I’m not typically a big basketball watcher. I tend to lean more toward the sports I once played, partially due to having a more solid understanding of their ins and outs.

Basketball has always been right there on the edge for me. I only played “competitively” in elementary school. I enjoyed it and even convinced my dad to take a road trip from St. Louis to Chicago to see Jordan play.

As I transitioned from a bespectacled sharpshooter on a sub-10-foot hoop to a chubby, still bespectacled middle schooler, my basketball days were numbered. The lack of basketball in St. Louis, paired with the 1998 home run chase and the emergence of the Greatest Show on Turf, left me only following basketball as a third sport, mostly relegated to March Madness and the NBA Playoffs with no main rooting interest.

I’ve seen Steph Curry play basketball and been awed by his insane three-point shooting abilities. But I’ve never had a strong rooting interest for him until Team USA. Sure, I enjoyed his run as an underdog at Davidson, and he helped make one of the rare enjoyable dynastic teams. But I still get excited for some good old-fashioned country pride.

All that is to say, being able to watch Steph Curry guide Team USA through the Gold Medal game at the 2024 Olympics with a rooting interest for my country was something new. And, damn, Golden State fans have had it good for a while.

Team USA may have been heavy favorites, but they also faced intense home court advantage going up against the host nation of the Olympics.

Going down to the final minutes, things did not look great for Team USA. Some sloppy ball-handling and clutch shots from Team France made the game close.

Then Steph took control.

The four three-pointers he made in the final three minutes were dagger after dagger after dagger.

The first came after watching an 82-72 lead transform into a slim 82-79 lead, punctuated by a put-back (apparently in FIBA it’s not goaltending) by Victor Wembanyama that got the stadium rocking.

After a couple of Kevin Durant free throws, Team France got it back to within six points with 2:11 to play. Team France was looking for a stop to have a chance to get it to a one-possession game, but that hope lasted all of 18 seconds as Curry went down and threw up his second dagger three, making it 90-81 with 1:53 to play.

France managed to storm back and keep hope alive, hitting their own three just 11 seconds later.

Curry took his time with the third dagger, going 28 seconds before hitting the three to make it a nine-point lead.

But France was nothing if not plucky in this game. They got an offensive board and dished it back out to the big Frenchman for a three to make it a six-point game.

With Team France refusing to go away and Curry already hitting three consecutive three-pointers that should have sealed it, nerves could creep back in.

Surely he can’t keep this up. There were 55 seconds left in the home nation’s own stadium. They were refusing to fade away after trailing much of the game. This could shape up to be a seminal moment for Team France’s basketball squad.

Then Curry took the ball back down the court, dribbled around, threw a random behind-the-back pass, got the ball back, and heaved up the most ridiculous fadeaway three-point attempt over two defenders I’ve seen outside of rec league.

And it swished right through, effectively locking up the gold medal for Team USA.

I was watching in my living room while the kids played and let out an unintentional “No way!¹” as I threw my hands in the air.

That was a fun game to see, and I’m glad I got to experience Steph Curry from the perspective of a fan vested in my team taking home the win.

1. I did a decent job of censoring myself with the kids around.