Why Steph Curry Can Never, Ever Chuck His Mouthpiece Again

Stephen Curry knows he asked for this one. Begged for it. Wanted it so bad he not only ripped his mouthpiece out of his face but also wound up and fired it in the direction of a game official.

He has to be, and likely is, pleased that the NBA wanted nothing more than a $50,000 bite out of his newly fortified paycheck.

"It was a dumb thing to do. Stupid," he said after shootaround Monday morning. "Learn from it and try to move on and be better."

It was not nearly enough for the league that Curry apologized immediately after the mouthpiece-tossing incident that got him tossed in the fourth quarter of the Warriors' 111-101 loss to the Grizzlies on Saturday. Apologies don't carry much weight in these matters and they are entirely weightless when it's a second offense.

And that's what this was, as you may recall Curry flinging his mouthpiece late in Game 6 of the 2016 NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. He was tossed from that game, too.

Of more importance, and what Curry has to take away from this is that he can't afford another offense. Ever. Though he surely can afford it monetarily, it would rob the Warriors of their offensive catalyst.

Throwing a mouthpiece once is a forgivable mistake. Doing it twice is a relapse that some may forgive while others definitely will not. Doing it three or more times falls into the selfish category, even if selfishness is not a characteristic fairly applied to the two-time MVP.

It's conceivable that no one in the NBA gets pushed and grabbed and knocked around as much, without a whistle, as does Curry. Part of this is on him, for not being better at selling calls. Part of it is on officials who typically use a different standard for him than those usually set for MVP-caliber players.

Through it all, and it has gone on for years, Curry rarely says a peep. He plays on, simmering, but staying on task.

"I think people on the outside automatically think that these guys can control everything and be robots and score 35 and be perfectly composed," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Monday morning. "But they're all human beings, just like the rest of us. There's going to be times where you lose your mind. There's going to be times where you get angry and times where you're in perfect mental and you're playing at a high level and everything is under control.

But nobody can keep that level 100 percent of the time."

Curry's actions Saturday in Memphis were only partly the result of the officiating. The Warriors were losing, again. Curry was committing silly fouls, again. It was a buildup of unfavorable events and he lost it.

"We were playing terrible," Curry said Monday morning. "I was frustrated because I was fouling. I thought I got fouled on the last play. The reaction was definitely a little over the top.

"Stuff happens. I'm going to try to continue to be myself and show some fire, but do it in a way that doesn't take away from the team and misrepresent who I am."

Curry said Monday that he didn't bother to review his actions because he knew how unbecoming they were. He also expressed regret about lashing out. There was no need to brace for the fine he knew was coming.

Next time, though it won't be a fine that will take a fraction of his check. Next time, it'll be a suspension that will take away a piece of the Warriors.

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