With 4:11 remaining in Game 3 for the 2022 NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics, Warriors superstar guard Steph Curry and Celtics forward/center Al Horford both dove for a loose ball on the floor. During the scrum, Horford fell on Curry’s ankle causing him significant pain and sending fear and dread throughout the Warriors team and fanbase. The Celtics would win Game 3 116-100 but the focus would be on how healthy Curry would be for Game 4.
Great Leaders Are Great When Greatness Is The Minimal Amount Required For Success
Joel Klatt once said, “Greatness is playing great when greatness is required… Being a great player is you are great when that is the minimal amount required to succeed.” Greatness would be required from Curry if the Golden State Warriors were going to win Game 4 and even up the series. And greatness is what Curry delivered.
Curry would score 43 points on 14-for-26 shooting, including seven 3-pointers, with 10 rebounds in a 107-97 victory. The 43 points would be the second-most points he had ever scored in a Finals game. It would also be the eleventh time in his career Curry has had at least six 3s in a Finals game.
Great Leaders Must Overcome Great Obstacles
In the Celtics, Curry is facing the NBA’s top defensive team and have the Defensive Player Of The Year in Marcus Smart. They are picking Curry up full-court and double-teaming him as far as 40-feet from the basket. The Celtics are also attacking Curry on the defensive end. Through the first four games, the Celtics have targeted him 52 times per NBA Stats. Curry has largely been up to the task. After the Celtics went 10-for-16 against him in Game 3, they were only 4-for-11 when targeting him in Game 4.
In his postgame interview, head coach Steve Kerr said, “Just stunning. The physicality out there is, you know, pretty dramatic. I mean, Boston’s got obviously, the best defense in the league. Huge and powerful at every position. And for Steph to take that — that kind of pressure all game long and still be able to defend at the other end when they are coming at him shows you, I think, this is the strongest physically he’s ever been in his career, and it’s allowing him to do what he’s doing.”
Great Leaders Have Great Passion
I define passion as owning the results. It is a “not on my watch” or “over my dead body”-type of mentality. Curry’s passion was immeasurable in Game 4. Teammate Draymond Green said, “He wasn’t letting us lose.” Fellow splash brother Michael Thompson said, “The heart on that man is incredible.”
Passion Is Driven By Urgency
If the Warriors lost Game 4, it was be nearly impossible to overcome a 3-1 deficit. If the Warriors are to win this year’s championship, they desperately needed to tie up the series at two games apiece. After the game, Curry said, “Means everything knowing the sense of urgency we had to have tonight. Proud of everybody. … Felt like we just had to let everybody know we were here tonight.”
Great Leaders Produce Great Results
What ultimately defines successful leadership is does the leader get the job done? If people put their trust in a leader and follow them, does the leader fulfill deliver on their promise. Is progress actually made? Did they bring home the bacon?
Regarding Curry, he not only brings home the bacon, but the entire breakfast menu! The Warriors have now won 39 road playoff road games during his career. He has scored at least 30 points on 20 different occasions in the play-offs but many pundits consider Game 4 as the defining moment in his career. However, Curry said, “I don’t rank my performances. Just win the game.” And that is what the Warriors did.
When asked how the ankle injury from Game 3 affected Curry’s play, Kerr jokingly said, “Yeah, I think he was really laboring out there. He really struggled.” But he then turned serious reflecting, “Just stunning.”
Celtics Marcus Smart noted, “We were there. He made a lot of the shots where we were contesting from behind. We had somebody there and he was just making them. That’s what he does.”
Teammate Jordan Poole summed it up by saying, “We wouldn’t have won without him. And I don’t know if you can even say besides 43 and 10 because 43 and 10 is crazy, especially in the NBA Finals. He’s our leader, and that’s what he does.”
What Curry does is deliver superior results and win.
The Value Of Experienced Leadership
After the first quarter ABC’s sideline reporter Lisa Salters asked Kerr what was the key to Curry’s hot start? Once again Kerr replied in a deadpan fashion, “He’s really good at basketball.” That is an obvious understatement.
At the game’s conclusion, Salters interviewed Curry. When asked about how he is performing at such a high level, Curry said, “Been here six times, you got a lot of experience just staying composed, confident, the endurance to fight through the foot and just play my game for however many minutes I’m out there. Just thankful for everybody on our team because we brought a lot of toughness tonight and physicality which allowed us to get off to a better start, stay in the game and go win it at the end… We do this together. It’s not an individual thing. It’s not just a stat sheet. We’ve got to do it for two more wins.”
Many organizations mistakingly minimize the value experienced leaders can bring. Curry reminds of the following benefits of experienced leadership:
- Experienced leaders have been there before.
- As a result, experienced leaders are more likely to stay composed.
- This composure brings a certain level of confidence.
- Experienced leaders also understand the value their teammates bring.
- Finally, an experienced leader like Curry knows Game 4 is over. Game 5 is going to start with a score of 0-0.
Curry knows he just had a defining performance, but they still need two more wins to become champions. I’m not betting against him.
I want to give a special thanks to The Athletic for this article and this article which aided in my research.
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