Cleveland Cavaliers 108 - 109 Golden State Warriors NBA Results & Highlights (LeBron, Irving rally Cavaliers past Warriors)

Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James (23) passes over Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry

CLEVELAND -- With another clutch shot, Kyrie Irving took the Warriors on a trip down memory lane.

Irving dropped a short, turnaround jumper over Klay Thompson with 3.4 seconds left as the Cleveland Cavaliers rallied just the way they did in June's NBA Finals to defeat Golden State 109-108 on Sunday in a marquee Christmas matchup that more than lived up to the hype.

Down by 14 early in the fourth quarter, the Cavs chipped away and then put the ball in the hands of Irving, whose step-back 3-pointer over Stephen Curry on June 19 helped seal Game 7 and gave Cleveland its first major pro sports championship since 1964.

Match Highlights

This time, Irving went deep in the lane before spinning and making his shot over Thompson, one of the league's best defenders.

"The kid is special," LeBron James said of his teammate. "It was never in doubt."

Golden State had one last chance but Kevin Durant, who led all scorers with 36 points in his first game in the league's hottest rivalry, lost his balance coming off a screen and couldn't get off a shot as time expired.

Durant felt he was fouled by Richard Jefferson.

"I was trying to make a move," he said. "I didn't fall on my own."

James scored 31 points with a season-high 13 rebounds, Irving added 25 points and Kevin Love 20 for the Cavs, who were down 3-1 in the Finals before storming back to stun a Warriors team that won 73 games during the regular season, but came up one victory short of winning their second straight title.

Thompson added 24, Draymond Green 16 and Curry 15 -- on 4 of 11 shooting -- for the Warriors, who had their winning streak stopped at seven and fell to 9-1 against Eastern Conference teams.

The biggest present under the tree for basketball fans this holiday was filled with drama, intensity and more than a few moments that sparked reminders of last season's brilliant Finals.

"It lived up to what everyone wanted it to," James said.

Irving drained a 3 from the wing that looked a lot like the one he made on June 19, but his bucket over Thompson had a higher degree of difficulty.

"That's a really hard shot," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "I thought Klay played tremendous defense. You don't do anything different."

The Warriors set up a game-winning chance for Durant, but he stumbled with pressure applied by Jefferson and fell to the floor and watched helplessly as Cleveland's fans roared and Cavs coach Tyronn Lue clapped and screamed.

"We all think we're fouled on every play in every single game," Jefferson said. "That's why I say I know the referees have a very hard job. I switched to his body. He looked like he lost his balance. He was trying to regain his balance and as soon as I saw him start to stumble, I ran off."

The teams will meet again Jan. 16 and then not again unless they make it back to the Finals -- a "three-quel" that would be the first in league history.

To remind their guests of what happened in June, the Cavs left a door propped open just down the hallway from Golden State's locker room where a large photo of James' game-changing, career-defining block of Andre Iguodala in Game 7 was on display.

The picture had been doctored with a Cavs championship ring taped over James' left index finger.

If there was any doubt that this game meant more than the other 81 to both squads and fan bases, Green took care of that in the opening minutes.

After being called for his second personal foul, Green stormed off the floor, cursing with every step on his way to the bench. Green, whose suspension from Game 5 of the Finals helped swing the series to Cleveland, was slapped with a technical and several of his teammates came over to calm him down before things got worse.

GRUMPY OLD MAN

Jefferson still has some hops at 36.

His dunk over Thompson in the fourth quarter sparked a 14-3 run by the Cavs. Following the play, Jefferson, who missed his first eight shots, was called for a technical for winking at Durant.

"I was a little bit surprised by it, but I think they were trying to rein it in," said Jefferson, who was ejected from a game earlier this week.

TIP-INS

Warriors: Golden State fell to 11-15 on Christmas Day, 3-11 on the road. ... Curry's shooting a career-low 40 percent on 3-pointers, but Kerr is confident he'll find his touch. "The great thing about Steph is he doesn't worry about it too much," Kerr said. "He's got the confidence of M.J. (Michael Jordan). Very few players I've ever seen can miss 10 shots in a row and then make the next one like it's nothing. Steph's done it his whole career."

