As Stephen Curry begins his morning routine leading up to what could be his biggest game of the season Sunday, chances are he’ll find time to flip on CBS and watch a little golf.
You gotta know Curry, an avid duffer, owns a green jacket — if for no other reason than to fit in with the crowd when a busy schedule forces him to celebrate his birthday three days after the fact — on St. Patrick’s Day.
Curry might want to bust it out for an appearance at Chase Center late Sunday afternoon. No, not to honor Scottie Scheffler, Fred Couples or whoever wins at Augusta.
Rather, to salute what might turn out to be one of the most memorable basketball achievements ever.
That’s a mouthful, but nobody would have expected a similar occurrence when David Thompson and George Gervin woke up 1,000 miles apart on April 9, 1978 — a day when Gary Player thought he’d captured the biggest headline on sports pages around the world with a remarkable come-from-behind win at the Masters.
Thompson woke up in a Detroit hotel that morning, realizing he might be rested on the final day of the NBA regular season even though he was just 14 points behind Gervin in the race for the league’s scoring title.
When asked at the arena if he wanted to take the game off to better prepare himself for the upcoming playoffs, Thompson said no — and proceeded to fashion a comeback even greater than Player’s, exploding for 73 points in the last NBA game ever played at Cobo Arena.
Did it really happen? Legend says it did, even if only 3,482 can attest to it. The box score of the game — played before ESPN was even in existence and when TNT had yet to be borne of baseball-focused TBS — is in the NBA record books.
Just don’t go looking for clips on the internet, which begs the question: What were people doing with their phones that day?
Unfortunately for Thompson, news of the feat reached the Louisiana Superdome before Gervin could tip off his finale, which conveniently was scheduled at night.
The Iceman responded with a 53-point first half and finished with 63, claiming the title by four points and capping one of the most memorable days in NBA regular-season history.
Could it possibly be topped on a Sunday when there’s little left to be settled in the NBA? Never underestimate Curry.
The reigning 3-point champ finds himself in a Thompson-depth hole 48 years later. He trails Anthony Edwards by 10 in the duel to be the 2025 long-distance champ.
The NBA doesn’t schedule night games on the final day of the regular season anymore. So Curry and Edwards will wage a fair fight — both tipping off at 12:30 p.m. Pacific, Edwards at home against the Jazz, Curry at home against the Clippers.
I know what you’re thinking … Curry would have to hit three straight holes-in-one at Amen Corner to make up a 10-triple deficit in 48 minutes. Alas, this head-to-head hasn’t reached the back nine yet.
Curry gets a shot at Portland on Friday night, a patsy against which he has made nine 3-pointers on multiple occasions.
Meanwhile, Edwards is coming off an exhausting effort in a critical win over Memphis on the front end of a back-to-back Thursday night. He just might leave the driver in the bag Friday in what should be an empty-the-bench laugher against the lowly Nets.
And that would be a big mistake. Nobody waves night-night to Stephen Curry.
Come Sunday, the basketball world will have waited nearly a half-century for Thompson-Gervin II. It never really got to see the original.
This time will be different. Curry makes things different. All eyes will be on potential history in the making.
Here’s a word of advice for Edwards: Fore!
