ESPN’s outstanding basketball writer Jackie MacMullan recently endeavored to discover how elite NBA athletes handle pressure.
Along the way she encountered the Warriors’ Stephen Curry who volunteered that he cost his team the 2016 NBA championship.
Could it be?
At the risk of undoing three years of intensive therapy, we take you back to Game 7 of that series against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the score tied 89-89, just a little under one minute to play in regulation.
Scene-setter: The fourth quarter was excruciating regardless of your rooting interest. Curry hadn’t been great. “Curry missing shots we’ve seen him hit all season long,” said ESPN play-by-play announcer Mike Breen as a graphic displayed the numbers: The sharpshooter who had nailed more than 400 3-point attempts during the season was shooting 6-of-17 on field goals, 4-of-12 from distance.