Daily News 19

Tag: NBA championships

  • Lakers Legend Selected Over LeBron James for Statue Outside Los Angeles Arena

    Lakers Legend Selected Over LeBron James for Statue Outside Los Angeles Arena

    When LeBron James departed the Cleveland Cavaliers for a second time, the objective was clear: emulate Kobe Bryant and cement his legacy as a Los Angeles Lakers icon. Eight seasons later, that specific ambition remains largely unfulfilled in the eyes of the franchise’s faithful.

    James’ Lakers Tenure: One Title, Zero Finals Returns

    James delivered the franchise’s 17th championship in 2020, capturing the Larry O’Brien Trophy inside the Orlando bubble. However, the Lakers failed to reach the NBA Finals during his other seven campaigns in purple and gold. For a fanbase accustomed to sustained excellence, that singular ring places James in a different tier than the franchise’s immortal figures.

    Phil Jackson Immortalized with Crypto.com Arena Statue

    With the James era in the rearview mirror, the organization is pivoting to honor a architect of its most dominant dynasties. The Lakers announced that a statue of Phil Jackson will be unveiled on April 9, 2027, outside Crypto.com Arena.

    A Resume Built on Rings

    Jackson’s credentials are arguably unmatched in league history. Before arriving in Los Angeles, he secured six championships with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. Upon taking the Lakers helm, he immediately orchestrated a three-peat (2000–2002). After guiding the team to two Finals losses in the mid-2000s, he returned to the summit with back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010, bringing his Lakers total to five and his career total to eleven.

    Statue Prospects: Jackson vs. James

    The disparity in hardware makes the franchise’s direction logical. It is widely considered unlikely that James will receive a statue on the Star Plaza, a distinction typically reserved for figures who defined multi-title eras. Nevertheless, his eight-year chapter—marked by the 2020 title, historic scoring milestones, and global relevance—represents a significant, if complicated, volume in Lakers history.

  • Stephen Curry Arrived Alone at the Warriors and Built His Most Important Team Over 17 Seasons While Becoming an NBA Legend

    Stephen Curry Arrived Alone at the Warriors and Built His Most Important Team Over 17 Seasons While Becoming an NBA Legend

    Stephen Curry was 21 when the Golden State Warriors selected him with the seventh pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. He arrived without an NBA championship, an MVP award or any idea that the franchise taking a chance on him would eventually become nearly inseparable from his name. He was not married yet, either.

    Seventeen seasons later, Curry has led Golden State to four NBA championships, won two MVP awards and become the greatest three-point shooter in league history. The slender guard from Davidson became the face of a dynasty and one of the world’s most recognizable athletes. Now, at 38, the Warriors can place another extraordinary figure in front of him: a two-year contract extension worth as much as $136.7 million.

    Stephen Curry built a basketball dynasty and a family

    That contract figure tells only half the story of what Curry has built during his 17 seasons with Golden State.

    In 2011, two years after the Warriors drafted him, Curry married Ayesha, whom he had first met as a teenager. A year later, Riley was born. Curry was still three years away from winning his first NBA championship, and the little girl who would eventually steal the spotlight at his press conferences arrived before the basketball world fully understood what her father was about to become.

    Curry’s family grew alongside his basketball career. Ryan was born in July 2015, just weeks after Curry won his first NBA championship. Canon arrived in 2018, in the middle of the Warriors dynasty, after Golden State had won its third title in four seasons. In May 2024, Caius was born. By then, Curry had four rings, two MVP awards, a Finals MVP and virtually nothing left to prove on the court.

    Golden State made Curry the face of its franchise. At home, he is simply one of six.

    Riley is now 14, Ryan is 11, Canon is 8 and Caius, the only child too young to remember the beginning of his father’s extraordinary run, is 2. Stephen and Ayesha celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary this summer.

    Those ages show how much of life has unfolded while Curry was making basketball history.

    The 21-year-old who arrived in Golden State in 2009 is now a husband and father of four. He has watched his oldest daughter grow from a child sitting on his lap at press conferences into a teenager. His children have seen him win championships, break records, deal with injuries, return home from road trips and get up to do it all again.

    Curry does not describe that part of his life as secondary to basketball. Earlier this year, he called raising four children with Ayesha “beautiful chaos.” Watching four different personalities develop, he said, has been the “best gift and responsibility” of their lives.

    Warriors extension could cover Curry’s final NBA seasons

    The Warriors can offer Curry $136.7 million and the chance to play through age 40. For Golden State, the decision could shape the final seasons of the greatest player in franchise history. For Curry, those years will also unfold as Riley becomes a young woman, Ryan moves further into her teenage years, Canon continues to grow up and Caius begins forming the childhood memories he may one day have of his father still playing in the NBA.

    That does not mean Curry is ready to retire. Basketball remains part of his identity, and he has said the court is still his happy place. But at 38, time looks different than it did at 21.

    When Curry arrived in 2009, Golden State gave him a jersey and a place to begin his NBA career. Over the next 17 seasons, he helped transform the team into a dynasty.

    Away from the arena, he and Ayesha were building another one.

    Now, as one team decides how much it is willing to invest in Stephen Curry for the next two years, the other is already waiting for him at home.