Cavaliers: James (301) became the third player to surpass 300 points on the holiday, joining Kobe Bryant (395) and Oscar Robertson (377). ... Cleveland has won 10 of 11. ... Irving added 10 assists. .... James brought the crowd to its feet by blazing across the lane to swat a layup by Zaza Pachulia in the first half.

UP NEXT

Warriors: Host Toronto on Wednesday to begin a stretch of five straight and nine of 10 at Oracle Arena.

Cavaliers: Visit Detroit on Monday, when James could rest after playing 41 minutes.

Check out the team sites for the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers for more game coverage.


Associated Press

NBA: Warriors 113, Pelicans 109 Draymond With Another DPOY Play To Help The Warriors Highlights

At the end of a grueling road trip, the Warriors and Pelicans delivered one of the most entertaining games of the year. The Pelicans were brilliant but not strong enough to overcome a powerful showing from the Warriors triumvirate (“quad”umvirate?) of stars. After a bumpy start, the Warriors delivered their best efforts right when they were needed the most.

The Warriors were down six at the end of the first quarter, seven at the end of the second, but turned it on for a typical 3rd quarter with a brutal 37-29 shellacking to make it 95-94 going into the fourth quarter. Yet the real coup d'etat came in the fourth, where the Warriors squeezed the life out of New Orleans by holding them to 15 points (including a complete shut out with no points in the final five minutes).

Warriors (22-4), Pelicans (8-18)

A packed arena. Several heated exchanges between opposing players. Forty-eight minutes of intense basketball. A dramatic finish.

Tuesday’s Western Conference matchup had just about everything, making for an extremely entertaining game at Smoothie King Center. Ultimately, Golden State hung on for a thrilling win. Leading by two points in the final seconds, Warriors elite defender Draymond Green knocked the ball away from Anthony Davis, a play that caused Davis to immediately look for a foul, to no avail. After a well-played game filled with back-and-forth and runs by both teams, the Pelicans didn’t have quite enough to overtake the Warriors and finish off an upset bid.

IT WAS OVER WHEN…

Green knocked down a pair of free throws with 1.4 seconds remaining, doubling Golden State’s lead from 111-109 to the final margin. New Orleans inbounded after the made foul shots but only was able to fire a desperation heave just before the buzzer.

PELICANS PLAYER OF THE GAME

In order to have a chance to knock off the juggernaut visitors, New Orleans figured to need a quality game from its All-Star and got it, along with big contributions from others, and did. Davis totaled 28 points and was exceptionally efficient (shooting 10/14 from the field), while grabbing eight rebounds and blocking five shots. Davis rested during a long stretch early in the fourth quarter, but the Pelicans were able to play the Warriors evenly and take a small lead. The one blemish for Davis was six turnovers, part of 17 the Pelicans committed.

PELICANS UNSUNG CONTRIBUTOR

Reserve guard Langston Galloway is in the midst of a tremendous three-point shooting stretch. The third-year NBA veteran almost never hesitates when he’s open beyond the arc, and the results have been excellent. Galloway connected five times on three-pointers in 12 attempts, en route to a 20-point evening. A two-year member of New York prior to coming to New Orleans, Galloway indicated after the game that he hasn’t had this much of a green light to shoot since he was in college at St. Joseph’s.

QUOTES TO NOTE

“He didn’t make the play at the end of the game. Big deal – we’ll throw it to him tomorrow and the next day and the next day and the next day. Because he’s our best player, and he’s either going to take a good shot, or make the right play to the right person. I’m fine with it. I don’t have any problem with it whatsoever.” – Alvin Gentry on the ball going to Davis on the final possession that was denied by Green’s steal

“They made some big shots. We missed some shots we’d been making all game. That’s really it. We missed a couple free throws. We put ourselves in position to win.” – Davis on what decided the final stretch of the fourth quarter

“We played well. We played together. We moved the ball. We had a little bit of miscommunication on defense, but overall our defense was good. We’ve got to take some of the stuff we did in this game and take it into the next game.” – Davis on trying to use pieces of Tuesday’s performance going forward to Thursday at home vs. Indiana

BY THE NUMBERS

14/35: New Orleans three-point shooting. Golden State shot almost exactly the same at 14/34.

18-15: Golden State scoring edge in the fourth quarter. After three high-scoring quarters, the final period more closely resembled a hard-fought playoff game, with baskets hard to come by and every possession carrying significant weight.

