Steph Curry Generates 1.4 Billion Views on NBA Social Media
Whether haters like it or not, the vast majority of people want to watch Steph Curry play basketball. It makes sense why they do: He’s unlike anything anyone’s ever seen before, probably the greatest master of a single craft in the history of sports. There is no phenom quite like Steph’s shooting, something fully-weaponized by the superstar to turn him into a transcendent player.
But the shot is only one part of it. The handle, the finishing, the celebrations, the confidence; those are all things people want to watch. Even his detractors have to shake their heads sometimes at just how damn good he is. There’s an argument to be had that no other player in the history of basketball has produced more “how did he even do that” moments. People will say that he’s not all that, or that his brand of basketball has “ruined the game”, but the fact is people are watching more than ever, and a huge reason for that is Steph Curry.
Don’t believe me? Ask the numbers.
Per stats collected by BasketballNews.com, Curry has generated 1.4 billion - yes, billion with a “b” - views across NBA social media accounts. The second highest player was Ja Morant, who clocked in at 791 million, an impressive feat if it hadn’t been for the numbers Steph was doing. Across the NBA Finals, Steph’s generated about 400 million views, a lot of those coming from his spectacular Game 4 performance where he put up 43 points in a decisive victory in Boston.
What’s really insane about how much Curry is doing for the league’s viewership is that he still doesn’t get treated like a superstar when it comes to the whistle. Through the NBA Finals, Steph ranks third amongst all players (behind Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown) in free throw attempts per game. That’s not too bad, except when you go the film and see things like this happening on a lot of his shots:
Curry notoriously doesn’t get foul calls on his shots from deep unless he’s getting trucked (and sometimes not even then, still), and he also doesn’t get foul calls despite teams holding him off-ball all game. That doesn’t matter much, of course, as he’s still averaging 31 points per game on good efficiency through the Finals so far, and he’s still putting on a show even when his jumper isn’t falling. Game 5 saw a masterclass of his gravity, where he put up 8 assists with only 1 turnover despite facing highly-aggressive coverages all game.
The numbers prove that while guys like Morant are fun to watch - athletic freaks of nature who hand out posters any day of the week - there’s a market for skill just as much as athleticism. People want to see Steph work his magic when he gets the ball, or see him marathon his defender through a variety of off-ball screens to cause chaos and panic with a defense. Sometimes it looks like Steph is just playing pick-up out there with how easy the game seems to come to him.
Game 6 of the NBA Finals is tomorrow night. Now that Steph has gotten his one stinker of a game out of the way, there’s plenty of potential for him to put on another excellent performance, and with Game 6 being a possible finale in this series, the views are only going to skyrocket if Golden State hoists the trophy once again.
(Photo credit: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)