Juwan Morgan, who was on the Celtics in the 2022 NBA Finals, revealed how Stephen Curry promised to end their championship hopes.
Former Celtics player Juwan Morgan spoke about his experience playing against Stephen Curry in the 2022 NBA Finals. He revealed that Stephen Curry told them after Game 3 that it would be the last game in the series that they would win, which Morgan and the Celtics initially dismissed.
“Yeah, he said some wild shit… Yeah (it was warranted). It wasn’t some wild sh*t, it was more like, ‘I’m him’. Everybody else was paying attention to the court. But it was me, Malik Fitts, Nik Stauskas, and maybe Payton (Pritchard) heard it? And Matt Ryan. We’re sitting there. And he looked, and he said ‘enjoy your last win’… That was Game 3. And I was like (looks around). Like it’s 2-1. What do you mean?…”
Morgan added later that Curry's statement didn't let him sleep, as he was worried about what the Warriors would do against the Celtics. He noted that coming into Game 6, the Celtics had a good practice session, but the Warriors just relied on Curry to end up defeating the Celtics to win the NBA championship.
“This kept me up. I’m like ‘Did he? Nah he didn’t say that’… Game 6, we confident, practice is great. You dont really practice. This practice was good. So we were like ‘we smooth’. Nah. Everything we threw at him, they had an answer. 9 times of 10, the answer was just Steph.”
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Stephen Curry had an incredible performance in the 2022 NBA Finals. In 6 games, Curry averaged 31.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 5.0 assists to help the Warriors to the title. It was an all-time great showing from Curry, who secured his fourth NBA championship, and first Finals MVP.
It was perhaps the best version of Stephen Curry in the NBA Finals. While he had spectacular teammates performing well like Andre Iguodala and Kevin Durant in the past, this time, it was all on Stephen Curry's shoulders to carry his team to victory and win the NBA title.
Can Stephen Curry Win Another NBA Championship?
Stephen Curry and the Warriors have struggled to reach the same heights that they did in 2022. They were eliminated by the Lakers in the playoffs last year, and missed out on the playoffs this year entirely, after losing to the Suns in the play-in tournament. Many feel that the Warriors dynasty, as we knew it, is over unless some major changes are made to the roster.
It appears that won't be the case, as many insiders expect the Warriors to retain the core trio of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green till 2027. Keeping the aging trio till 2027 on the high salaries they have makes it difficult to add new pieces to turn the Warriors back into contenders. And while Stephen Curry is still a superstar of the highest order, he cannot carry a team without any help.
It will be interesting to see what the Warriors do in the upcoming offseason. Klay Thompson is a free agent in the offseason, and there are question marks about whether he re-signs with the Warriors, because of his high salary demands. If he takes a pay cut, and the Warriors trade Chris Paul to save salary cap space, they could make a signing to help their team contend again.