27: Golden State points off turnovers. NOLA committed 17, meaning the Warriors had a very good conversion rate. The Pelicans scored 12 points off 12 Warriors miscues..

NO SHOT IS SAFE! Hide your kids, hide your wife https://t.co/LTx9mUUMkh

— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) December 14, 2016

Up next?

The Warriors are have tomorrow off and are headed back home for a three game home stand. Our next game is Thursday, when we host the Knicks. But looking beyond that, it’s an exciting time here in Warriors land: the Cavs are coming over for Christmas, and GSoM night is only a few weeks away.

NBA: Thunder vs. Memphis Grizzlies Game Recap – Oct. 13, 2016

In its fourth preseason game of the young season, the Thunder fell 110-94 to the Memphis Grizzlies in a game where Head Coach Billy Donovan got a chance to see a lot of his younger players compete against high level NBA talent. In the first quarter, led by Russell Westbrook scoring eight straight points, the Thunder racked up a 31-17 advantage, dominating Memphis on both ends of the floor.

“The first quarter is about how we wanted to play,” Donovan said. “We were really good defensively and good offensively. What we were trying to do and the way we were trying to move the ball was good.”

“It was better,” Westbrook assessed. “I thought we started out strong and did a good job of playing with some good pace and getting good shots.”

As the second quarter rolled around, however, the Thunder lacked discipline both with the ball on offense and with their hands on the defensive end. Donovan’s group was in the bonus due to fouls within the first three minutes of the second quarter, and managed to be in a similarly unfortunate situation at the start of the third and fourth periods as well. The Grizzlies 44 free throw attempts combined with 28 Thunder turnovers that led to 37 Memphis points to create a difficult set of circumstances to overcome.

“We turned the ball over way too much and we certainly fouled too much,” Donovan stated firmly.

“Some of it was guys getting accustomed to playing with one another,” Donovan added. “Some of the things we have in offensively is giving guys freedom to make some plays in certain situations. Some of it was trying to make a pass to the right guy that was poorly executed. We can get better at those things and we’re going to need to get better at those things because it’s difficult to overcome those kind of turnovers.”

There were some bright spots on the night, namely the way the Thunder shot the ball from behind the three-point line. Including two first quarter launches from deep by Westbrook, the Thunder went 14-for-21 from behind the arc on the night. Many of those looks came on catch-and-shoot opportunities and from the corner, typically the most efficient jump shots in the NBA game.

“We’re getting the ball from one side to the other. We generated a lot of corner threes today,” Donovan said. “The threes that we generated today were good looks and our guys did a good job of making the extra pass.”

One of the major beneficiaries of the Thunder’s spacing and ball movement tonight was rookie shooting guard Alex Abrines. The lanky Spaniard shot 6-for-11 from the field, including a sizzling 5-for-6 from the three-point line on his way to a team-high 19 points, the most he’s chipped in since joining the Thunder.

“Shooters have this thing, some days you score everything and some days it’s impossible to score,” Abrines grinned. “I hope I have more days like those and can help the team.”

Kyle Singler also continued his hot shooting streak, going 5-for-6 from three-point range and 15 points to go with six rebounds, while Thunder reserves Ersan Ilyasova, Semaj Christon, Josh Huestis and Kaleb Tarczewski combined for 29 points off the bench. While Westbrook sat the entire second half and Victor Oladipo played just 17 minutes, the Thunder’s youngsters had a chance to compete against Memphis’ regulars, veterans like Mike Conley, Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol who each played over 23 minutes on the night.

“I was happy that they played Conley, Randolph and Gasol throughout the course of the game,” Donovan explained. “It was great for our guys to be able to go against those level of players.”

Rio Olympic 2016: Nigeria surprises Croatia to stay alive

Nigeria kept their slim Olympic hopes alive thanks to a surprising victory over Croatia.

Fueled by a strong third-quarter run, the Nigerians powered their way past the Croatians to a 90-76 victory. Three-point shooting was one of the biggest difference-makers in this one, with Nigeria lighting it up from outside to the tune of 17-36 from behind the arc. Croatia, on the other hand, struggled to find the bucket and only shot 6-28 on threes.

Nigerian guard Michael Umeh provided an offense spark, putting up a team-high 19 points to go with 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Save for one lone free throw, all his points came on threes.

