him to always stay on top of his game.
It has been six years since Steph last led the league in free-throw percentage. Although he has achieved that feat 4 times in his career and is even the NBA’s all-time leader (91%) in that category, Stephen Curry would have undoubtedly loved to take that trophy home one more time.
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Source: The Washington Post
