This week has been especially disconcerting throughout professional sports. It’s been a stark reminder that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is far from over.
75 positive COVID-19 tests for the National Football League in the span of two days, various postponed games across the National Hockey League, 37 players currently in National Basketball Association health and safety protocols, including Milwaukee Bucks all-star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brooklyn Nets all-star guard James Harden.
Thankfully, professional sports had a bright spot to look to on Tuesday, from “The World’s Most Famous Arena.” Golden State Warriors all-star guard Stephen Curry broke the NBA three-point record, knocking down his 2,974th shot from beyond the arc. When the moment happened, the world of sports media stopped and relished in the greatness of what had just taken place. It seemed like a storybook ending to the transformative impact Curry, 33, has had on the game since his debut in the 2009 season, as he surpassed the mark set by Hall of Famer member Ray Allen in 511 fewer games.
Unsurprisingly, Curry’s record-breaking shot was the talk of sports radio in some capacity all around the United States Tuesday morning, including in his home marketplace: the Bay Area. Murph & Mac on KNBR in San Francisco, in conversation with radio and television personality Frank Isola, spoke not only about Curry’s greatness on the court, but also his characteristics off the court that make him one of the most likable players in the game.
Isola is an experienced journalist who covered the Knicks for both the New York Daily News and The Athletic throughout his career, and called the Warriors’ organization “first-class,” including its communications team. The morning drive radio program referenced a Tweet from the Warriors’ Senior Vice President of Communications Raymond Ridler to put Curry’s understanding of the importance of the night into perspective.
For those keeping score, that’s seven – yes, seven – different media commitments Curry performed, and on a game day nonetheless. Translate that to basketball jargon, and it’s a three-pointer and a foul to make a four point play.
“Raymond is great, [and] his whole staff does a terrific job,” said Isola. “It also tells you again – the one thing about Steph Curry: He takes his profession seriously. He knows he has a great life; and he also knows it’s really not that important.”
From a media perspective, Curry’s professionalism and cooperation with the public relations team makes the Warriors organization stronger as a whole, allowing for the promotion of the team brand and star player without hassle. Moreover, it has rendered him into an easy player to root for and to cover, something of a rarity in today’s NBA, according to Isola.
“We know how it is in the media,” said Isola. “[The] greatness is what is going to attract you to Steph Curry. The fact that he’s so likable; how can you not root for a guy like that?”
Curry thanked fans at The Garden and from afar for making last night special in a video he posted to Twitter this morning, and hopes to keep playing long enough to extend his new record so it will not be broken.
For hosts Brian Murphy and Phil McCaffrey, having an athlete like Curry is “one in a million,” and the ability to have a New York journalist like Frank Isola on the show to discuss the feat is exactly what they were hoping for from the very beginning.
“So what I said to ‘Waterboy’ on Monday [is that] ‘Steph’s going to break the record. We need a great New York-based writer, somebody like a Frank Isola,’” reminisced Murphy. “I had no idea – ‘Waterboy’ says this morning: ‘Frank Isola at 8:35…’ [Isola’s] always good, and I knew he’d be a great guy to get, and props to ‘Waterboy’ for getting him.”
“I feel like I want to do a weekly hit with Frank. He was so damn good,” concurred MacCaffrey. “[That was a] really great conversation.”
