In front of the entrance to the hallway that leads to the players’ locker rooms, Stephen Curry begins every game the same way.
He faces the rim, which stands about 60 feet ahead on the court in front of him, waits for a respectable number of Warrior faithful to gather and pull out their cell phones, and launches the ball.
Sometimes it misses. Sometimes — and much more often than you’d think — it goes in.
So that’s why — halfway through Saturday’s game against New Orleans — when Curry dribbled down the right side of the court and used a hard screen from a teammate and a behind-the-back dribble move to position himself 30 feet from the basket, he launched the ball.
Swish.
60 feet is a challenge. 30 feet is his home.
Curry is the most entertaining athlete in the world, more so than four-time MVP LeBron James, more so than Barcelona megastar Lionel Messi, more so than UFC showstopper Ronda Rousey.
The 6-foot-3 All-Star is an offensive savant, often zigging and zagging and weaving through the NBA’s best defenses on a nightly basis. He’s beaten and broken Chris Paul’s ankles, out-maneuvered and out-shone runner-up MVP James Harden, and even escaped from the clutches of 2014-15 Defensive Player of the Year Kawhi Leonard.
It always ends the same — after allowing Curry to get free, defenders can only watch and hope that his shot misses.
In the team's first three games of the season, Curry has compiled 118 points, 22 assists and 16 threes.
And while there are other NBA superstars who can score just as much as Curry can, none can do so as thrillingly, and none place you on the edge of your seat each time he dribbles up the court in transition quite like Golden State’s star guard.
Only three other players in the history of the NBA have scored as many points as Curry has in the first three games of a season: Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West and Michael Jordan.
So, after Curry scored 53 points in Golden State’s shellacking of New Orleans on Saturday, the incumbent MVP was met with a post-game question that he probably receives on a regular basis.
"Is there any way to stop you?"
Curry simply smiled and replied in a couple sentences of humble player-speak, praising his teammates and spouting some cliché about how the Warriors are taking their season one game at a time.
He can’t answer truthfully, because the truth would sound overconfident and arrogant and fabricated: There is no way to stop him.
Ultimately, what separates Curry from the other athletes across the world who sit atop their craft is his unpredictability. His improvisation. His creativity. His jaw-dropping offensive ability.
Curry is the most entertaining athlete in the world, and it’s not particularly close.
Follow Ian Cohen on Twitter @icohenb
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) drives to the basket between New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis (23) and center Omer Asik (3) in the second half of an NBA basketball game in New Orleans, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015. The Warriors won 134-120.
