Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
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Steph Curry scored 56 points against the Orlando Magic last night and sent the basketball world into a meltdown. NBA fans on social media appeared to unite, paying tribute to a generational sports player who, a few years ago, was derided as the figure who “ruined” basketball.
On Feb. 27, the Golden State Warriors beat the Orlando Magic 121-115. Steph Curry, the 36-year-old point guard, assisted by delivering 12 three-pointers.
His overall performance in the game was so impressive that it provoked a swell of online activity that, surprisingly, was broadly positive about Curry and his legacy. This led to some people online cracking jokes and making memes:
While others got emotional about Curry’s performance and legacy:
And different people compared his career number of 50-point games to those of other players, such as Lebron James:
Statistics were another common trend, with rafts of accounts posting about Steph Curry’s awe-inspiring records:
Overall, there are thousands and thousands of posts about Steph Curry’s performance against the Orlando Magic across social media, with Twitter/X, TikTok, and Facebook all brimming with people praising his game.
And it’s this particular response that we’re going to examine.
Why Is There Such A Positive Reaction To Steph Curry’s 50-Point Performance Against The Orlando Magic?
First things first, let’s dig into the nature of sports. Effectively, this fandom is a form of tribalism. Having something to root for or against is essential in this field—and research backs this up.
The linked paper states that fans of sports tend to foster “fluctuating adversarial [relationships]” with teams, players or other fans. This increases the emotional investment in games and the overall enjoyment of a season’s narrative.
To rephrase that: disliking another NBA team or player is as vital to enjoying sport as following your own team is.
Often, it’s most successful teams that tend to attract the greatest ire. Arguably, in the past decade, that team was the Golden State Warriors. Since 2014, the team picked up four NBA titles and reached six finals. In the 2015-16 season they had a 73-9 record, the best in the league’s history.
Steph Curry was a vital cog in this run, picking up two MVP awards along the way.
All this is to backup a rather simple point: Steph Curry is an easy figure for anyone but a Golden State Warriors fan to dislike. In fact, he was actively despised by many and constantly accused of “ruining” basketball and the NBA.
Yet the outpouring of affection and respect on social media following his 56 point game against the Orlando Magic on Thursday tells a different, newer story.
Rather than being against Stephen Curry and decrying his influence on basketball, there was a sense of awe. So what happened?
Firstly, there’s the context of his age and the general recent performances of the Golden State Warriors.
As a 36-year-old, Curry is reaching the end of his career. This allows people online to reflect on what he’s achieved already, but it also makes the sort of performance he dropped last night even more impressive. He’s no longer a novelty to be feared or jibed at, he’s a consistent performer who has been in the NBA for almost two decades.
Then, with the Golden State Warriors struggling in the past few seasons, it makes them broadly easier to like—or at least stomach—as a team. Now they’re not winning titles every year, general NBA fans can appreciate what they did in the past, without being as concerned about their actions in the present.
A figure like Steph Curry is easier to admire when he’s not constantly beating your team, after all.
The second point revolves around the sheer number of records Curry has broken. When another domino falls, there are a raft of accounts and people quick to post about his achievement.
This creates a sense of momentum where these records are shared and engaged with widely, spreading across the NBA sections of social media, making it easy to also adapt this narrative.
Effectively, it’s a snowballing trend. When what you see on social media is generally positive, that can nudge people in that direction as well.
All in all, a performance like Steph Curry’s against the Orlando Magic in the twilight of his career is a surprising, going against the decline that people expect from athletes. But, combine this with a record-breaking career, and you have a recipe that can cause the NBA community to come together and celebrate his career.
Basketball might never see another figure like Steph Curry, so it’s refreshing that social media is enjoying him and his record-breaking antics while it still can.