Rebounds were another area in which Nigeria controlled the game, outrebounding the Croatians 47-26. Former NBA player Ike Diogu was one of the biggest contributors for Nigeria, crashing the glass for a game-high 12 boards.

Bojan Bogdanovic did what he could, putting up a game-high 28 points on 8-15 shooting from the field and 9-12 from the line. He was one of only two Croatian players to hit double digits though.

Each team has one game left in group play before the elimination rounds begin. With the loss, Croatia is no longer in contention for the No. 1 seed, while Nigeria remains alive thanks to their first win of the preliminary round.

LA Lakers sign British ex-Miami Heat forward Luol Deng in $72m deal

Luol Deng averaged 12.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists for Miami Heat last season

British forward Luol Deng has joined the Los Angeles Lakers on a four-year deal worth $72m (£55m).

The 31-year-old free agent averaged 12.3 points from 74 games for Miami Heat last season after joining them in 2014 from the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Sudan-born Deng represented Britain at the 2012 Olympics and also played for the Chicago Bulls from 2004 to 2014.

Meanwhile, former Miami team-mate and 12-time NBA All-Star Dwyane Wade is heading to Chicago.

The guard has accepted a reported two-year, $47.5m deal with the Bulls.

"I was born and raised in Chicago," said Wade, 34. "I'm excited to go back to the place I've always envisioned playing basketball.

"Growing up, Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls was the team for us."

Steph Curry: NBA & Golden State star will not compete at Rio 2016

Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors will not compete at the Rio Olympics.

The NBA's most valuable player Steph Curry has announced he will not compete for the USA at August's Rio Olympics.

American Curry, 28, has broken individual records in helping Golden State reach the NBA Finals.

The point guard says injuries picked up in the season contributed to his decision on Monday.

"My primary basketball-related objective this summer needs to focus on my body and getting ready for the 2016-17 NBA season," he said.

Curry's 18 points helped Golden State take a 2-0 lead over Cleveland on Sunday in the best-of-seven NBA Finals.

The Ohio-born player added: "My previous experiences with USA Basketball have been incredibly rewarding, educational and enjoyable, which made this an extremely difficult decision for me and my family.

"However, due to several factors - including recent ankle and knee injuries - I believe this is the best decision for me at this stage of my career."

Curry helped his franchise make NBA history with a record 73 wins in the regular season.

He also also became the first player to net more than 400 three-pointers in a regular season, finishing with 402.

Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski is expected to name his 12-man squad for Rio in late June. The men's team have won five of the last six Olympic titles.

Steph Curry Reveals Why He Doesn't Publicly Quote More Bible Verses

PHOTO: REUTERS/STEVE DYKES-USA TODAY SPORTS)

Steph Curry has never been shy about his Christian faith as an NBA star, but that doesn't mean he will quote Bible verses in every interview either.

While gracing the cover of the new May/June 2016 issue of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes FCA Magazine, Curry explains that he won't always have a Bible verse to share publicly.

"I'm not a guy who's going to be trying to bash people over the head with the Bible," he said in the magazine. "I want people to know when they see me play that something is different, that I play for something different, and whether I'm talking about it [or not], I just hope by the way I carry myself and by the way I play the game, they can see there's something different about that guy. And they find out what it is and then they know. It's part of who I am.".

Still, Curry insists that his faith plays a vital role in his professional career where he just made history with a second consecutive NBA MVP honor, achieved by a unanimous vote.

"I've always been a believer that the Lord has put whatever talent in you, [and] whatever gift He has put in you, He wants you to get the most out of that. He wants you to succeed," Curry says. "He wants you to pursue and work and be passionate about it. It's not about getting any of the glory for yourself; it's all for His [glory]. That's where you have to keep perspective. Work at it and do all you can so you get the most out of yourself, but do it for His will."

FCA magazine editor Clay Meyer spoke about how proud the organization is of Curry's accomplishments.

"We at Fellowship of Christian Athletes couldn't be happier for Stephen Curry on his second straight NBA MVP honor. It's especially heartwarming to know that a basketball star as powerful as Curry can also be grounded in his faith and in his commitment as a teammate, father and community leader," Meyer wrote. "Here at FCA, we love to tell the amazing stories of those who have put Christ first in their lives and have kept biblical principles and FCA values at the forefronts of their careers. Stephen Curry is a tremendous example to kids and gives them a godly and positive role model to follow. We couldn't agree more that he is the 'new face of the NBA,' and we're honored once again to feature one of the biggest names in all of sports in FCA magazine and tell his awesome story to fans around the world."

