Steph Curry nails 3, shimmies in front of Hawks bench
Defending Golden State's Stephen Curry is a frustrating and often futile task. Regardless of the defender's contest on his shots, if he can get a look up, there's a decent chance it's going in — no matter where he is on the floor.
Watching Curry pull up from 30 feet can be unnerving. But when adding insult to injury — like some of Curry's 3-point celebrations — it can be disheartening.
On Monday night in Atlanta, the Hawks rallied from a 23-point third-quarter deficit to take a lead early in the fourth quarter, giving the Warriors a legitimate scare. But the Dubs recovered, of course, and Curry naturally punctuated their response.
After losing Jeff Teague on a baseline screen from Shaun Livingston, Curry buried a 3-pointer in the left corner and turned around to shimmy in front of the Hawks' bench:
Following the game, Curry cleared up any confusion regarding his borderline-disrespectful celebration, claiming that it was for his former teammate, Kent Bazemore:
It's not the first time Curry has celebrated in front of an opponent's bench this season, though, so that excuse might not ring so true:
Of course, Steph's brother, Seth, is on the Sacramento Kings, so perhaps that staredown was for him. But it's interesting to see how differently Curry and, say, Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton are viewed by the public for their celebrating.
No, Curry didn't trademark The Dab, and he might not be as blatant with his cockiness, but he has been known to dance and shimmy and celebrate extravagantly — like this —- throughout games. Whether that's perceived as taunting, or simply having fun, usually has more to do with the viewer and how they interpret the athlete's intentions — for better or worse.
This isn't to say Curry should be ridiculed the way Newton has been, or vice versa. But Curry's on-court actions are more similar to Newton's than most will admit; they're not perceived that way, though, which isn't necessarily fair to Newton. There are certainly differences between the two athletes, and there's a nuanced conversation to be had at a different time — it's just worth pointing out how differently they're treated.
Regardless of his motivation, Curry is destroying his opponents and having fun afterward, and if a team can't figure out a way to stop him, they're going to have to deal with the dancing.
Jovan Buha covers the NBA for FOX Sports. Follow him on Twitter: @jovanbuha.
