Warriors' Stephen Curry proves his early doubters wrong

OAKLAND - As Stephen Curry sat on the bench during the fourth quarter of Wednesday night’s history-making victory for the Golden State Warriors against the Memphis Grizzlies, his mind had a chance to wander.

Curry stopped paying attention to the perfunctory performance taking place right in front of him, stopped thinking about the clock counting down to what would soon be a record-setting 73rd win of the 2015-16 regular season for his team, and instead thought back over the course of his seven NBA seasons.

It wasn’t always like this for him. With one most valuable player award and a championship already in his possession - with one more of each quite possibly headed his way over the next two months - Curry sits peerless atop the NBA, and with 16 more victories will lead a team to a position that will be peerless in the history of the sport.

But it wasn’t long ago that Curry was a player who signed a four-year, $44 million contract that the league deemed a risk for Golden State because of balky ankles. It wasn’t long ago that Curry was being benched late in games in favor of journeyman Acie Law by then-Coach Keith Smart.

It wasn’t long ago that Curry was doubted as a prospect coming out of Davidson in 2009, when the Warriors took him with the seventh overall pick in that draft, and then doubted as to whether he was a more valuable long-term piece of Golden State’s future than Monta Ellis.

All of these thoughts, and more, rushed back into Curry’s head as he sat and watched the final 12 minutes tick off the clock of a 125-104 Golden State victory, one that capped the greatest regular season in NBA history, a final victory that was punctuated by 46 points from Curry.

“It’s really hard to put into words,” Curry said. “I remember my rookie year here and just that last game of the season, just what a different feel it was. But just I had a time where I really did take a moment.

“I think I wasn’t watching the game for about two minutes … (I was) just sitting, thinking about how far we’ve come and just the energy that was in the building was unbelievable. So I wanted to just appreciate that.

“I kind of had snapshots of moments in Oracle Arena, like the playoff series against the Spurs where I was addressing the crowd after a Game 6 loss. (I was) thanking the fans for all their loyal support and a great journey, but we were headed home after that. So thinking about that moment and kind of the difference to what tonight meant.”

Wednesday night was the culmination of what has been a remarkable transformation for Curry over the past two years. When Mark Jackson was dismissed as coach in 2014, the Warriors were certainly a talented team, and Curry a bona fide all-star. But if someone had said then that Curry was going to win an MVP and a championship in the next calendar year, then possibly duplicate that feat this season, they’d have been laughed out of just about any room.

It’s not so funny now, though. Curry has become a one-man inferno, demolishing records with an efficiency the league has never seen. Wednesday night, for example, he finished the game 15 for 24 overall, including 10 for 19 from 3-point range, to get those 46 points in 30 minutes.

By hitting those 10 3-pointers, Curry also became the first person in NBA history to eclipse 400 3-pointers in a season, finishing with 402. No other player has ever made more than 276 - the number teammate Klay Thompson hit this season.

“He just had one of the most amazing seasons that anybody has ever had in the history of the league,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.

It was unquestionably the single-greatest shooting season in league history. Not only did Curry become the first player to surpass both 300 and 400 3-pointers, but he is the ninth player to achieve the 50-40-90 club - shooting at least 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3-point range and 90 percent from the foul line.

The accomplishments keep piling up for Curry, almost as fast as the wins do for Golden State. Just a few short years ago, it was a very different reality for the NBA’s ascendant star, one where his future as a player in the league was in question because of his ankles.

Now, Curry is on top of the world. He’ll soon be the two-time defending MVP, and will very likely be a two-time defending champion not too long after that.

That’s why he spent those final few minutes of Wednesday night’s game thinking about his journey over the past seven years. From prospect to star to superstardom, it’s been a remarkable transformation for Stephen Curry, one that’s turned him into an icon and could potentially turn the Warriors into the next NBA dynasty.

That would leave anyone with plenty to think about.