SAN FRANCISCO (USA) - Of the nearly 4,000 3-pointers that Stephen Curry has made in his career that'll help land him in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame one day, one stands above the rest. The most iconic three-pointer of his career was made while wearing the national team jersey. Which one?
His "Golden Dagger" against France in the Olympic Final!
That's right, Curry says his eighth and final 3-pointer in the Gold Medal Game against France ranks No. 1 above all the others that he has drilled in his famous career.
"The Golden Dagger," Curry said, when asked on "Dubs Talk" which 3-pointer he ranked higher, the shot that clinched gold at the Olympics or the one dubbed the "Double Bang" 3-ball against Oklahoma City eight years ago.
"It (Golden Dagger) takes the cake for a lot of reasons just because it’s the stage that is one game, the Gold Medal Game."
Curry had hit an astonishing 9 of 14 shots from behind the arc to lead the USA to a 95-91 come-from-behind triumph over Serbia in the Semi-Finals.
He then made seven more shots from deep against France before delivering his 'Golden Dagger' - four in the last three minutes of the game without a miss. This remarkable shot came despite France's Nic Batum and Evan Fournier contesting with their hands up to block, even as LeBron James and Kevin Durant stood wide open on the other side of the court. (You can see it at 2:06 in the Olympic video below.)
"It was the end of a four 3-point flurry that is still very surreal to me,” Curry said. "At this stage in my career, the fact that I hadn't played in the Olympics before.
To have a crescendo moment like that was crazy - Steph
"There was so much excitement and build-up for me just about being a part of Team USA basketball and being a part of the American Olympic Team, taking all of the sites and sounds. For that to have a crescendo moment like that was crazy."
Indeed, the sports world seemed to stop as everyone absorbed what they had just witnessed, the most significant 3-pointer from arguably the greatest 3-point marksman of all time.
Curry has always been an amazing 3-point shooter, from his high school days at Charlotte Christian and NCAA days at Davidson College to his NBA Championship and winning years with Golden State and his World Cup-winning triumphs with the USA.
But in international basketball, his heroics in Paris against Serbia and hosts France were indisputably his finest hours in the USA shirt and now his "Golden Dagger" ranks No. 1 all-time among his 3-pointers.
It's even higher than his legendary game-winning 3 in overtime at Oklahoma City more than eight years ago, which was Curry's 12th of that game that equaled the NBA record. That shot that gave for Golden State a 121-118 win was dubbed the "Double Bang" 3 because the commentator for the television broadcast said: "Curry, way down town, BANG! BANG! Oh, what a shot from Curry!"
Curry conceded that the shot at OKC was harder.
"Degree of difficulty, from a shooter’s perspective, I think the OKC shot was a little bit harder because it was a little bit deeper," he said. "And honestly, there are no thoughts going on in my head on either of them – just get to your spot and shoot it. Two iconic calls, too."
Curry has covered all the bases now. He's won NBA titles, two World Cups and now the Olympic gold medal.
He's also responsible for the "Golden Dagger" that fans are going to be talking about for many years to come.
FIBA