It was last October 20th. The Warriors host the Spurs for the end of the preseason, and in the intermission, Victor Wembanyama discovers that he is going to jump in front of… Stephen Curry ! On one side, 2m23. On the other, 1m90. A funny scene whose origin the leader of the Warriors revealed.
“When you put Gregg Popovich and Steve Kerr in the same room, funny things are going to happen”, recalls Stephen Curry. “They obviously have a lot of history together. It was Coach Kerr who started it. I don’t know if he told Popovich or not, but I saw everyone’s faces when I walked in and I tried to keep a straight face. I was laughing inside because I knew I didn’t stand a chance. »
On this jump, Stephen Curry will play the shot to the fullest, but he admits that he could do nothing about the size of Victor Wembanyama’s arms, and the 25 cm difference was impossible to bridge. A Wembanyama who impressed him, but the Warriors leader does not consider him an anomaly, unlike… Muggsy Bugsthe smallest player in history.
Stephen Curry had only one goal: to be bigger than Bogues
“Oh Muggsy of course!” » answers Stephen Curry on which of the two players is the biggest anomaly. “Look at his highlights… When you’re an NBA player and you know the importance of physical and athletic qualities, you have to imagine a 1m60 player who runs in all directions… He wasn’t just showing presence, because This is disrespectful to Muggs. He had an impact on matches, he led a team and he scared some opponents. You couldn’t dribble past him. There was the ‘Muggsy Rule’: if you can’t see him, don’t dribble because he’s hidden waiting for you. »
As a kid when his father, Dell, played for the Hornets, Stephen Curry was able to dream of the NBA by seeing Muggsy Bogues play alongside the “greats”. She was more than a role model for him.
“Genetics and all these things are crazy. Wembanyama is 2m23 tall. His talent is crazy. There are two people in the body of a 2m23 man” says Stephen Curry. “But I very much doubt that we will see a 1m60 player again in the league. Since this is an outright anomaly, given what Muggs was able to do, I’m just grateful, in hindsight, to have been able to see it up close and personal. Even though I didn’t really like him at the time… Less than I do now, because back then all I wanted was to be bigger than him. I told myself I would have a chance of making it to the league. It was the landmark. The quality of my shot didn’t matter. What mattered was if I could be bigger than Muggsy, and then everything would be fine.”