Curry built his spiritual foundation at a young age. According to the Christian athlete, his relationship with Jesus Christ started around middle school.

"My parents had us in church every Sunday, every Wednesday. It was more of a tradition at that point; I didn't have a personal relationship with the Lord until I went to the altar call one Sunday and the youth pastor told us to make a decision for ourselves," Curry previously told Active Faith. "The youth pastor told us we had to make a decision for ourselves, we couldn't rely on our parents. It had to be a decision on our own, and that's when I made it.".

Source: CP

LeBron James doesn't think the Cleveland Cavaliers need to lose a game to experience adversity

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Cavaliers appear to have had an easy path in going 9-0 in the playoffs, with a chance to push it to 10 this evening in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Toronto Raptors.

While the Oklahoma City Thunder and Golden State Warriors seem destined for a lengthy series, the theory is that whoever emerges will have been battle-tested and primed for a Finals slugfest.

As great as they're performing, the Cavaliers haven't faced an opponent capable of pushing them in these playoffs. There hasn't been much adversity to deal with. The inferior opposition has laid down at pressurized points of games, and the talent and depth of the Cavaliers has prevailed.

Does Cleveland need to drop a game here or there to experience some hardships? LeBron James says that's not how it works.

"No, I don't think we have to lose," James said. "We don't want to lose. That's not what we're here to do. We want to win every game that we step on the floor. We've been challenged in this postseason, multiple times by Detroit and also by Atlanta in the first two series. We just persevered and were able to come back from it and win those games. So, we don't want to lose."

The Pistons did give the Cavaliers their stiffest competition. They managed to keep the games close, but their playoff inexperience and lack of playmakers were too much to overcome. Cleveland always snatched control down the stretch.

The Atlanta Hawks didn't stand a chance in the second round, and the likelihood of the Raptors stealing a game in this series is looking slim at this point. During these nine games, there has not been a sense that the Cavaliers were in trouble.

Their counterparts in the West have experienced that pressure. Whether or not that will play a role in The Finals is anybody's guess, but from James' perspective, all the Cavs can do is play who is on the schedule, and they're trying to win.

"That's not our mindset, should never be our mindset," James said about if it's good to go through a difficult postseason period. "I don't get when people say you need to lose a game to go through something. I think we've gone through some things and if we happen to lose a game we have to be able to bounce back from it, but that's not our mindset."

By Chris Haynes, cleveland.com

Oklahoma City’s Steven Adams deals with fallout of using derogatory term about Warriors guards

Adams apologized again Tuesday for describing them as “quick little monkeys” in a televised on-court interview after Oklahoma City’s 108-102 win in Game 1 of the Western Conference final on Monday night.

Thunder centre Steven Adams, right, in action during Game 1 against the Warriors on Monday night. Adams' poor choice of words post-game caused him to apologize on Tuesday. (MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)

OAKLAND, CALIF.—Oklahoma City centre Steven Adams understands he has to live with the fallout of using a derogatory term to describe Golden State’s guards.

Adams apologized again Tuesday for describing them as “quick little monkeys” in a televised on-court interview after Oklahoma City’s 108-102 win in Game 1 of the Western Conference final on Monday night.

“I’ve already apologized for it,” Adams said.

“I can’t apologize enough through another apology. I’m just trying to focus on the playoffs now and just move forward. Obviously it was a mistake but I’ve just got to live with the consequences.”

Adams, from New Zealand, had told USA Today Sports that differences in the use of language in his home country led to his poor choice of words. He came to the U.S. in 2012 to attend college and play basketball at Pittsburgh.

In his initial apology, Adams said he “was just trying to express how difficult it was chasing those guys around.”

“It’s just different, mate,” Adams told USA Today Sports. “Different words, different expressions, and stuff like that. But they obviously can be taken differently, depending on which country you’re in. I’m assimilating, mate, still trying to figure out the boundaries. But I definitely overstepped them tonight.”

