ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — In the first quarter of Game 2 of the 2016 Western Conference between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Golden State Warriors, Draymond Green swatted a drive from Dion Waiters.
The ball caromed out to the three-point arc, where Stephen Curry seemingly had no chance to make a play on it.
In a rare miscalculation by the dextrous superstar, Curry found himself too late, but also with the prospect of crashing into the courtside seats, so he hurdled himself over and ended up crash-landing in the “walkway” in front of the first row of the stands.
Here’s a replay:
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And another:
— Jed Jacobsohn (@JedJacobsohn) May 19, 2016
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And another, with a little more “incriminating” evidence (yes, that’s a fan taking a picture with his camera at the end of the clip):
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So what the heck was Curry thinking?
“The only reason I dove was because I saw (Andre Iguodala) at the top of the key,” said Curry at the post game press conference. “So I figured if I could get my hand on it and sling it to him, he’d have a wide open layup. (I took) one step too many and went over.”
It looked like what started as a leap…
.@StephenCurry30 leaps into audience chasing loose ball against @okcthunder #NBAPlayoffs @diamond83 @timkawakami pic.twitter.com/vdsAC1K9Kx
— Jose Carlos Fajardo (@jcfphotog) May 19, 2016
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…ended up a near-horizontal crash…
.@StephenCurry30 leaps into audience chasing loose ball against @okcthunder #NBAPlayoffs @BANG_Sports @stewardsfolly pic.twitter.com/oiCrBqBoRm
— Jose Carlos Fajardo (@jcfphotog) May 19, 2016
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For what felt like a good ten seconds or more, Oracle Arena paused and awaited Curry to get up. He finally emerged with a huge welt on his elbow:
Knot too bad… #StephCurry #Warriors #NBAPlayoffs Photo by @ScottStrazzante @warriors @sfchronicle @SFGate pic.twitter.com/s9xjf69kMv
— Scott Strazzante (@ScottStrazzante) May 19, 2016
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Curry said the elbow looked “like it has a tennis ball on top of it, but doesn’t affect range of motion or anything, just some pain so I’ll be alright.”
Apparently, he had hit the metal platform which separates the courtside seats from the first row of the stands:
Stephen Curry said he hit his right elbow on this metal section between the hardwood… https://t.co/s9rEVRbIrf pic.twitter.com/0zDe5PoPiR
— J.A. Adande (@jadande) May 19, 2016
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“I missed the first row and didn’t quite get all the way to the next row,” Curry explained. “I actually hit my elbow again, so I was frustrated about that.
When you get an injury or something happens, it’s usually a magnet for another hit.”
Green wished Curry hadn’t done that. Per Marc Spears of The Undefeated:
When Curry went after that ball, I thought ‘C’mon, just let it go and we will be all right. It’s playoff basketball.’ Every possession matters. He showed that diving over the fans for the ball. But I’d rather him not do that again. I saw it and said, ‘Oh, it’s a bursa sac [elbow injury].’ He was like, ‘Yeah, it’s fat.’
From Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle:
“Flying over the seats like that, you don’t know if it’s his elbow, his leg, his head,” Green said. “…I was just hoping that he was OK. Once I got over there, I saw that he was OK, but that elbow is definitely a little puffy.”
Spears also made an interesting observation:
My man with the Afro usually catches the wayward 3-pointer at the end of the first 3 quarters, but ducked on Curry. https://t.co/uwBLXQ95wn
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpearsESPN) May 19, 2016
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Perhaps not fully cognizant of the walkway that separates the courtside seats from the stands, Iguodala and Warriors general manager Bob Myers were quite taken aback by the lack of help in breaking the fall.
“I was hoping the fans would just, like a dive at a concert — you see a guy like Steph go out there, just catch him,” said Iguodala in the locker room. “There was about four people. Just catch him! But they moved.”
Per Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group:
“Message to the fans: If it happens again, catch the man,” said Myers.
As of the postgame presser, Curry laughed, “I haven’t seen any video or anything so I don’t know how much the fans helped me.”
They might have even hurt him (in the face):
Fans, please don't punch Steph Curry. #Warriors #NBAPlayoffs Photo by @ScottStrazzante @sfgate @warriors pic.twitter.com/B2nZsQv76x
— Scott Strazzante (@ScottStrazzante) May 19, 2016
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On KNBR with Tom Tolbert, Warriors head coach said, “I don’t know if you know this, but the two people in the front row were two of our owners.”
“We’re going to have to send an email out to our ownership group: ‘If by chance Steph Curry jumps over you, please catch him,” Kerr added.
Fans generally shared the same sentiment.
Jeff Roster joked on Twitter that fans with front row seats ought to have some sort of verbal acknowledgment or understanding before the game, “Similar to exit row seats on a plane – ‘In case of an emergency are you able to…'”
After the game, Curry had his elbow wrapped, but was in good spirits.
“He’s tough. He has a background of being a great guy from a great family, growing up in the suburbs,” said Iguodala. “Toughness is not something that people would say about him, but he bounced right back up.”
A day later, Myers went on 95.7 The Game and reported that Curry was recovering without the need to drain the bursa sac and no worse than after the game.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yT-1cNkVZ_4&w=560&h=315](Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @ScottStrazzante)
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