Superstar point guard Steph Curry has broken the three-point record with the Golden State Warriors, beating out legend Ray Allen by a comfortable margin. Curry broke the record when he and the Warriors faced the New York Knicks in December 2021.
I sat down with long-time Golden State Warrior fan and a point guard himself, Joshua “JB” Burton, to get his perspective on Curry’s new record.
TH: JB, tell me how long you’ve been a Warrior fan?
JB: I’ve been a Warriors fan all my life, ever since I was a little kid. I used to always dream about the teams.
TH: Who were some of your favorite players?
JB: Sprewell, Hardaway, Davis, Mullen, were a few of the players I liked, but none of them can compare to Curry. He’s on a different level. His shake-n-bake is off the chain. He knows how to bust them three-pointers like nobody else can do. But, I don’t think he truly gets all of the recognition that he truly deserves.
TH: Yeah, Curry is one of the best three-point shooters that I’ve ever seen. He just broke one of my favorite shooter’s records that came before him – Ray Allen. I remember seeing Allen shoot some impossible three-point shots. But, Steph is now the all-time greatest three-point shooter. The other half of the Splash brothers: Clay Thompson. Steph just sealed that record and he’s not done. The season is still going. Warriors got the best record thus far. How you feel about Curry breaking Ray Allen’s three-point record?
JB: It’s a great deal for basketball history and it’s good to see somebody break the record with their home team, especially being from the Bay Area where I’m from. To see somebody do it from my favorite team is amazing.
TH: Yeah, that’s right. Before COVID, the Warriors team used to come into the prison to play the SQ residents. Were you on any of the teams that played against them?
JB: Those were the good days. I still remember some of those times when they would come visit The Q. It felt good when they would come. It took me away from prison. I played on the SQ Warriors as a point guard. I never broke any records like Curry did. (Laughs) But I did get to celebrate a championship we won against them.
TH: Oh yeah? When was this?
JB: Well, I played on the SQ Warriors for about seven years and the game we beat them was the 2014-2015 season. That was huge to me. It feels good to put our talents with theirs but for them to come in to play against us is a gratifying experience, because those guys could be doing something else with their time. It shows us inside that we matter and that someone cares. It lets us know that we are not our crimes – we are human beings.
TH: That’s true. We are definitely human beings. What was one of your most memorable moments when they would come in the prison?
JB: One of the most memorable moments to me was when the Warriors had won their first NBA Championship after that long losing drought. They brought their Championship trophy into the prison and shared their victory with us. I was able to hoist up that trophy. The feeling I got when I did that was one that took me out of this prison reality.
TH: That must have been really nice.
JB: Yeah, it was. I look forward to when General Manager Bob Myers brings the Warriors organization back into the prison so that we can hand him another loss against us. (Laughs) I’m just joking, because the way these guys are playing this season, it looks like they will be going to the Championship again. Plus, doing it under this COVID era. That shows their dedication. I’ve got a lot of respect for the Golden State Warriors franchise.