BOSTON — Stephen Curry, for the first time in these NBA Finals, was motionless, unsure of what to do. The man who couldn’t be stifled by the league’s best defense was suddenly paralyzed — only to be held up by his father, who made his way through the crowd and absorbed his son’s tears.
Those tears weren’t even of joy, nor relief. But disbelief.
The worst feeling of being a champion once before is knowing you won’t get back there ever again, the thought the league you helped form with your style of play was moving on without you — thanking you for your services along the way, but dismissing the notion of you playing another meaningful game.