• If they win on Thursday night in Boston against the Celtics, the Golden State Warriors and Stephen Curry will win their fourth NBA championship title since 2015.

  • At 34, the best three-point shooter in the history of basketball has not yet finished building his legend.

  • Despite his talent, he has to face detractors who tend to undercut him.

It is often when a series of performances comes to an end that one realizes the scope of the feat achieved.

Tuesday, in Game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Boston Celtics, Stephen Curry did not score three points, despite nine attempts.

A first since 233 meetings… “He still managed 8 assists [and 16 points], but above all, his team won, specifies Jacques Monclar, basketball consultant on beIN Sports.

Boston had clearly changed their defensive options and controlled Curry, but they took a heavy hit elsewhere.

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The Warriors, who lead 3-2, are only one victory away.

Andrew Wiggins, Jordan Poole and Klay Thompson perfectly relayed the boss, who had released his best performance in the NBA Finals in Game 4 (107-97 success).

“It's like in the Tour de France, resumes Monclar from the United States where he follows the epilogue of the season.

You may experience a bad day after an exceptional step.

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“Historically, I shoot better the match that follows a poor performance”, warns Curry, who could glean his fourth champion ring at 34 after those of 2015, 2017 and 2018 from Thursday night to Friday, if successful. in Boston.

He would find himself tied on the list with LeBron James and Shaquille O'Neal, and would come down to two units from legend Michael Jordan, one from Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant... and Steve Kerr (as a player), his coach at the Warriors.

On Sunday, the former Bulls and Spurs fullback, also a three-time Golden State bencher, compared his star to Roger Federer for his training routines, "one of the things that binds all great athletes" according to Kerr.

Curry and Federer, same fight for Steve Kerr

Yes, like the Swiss with 20 Grand Slam titles, Curry is great.

But how big?

For Shaquille O'Neal, the eight-time All-Star point guard is part of "the Top 10 of all time".

“When we talk about the most dominant, there is Wilt [Chamberlain] and me, slipped without false modesty the former XXL pivot on ESPN.

For the GOAT, there's Kobe [Bryant], LeBron [James] and Michael [Jordan].

The greatest shooter?

There's only one, Steph Curry.

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Accustomed to following the Warriors for the Californian daily

The Mercury News

, Dieter Kurtenbach does not like to classify the players, “a useless and regressive exercise”.

But according to the reporter, Curry “is on the 'short list' of the most influential people in basketball history.

"He completely changed the game," he continues.

Some claim he "ruined" it.

I do not agree with this idea at all.

The former Davidson Wildcats trigger, drafted in 7th position by Golden State in 2009, embodies the reign of 3-pointers, of which he is the absolute record holder, to the chagrin of mid-distance shooting enthusiasts and nostalgic fights pivots in the racquet.

"He is part of the elite in the history of basketball, full stop", says Jacques Monclar, according to whom "Baby Face" and his modest size for his sport (1.90 m for 84 kg) have "revolutionized" the discipline.

“Thanks to him, lots of kids who measure between 1.85 m and 1.90 m know that they can play at the highest level.

And if in addition he wins the title this year and is crowned MVP of the finals, the only reward he lacks… ”

A “revolutionary” player

For the moment, the son of Dell, an excellent player for the Charlotte Hornets in the 1990s, is "satisfied" with two distinctions of MVP of the regular season in 2015 and 2016, the second having been acquired unanimously by the voters, a first in the NBA… “He is underrated while his impact on the game is immense and continues to develop, judge Dieter Kurtenbach.

It's so hard for most people to appreciate things in real time, especially when it's revolutionary.

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But why is Steph Curry not fully appreciated at his fair value?

“For me, the main reason is that he is not physically dominant, judges the Californian journalist.

The constant need of the American media and, now, the public to rank players as if basketball were played one on one is a plague.

Curry, of course, is not a one-on-one player.

But he is the best team player.

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His personality, smoother than that of many of his colleagues (even if he also opposed Donald Trump when he squatted the White House), does he also play tricks on him?

"He is clearly not into gangsta rap," jokes Jacques Monclar.

Like his teammate Klay Thompson, his father was also a basketball professional.

He grew up in a sporty and affluent environment, and does not have the trajectory of a LeBron James, who comes from a harder background.

He is uneventful, with his wife and two kids.

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LeBron James fans and Stephen Curry haters

Curry and LBJ, both natives of Akron, Ohio, really only have their hometown and talent in common.

"Curry's haters are prominent sports commentators in the United States who have sworn a kind of strange allegiance to LeBron James and his fans," stings Dieter Kurtenbach.

Although clean on him, the cador of the Warriors will undoubtedly be happy to close a few mouths, in Boston on the night of Thursday to Friday and, if necessary, during a decisive game 7, on the night of Sunday to Monday in San Francisco.

History to establish a little more his place on the Olympus of the NBA, despite his detractors, that Jacques Monclar will never understand: "It's as if you were saying that Mozart was playing out of tune..."

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