Does an Olympic Gold Medal rank higher in the trophy cabinet of a basketball player? For over 15 years, this was a question that Stephen Curry didn’t have to ponder much. After all, his entire focus was on dominating in the NBA, which he has done remarkably. However, that same prowess helped a lot during the player’s first international stint. He secured his first Gold Medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Having to rank his domestic achievements with his international accolade now, the player couldn’t help but highlight the ‘cheat code’ that comes with the latter.

In a recent interview with Stephen Colbert, the 36-year-old revealed that he can’t put the Gold Medal on the same pedestal as his other stack of accolades. After all, while the Olympics is just a one-month affair, a typical NBA regular season runs for over 7-8 months! And that is not even counting the post-season playoffs. However, the gold medal that Curry holds in his hand has a power that none of his NBA achievements have: Unity.

“It’s a tough choice like, this is definitely fifth on the title, but it has a different emotion when it comes to it. I can come in any building, you’re going to yell ‘USA’. I don’t know how many Warrior fans in here,” said Curry. “So uh, this is…. this is definitely a cheat code, right. Definitely a cheat code.”

There is no denying the fact that international sports help to bring people closer more than domestic games. With the NBA comprising 30 different franchises (29 in the USA), American basketball fans can be easily divided in supporting one over the other. If Curry’s past experiences in dealing with fans have taught him something, it is that non-Warriors supporters can get really passionate to the point that they will even start hurling insults at the player. However, when Team USA participates in any international tournaments like the FIBA World Cup and the Olympics, the same supporters do not see which player belongs to which domestic franchise, but that all of them cumulatively make a squad playing for the honor of their country.

The same belief is something that not only Steph Curry believes. During a recent segment of ‘Hear District’, Hall of Fame reporter Marc J. Spears went on to highlight the power of unity that the Olympics bring by stating “It’s different man, because you got USA on your chest. It’s not a job. It’s USA on your chest, right? You’re playing for a country. Like I was telling people, ‘This is the first time everybody could root for LeBron in our country. It’s the first time everybody root for Steph, everybody root for Durant,’ right? Like, you have people that hate the Warriors, but if you’re an American during the Olympics you could root for Steph, and it’s okay. And so, to me, like you know that’s different.”

Domestic fans can certainly be brutal. A study conducted in 2021 by Topratedcasinos.co.uk, after analyzing 3000 tweets, found that Curry was the most trolled player, with the percentage of negative messages standing at 27.9%. However, this was nothing when compared to a March 2022 report by ‘BetOnline’ that highlighted LeBron James receiving over 100,000 negative tweets within a 30-day span! The Olympics provided the perfect opportunity for the players to highlight a message of unity. And Curry himself wanted to use that ‘cheat-code’ as much as he could.

Stephen Curry puts aside NBA rivalry with LeBron James and Kevin Durant in the moment of celebration: “Same Team…Winning Team”

The veteran trio of LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant is something that NBA fans may not get to witness on the court again within the next half-decade. In fact, there is a good chance that none of the three players may be back for the 2028 LA Olympics. Therefore, before they get on each other’s throats when the NBA season commences in October, the 10x NBA All-Star wanted to make the moment count.

After the Gold Medal game against France, LeBron and Curry collaborated for an Instagram post! One of the pictures featured not only the duo but also Kevin Durant standing together, holding their respective medals in their hands. Another picture highlighted a practice session, with Steph defending Durant while LeBron looks on from the sidelines. Curry captioned the post as “Same Team…Winning Team.”

The post came just a few hours before Curry used the ‘cheat-code’ in a manner that initially made fans worry. The 36-year-old ended up editing his Instagram bio and changing the “Guard for the @Warriors” remark to “Olympic Gold Medallist.” This caused some fans to question whether it was a hint that Curry was leaving the Golden State Warriors. After all, the trauma of Klay Thompson unfollowing the Warriors on Instagram and then leaving the team gives them the foundation for being concerned. However, the four-time champion later clarified that he made the change because “I was just proud to be an Olympian.”

If you were in Stephen Curry’s shoes, where would you place the gold medal among his championship trophies, MVP titles, All-Star Honors etc? Let us know in the comments down below.

Before you go, remember to check out this crossover between BG12 and Georgia Bulldogs star Silas Demary Jr.