Adams comes from a very multicultural background. His father is from England, his mother from Tonga and he grew up in New Zealand.

In New Zealand, the term “little monkey” is often used to describe the antics of children. It’s less frequently used when talking about adults, but generally wouldn’t be considered offensive. However, it’s widely considered to be a taboo, racially insensitive term in the U.S.

This is not the first time “monkey” has been used to describe an athlete’s ability or crowd behaviour at a sporting event.

Other examples, both in the U.S. and internationally, include:

Sportscaster Howard Cosell referred to Washington Redskins receiver Alvin Garrett as “that little monkey” during a Monday Night Football game. Cosell set off a tempest with his comment during the Sept. 5, 1983 telecast of the Dallas Cowboys-Redskins game. After Garrett made a darting run after a catch, Cosell exclaimed, “That little monkey gets loose, doesn’t he.” Garrett said at the time of Cosell’s death in 1995 that the sportscaster met with him to try to defuse the situation. Garrett said then the comment did not bother him.

In 1996, CBS commentator Billy Packer referred to Georgetown guard Allen Iverson as a “tough monkey” during a game between the Hoyas and Villanova. Phone calls quickly flooded the switchboards at both television stations and the university, and Packer issued an on-air apology — insisting he did not mean it to be disparaging in any way. Georgetown coach John Thompson quickly jumped to Packer’s defence.

“He is not a racist,” Thompson said.

In 2008, India cricketer Harbhajan Singh called Australian player Andrew Symonds, who is black, a monkey during a game in Sydney. In this context, Symonds and the Australians complained, and Singh was initially barred from some international matches. However, India successfully argued calling somebody “monkey” is not considered racist in India, and had the ban overturned. It did cause a big stir because India, the world cricket power, was reportedly threatening to boycott the tour if the ban stood for Singh.

South African swimmer Roland Schoeman took heat in 2010 at the Commonweath Games when he said the crowd in India was acting “like monkeys.” Schoeman later apologized for his comments, saying: “If I knew it was a racial slur, I wouldn’t have used the word.”

Boxing champion Sergey Kovalev jabbed at rival Adonis Stevenson on Twitter in 2015, pointing to a child wearing a T-shirt depicting a boxer with a monkey’s face. The caption read, “Adonis looks great.” Kovalev is white and Stevenson black. Kovalev was criticized on social media and apologized for the Tweet, saying he did not know it was bad.

Back in February, the Sacramento Kings pulled a free t-shirt designed to celebrate the Lunar New Year and Chinese Year of the Monkey in part because of complaints from DeMarcus Cousins and others in the organization that it came at the start of Black History Month. The shirts, which had a purple monkey on them, were draped over seats at the arena but taken away before fans showed up.

Basketball: Russell Westbrook on Stephen Curry: 'Nothing I haven't seen'

Oklahoma City Thunder superstar point guard Russell Westbrook has never been afraid to speak his mind, and just hours before his team took on the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals series on Monday, he did just that.

When asked how different guarding two-time MVP Stephen Curry is in comparison to the rest of the league's point guards, Westbrook downplayed his upcoming task.

"He's a shooter. He's nothing I haven't seen," Westbrook said. "You know him, (Damian) Lillard, guys like that can shoot the basketball from four or five feet behind the three. You gotta do a little different job, just be physical."

We understand Westbrook's tactics, but he — along with everybody else in the league — knows that Curry is a one-in-a-million talent capable of making never before seen shots at a shockingly high rate from anywhere on the floor. Over, and over, and over again.

Just to be clear: We're talking about the same player who made 402 three-pointers in the regular season at 45.4% for the NBA record-setting 73-win Golden State Warriors, right?

The series will tip off on Monday night at 9 p.m. ET on TNT.

Stephen Curry's Shoes Reach Millions for God as Nike's Miss, Cost Them Billions

Yesterday multiple news outlets reported on Stephen Curry’s signing to Under Armour breaking the paradigm of the sneaker business model. While this is inherently true, it has also afforded Curry the unique ability to be a Godly witness to a huge audience.

Reports from earlier this month indicated that Nike rejected Curry because of his strong Christian faith and desire to have Bible verses on his sneakers. It was also cited that Kevin Durant’s scripture themed sneakers are custom made for him because that would mean exposing millions to Jesus through a sneaker, something that was not okay for the Nike brand to mass produce. While these claims sort of make sense, and could very well have some truth to it, they have not been verified.

