Paris Olympics: Stephen Curry Receives 1st Team USA Honor From Warriors Legend, Hours After Play-in Heartbreak

Stephen Curry and his beloved Warriors looked defeated like never before last night. It wasn’t just their playoff hopes that were dashed, but a signaling of the end of a glorious era. The Golden State came into the play-in with a goal. But they never got anywhere close to it as the Kings had the court in order from the start. They were defeated 94-118 with an abysmal performance from one of their best. Of course, dwelling on what could have been can take you only so far. And no one knows it better than Steph. But the franchise that he spent his years of blood and sweat in the making couldn’t take seeing him end the season like this.

It could have been that, but just hours after the depressing play-in episode, ‘Chef Curry’ received his first-ever Olympic jersey. The Warriors legend Chris Mullin handed the 4x champion his happy package as Steve Kerr looked on like a fond father, hoping to see a glimmer of a smile from his son. He got it! Curry was over the moon, in his own Steph-way, as he looked at the No.4 USA jersey with his name on it. He said, “Representing Team USA in the Olympics is a dream come true. I have played in two world championship teams representing our country, wearing a USA jersey, but this is another level.

“There have been so many greats who have worn this jersey at their stage and brought home the gold. So we wanna be that team as well. Very excited for the opportunity. Looking forward to the summer,” Steph concluded. Without a doubt, this was quite a wholesome and heartwarming unveil for the player himself and also all his fans.

The two instances he mentioned where he played in world championships were in the 2010 Turkey and 2014 Spain FIBA WC. He came home with a gold medal in both. But the Olympics is a different stage altogether. And to have a storied career like Stephen Curry without even one Olympic appearance; it just wouldn’t be complete.

For the first time in his 15 years of professional playing, the Warriors superstar will be making his debut in the 2024 Paris Olympics. But this wasn’t accidental in terms of the pre-planning from the NBA veteran’s end.

Stephen Curry always plans ahead

Steph’s Olympic debut was the result of careful planning. With the Curry family getting ready to welcome their fourth child, he and his beloved wife, Ayesha Curry, sat down to figure out a way to work everything out. The millionaire entrepreneur had revealed in March that she was expecting. She also shared that the baby would be due in June. Interestingly, it clears up the schedule very well for Papa Curry to be available for the Olympics, as well.

“We thought about it ahead of time, which was nice,” the 10x All-Star said to Tim Reynolds of AP News. He went to the extent of saying that had the timeline in the fall not worked out, they would’ve made a “different decision”, keeping the Olympic schedule in mind!

“Watching guys that I’ve been competing against the last 10 years all have that experience, win gold medals, I knew I wanted to do that,” he further admitted. Interestingly, the veteran has been 18-0 with the national team ever since he won a silver at the U19 World Championships, way back in 2007. Even Steve Kerr reiterated that Steph has been excited about the opportunity and everything happening now “makes perfect sense”.

The 36-year-old knew that this was his final chance to reach one milestone his resume lacked. The last window for the Olympics was here and Stephen Curry had no intention of missing it.