Well, it took Stephen Curry five showcase games and four encounters in Paris to find his rhythm in the Olympics. But when he finally got there, it was beautiful to watch. Taking over in the final two games against Serbia and France, Steph produced two of the most dominant performances the world had ever seen. Looking back on his journey to win his first Olympic gold, Team USA’s veteran assistant coach Mark Few revealed a trait in Steph’s personality that allowed him to come through when his team needed him the most.
Making an appearance on The Herd with Colin Cowherd, Mark claimed that he was amazed at Steph’s clutch performance even though he has seen many great players shine on the international stage having worked with Team USA since 2009. Then, he credited Steph for his work ethic, “There is a reason it happened. I’ve never been more impressed with somebody’s approach to their individual workout, and he did it diligently every single day at the end of every practice.”
In the first four games of the tournament, Steph faced major shooting struggles as he could average only 7.2 points and shot an abysmal 25% from the three-point line. But Mark noticed something special in him, “I told the staff afterwards, he’s got a little bit of the Ted Lasso, the memory of a gold fish or whatever it is.” Obviously, he was referring to the famous sitcom starring Jason Sudeikis where his character as a head coach tells his players to “Be a gold fish” because they have a ten second memory and can look past adversity with ease. And Steph showed a similar trait as he got past his previous struggles and averaged 30 points on 65% shooting from deep range in the semi-final and final.
After the gold medal win, head coach Steve Kerr revealed that even though Steph was happy with the team’s success, he was frustrated with his own performance in the first four games. But the two-time MVP never lost self-belief. Moreover, Steph got a helpful advice from someone who has watched him in every good or bad situation for the last ten years. “Coach (Steve Kerr) reminded me, at a certain point, early, the game will come to you if you allow it.” Steph revealed in an interview.
Continuing with what Kerr told him, Steph said, “And even if I was missing shots, just stay engaged. And that kind of fed into being locked in for these last two games, because the game called for me to get shots up, and knock them down… you just stay confident, stay present, and don’t get rattled by the moment.” Sure enough, the advice struck the right chord and Steph came in clutch to seal Team USA’s fifth straight gold medal at the Olympics.
Before you go, do not forget to check out this crossover between BG12 and Georgia Bulldogs star Asia Avinger