It does draw the interesting question of, “What did Under Armour see in this young-faith-driven point guard that Nike didn’t?” ESPN found the answer, but it has more to do with Curry’s ability to shut the critics down than the scripture on his shoe.

ESPN reported that Nike took Curry for granted, and basically overlooked him in favor of “superstar” players such as Lebron James, Durant, Kobe Bryant, and, of course, Michael Jordan. Curry doesn’t fit that mold, or at least, that’s what they thought.

Morgan Stanley reported UA could potentially make $14 billion off of Curry. That’s $14 billion Nike doesn’t have, and the real value is probably much more because of the prestige of the Nike brand.

Nike is reported to own 95.5% of the sneaker market with 74% of all the NBA signed to them. They make $20 billion annually off their NBA sneakers. And while UA has ways to go to catch them, their sneakers sales are up 350% thanks to Curry, the new thorn in Nike’s side.

So what exactly happened?

In 2013, Curry’s contract was up, and it was time to re-pitch him. According to Curry’s father Dell, the pitch meeting was a disaster as the Nike executive kept referring to Steph as Steph-on. From there, it only got worse as the slides in the pitch featured Durant’s name. Dell told ESPN, he “stopped paying attention after that.”

In addition, a major concern of Curry was the chance to lead a Nike basketball camp for youth ball players. Attending Chris Paul’s camp when he was younger played a major impact on him and he wanted to impart that to the younger generation. These are not a high priority to Nike, especially one run by Curry. Instead, they chose the less proven Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving.

Dell told ESPN that his son was used to this adversity as he was merely a walk on for tryouts at his college. All along the way, Curry was told he was too small, or he didn’t have what it takes. Nike was just the next obstacle on his path to the NBA elite. Perhaps it was this encounter of not taking him serious that set the tone for him winning last year’s MVP.

All Nike had to do was match the $4 million Under Armour was offering, but they stood firm at $2.5 million. That offer will undoubtedly haunt Nike for a long time as Curry is seemingly cementing his name in the record books every week.

"Everything that makes him human and cuddly and an unlikely monster is anathema to Nike. They like studs with tight haircuts and muscles,” said Sonny Vaccaro to ESPN, who worked with Nike in the early 90s. "He was always overlooked. He was skinny, he was frail, he was all the things you weren't supposed to be. He never got his due. All of a sudden, like a bolt of lightning, Steph Curry is on the scene. And this is the hardest thing for Nike to swallow right now.”

This makes Curry the most relatable person in the NBA. His size, his grace on the court, and his ability to be the “everyman” is more obtainable than being a hulking sculpturesque athlete like Lebron or Dwight Howard.

The craziest part of the story is how Curry got involved with UA. His former teammate, Kent Bazemore sort of pushed his way into UA. He was nothing but a non-guaranteed rookie trying to make the Golden State Warriors and yet was able to get a deal. He and his agent pitched Under Armour on giving him a chance, and he would be the “brand ambassador.” Knowing that Curry’s contract with Nike was up, he pitched his teammate on the idea and Curry took a meeting. The rest is history.

“We have the right athlete in Stephen Curry,” Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank told said in a presentation earlier this year. “He is, without question, the number one basketball player on the planet today.”

Circling back to Curry’s faith, his pairing with Under Armour has allowed him to share his Christianity on a global scale. All of Curry’s sneakers feature a Bible verse or Christian imagery on it.

Last year Under Armour released the Curry One, which featured the tagline "Charged By Belief" and 4:13 on the tongue, a nod to Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

The slogan for the Curry Two is "Iron Sharpens Iron.” Proverbs 27:17 reads, "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." More info here.

Curry’s commercials and brands look to inspire and motivate, which Nike’s do as well. However, in their new commercial, they chose to take shots at Curry and play up the “superstar” image they didn’t deem Curry worthy of. 

In the Jordan 30’s commercial, the kid hyping up Westbrook says, “What y’all expect? Another choir boy running point guard?!” Watch it below.

So there you have it, the unlikely story of going from zero to hero, of Goliath getting beaten by David, of the bullied getting the best of the bully. Stephen Curry and Under Armour’s stories are similar, against unbeatable odds, they managed to buck the system.