National Basketball Association

Stephen Curry: "74 isn't really a goal."

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Stephen Curry said that winning 74 games isn’t a goal as the new-look Golden State Warriors look for redemption in the NBA Finals.

The Golden State Warriors almost completed the greatest season in NBA history. They broke the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls’ regular season record of 72 wins in a season. They won their 73rd record on the last game of the regular season by handling the Memphis Grizzlies in front of an electric Oracle Arena crowd.

Many labeled the team as the greatest of all-time. Some wanted to wait for the NBA Finals to give them that title. And, of course, there were those that would never give it to them.

But the Warriors’ quest to repeat as NBA championship took a dramatic change of course in the opening round of the postseason. Stephen Curry, who was named the league’s first unanimous MVP, slipped on a wet spot and sprained his MCL. He would return in the second round, but he couldn’t completely recover.

The star struggled in Game 7 of the NBA Finals while the Cleveland Cavaliers’ point guard, Kyrie Irving, hit the series-clinching shot. Curry was clearly in his own head. And, instead of capping off an incredible, record-setting year with a championship, he was sent into the offseason as the butt of the joke.

Curry just wrapped up his tour of Asia with Under Armour and he opened up to the Warriors’ official Twitter account about his mindset heading into next year:

74 [wins] isn’t really a goal. If it happens, it happens. But all of our energy will be spent on getting ourselves ready for a championship run. We want to have a great regular season — obviously, we don’t want to have any slip-ups — but I don’t think coming into the season with the goal of 74 is a good focus. It’s about winning a championship.

Last year was incredible special. There have been plenty of great teams with serious talent, but none had reached that mark before. A lot of things have to come together in order for a team to be in the position to break Michael Jordan’s Bulls’ records.

The Warriors got off to a great start without even thinking of the record. But once they started to get close, it was definitely on their minds. While not everyone would admit it and some would even deny it (Andre Iguodala). Draymond Green was pretty open about wanting the record. As the season started to come to a close, it was clear that they wanted it.

The Warriors signed Kevin Durant following their heartbreaking loss to the Cavaliers. They’re in a position to build something incredible and establish a dynasty. After suffering the biggest collapse in NBA history, the Warriors want to make sure that they win a title.

Breaking their own record isn’t all that appealing to them. They’d rather have the jewelry.