Stephen Curry might snag all-time NBA single-season team record
OAKLAND, Calif. (CHRISTIAN EXAMINER) — The Golden State Warriors, led by 2014-15 NBA MVP Stephen Curry — known for his Christian faith — will take a perfect 15-0 record into play Tuesday night at home against the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Warriors are seeking to become the first team in history to start the season 16-0. Currently they share the honor of the league's best-ever start with the 1948-49 Washington Capitols and the 1993-94 Houston Rockets.
People in and out of the game are talking about whether they will challenge the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls' all-time season record.
"I'm calling it," tweeted Shaun King, a senior justice writer for the "NY Daily News." "The @warriors are going to beat the Bulls all-time record of 72-10. They are amazing."
The @ESPNStatsInfo Twitter account tweeted: "The 2015-16 Warriors compare very favorably to a Bulls team that finished 72-10." The account shared a graphic that compares several stats through the first fifteen games, including record, points per game and opponents field goal percentage and the Warriors come out on top in all them.
Fox 32 Chicago Sports recently tweeted: "How concerned are you about the #Bulls 72-10 record being broken?"
And Ron Harper, who was a member of that Bulls team, responded to a tweet about Golden State's possibility of breaking the record with a bit of a twist: "records are made to be broke but we would've sweep that team for sure!!!!"
Curry, the team's All-Star guard who scored an impressive 37 points to lead Golden State to their win last week, admits to having an eye on the mark. He doesn't want the team to get distracted by chasing it, but it's clearly on his mind.
"We know how hard it was to win 67," Curry is quoted as saying in a recent "San Jose Mercury News" article, referring to the team's win total last season. "You feel like, what games did you give along the way? But we're off to a better start than we were last year, and I think we have talked about we're a better team, so a lot goes into that. That would be nice to hit (72 wins) and something that we would be very proud of obviously. It's still more to the formula of winning a championship. We want to be at the best we can be, and if that's 72, 73 wins, then so be it."
That 95-96 Bulls team was led by another league MVP, Michael Jordan, who played with stars such as Scottie Pippen, John Salley, Dennis Rodman and a 6-3 guard named Steve Kerr — Golden State's head coach, although he is currently on a leave of absence, recovering from back surgery.
The Warriors are coming off their first championship season since 1975 and they haven't missed a beat — thanks to their sharp shooting behind the three-point line (their 41.6% average leads the league) and to Curry, who leads the league in scoring with 32.7 points per game average, four points per game higher than Oklahoma City guard Russell Westbrook, who is second in the league. Curry is also tied for second in steals with 2.6 per game.
Earlier this season, Curry moved past his father, Dell, on the all-time three-point list. Dell played 16 seasons in the NBA, most of them with Charlotte.
Curry gave a moving speech after being named the league's MVP last season. He offered individual tributes to his teammates. He singled out staffers, including the equipment person, security and management. And he thanked his high school coach and family. At the end, he sought to inspire those who were listening.
"You don't have to live anybody else's story," he is quoted as saying on the "San Jose Mercury News website. "Sometimes people make it seem like you have to have certain prerequisites or a crazy life story in order to be successful in this world. But the truth is you really don't. It doesn't matter where you come from, what you have or don't have, what you lack or what you have too much of, but all you need to have is faith in God, an undying passion for what you do and what you choose to do in this life, and a relentless drive and the will to do whatever it takes to be successful in whatever you put your mind to."