Steph Curry drew quite the crowd over the weekend at the American Century Championship in Stateline, Nev.
The Warriors megastar was the clear fan favorite at the celebrity golf tournament, but apparently, not all fans were a part of Dub Nation.
"Yeah, it's a four-hour drive from my house to here," Curry told reporters after securing his first ACC title win. "Like you said, a lot of Warrior fans. Surprisingly, there's -- well, not surprisingly, there’s a lot of [Sacramento] Kings fans, and surprisingly they were way more loud or vocal than the Warriors fans.
"I heard a lot of 'Light the Beam!' I heard a lot of 'Let's Go Kings' and that kind of stuff. That gave me a little gas in the tank, too, for sure. That's part of -- even after my rookie year was my first time playing in this tournament, you could tell there was a lot of Dub Nation that would make the trip up and be here to support the tournament before I even accomplished anything in the league, and it's only grown from here. I appreciate the love and support, for sure."
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It hasn't been long since Curry last heard similar screams from passionate Kings fans. His Warriors met the Kings in the first round of the 2023 NBA playoffs, and Curry had to block out -- or tried to block out -- deafening "Light the beam!" chants for seven games.
And Kings fans weren't the only ones who fueled a fire in Curry.
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NBC public address announcer Nick Casanova jokingly mocked the four-time NBA champion during Curry's intro, naming all of the point guard's accolades but making it known that he hadn't won the ACC yet.
"He's the NBA all-time leading 3-point shooter, nine-time All-Star, two-time league MVP, four-time champion, but he still hasn't won the big one, the American Century Championship, welcome, Stephen Curry," Casanova said as Curry and the crowd laughed.
That -- on top of chants from Sacramento fans -- was just the motivation Curry needed to secure his first ACC title.
"He's back there in the corner. I know he writes his own stuff. He's got his own material. I told him he manifested this because he never really acknowledged how much I wanted to win this, and it's special," Curry told reporters after the win. "I don't know what you're going to have for next year. I'm looking forward to the creativity. It will be fun to come back.
"You know I'll be back next year trying to defend a title, which is great."
