Young remembers Steph’s epic shimmy on Kobe in Warriors-Lakers originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Even NBA legends fall victim Steph Curry’s signature shimmy party
That’s exactly what happened to the late great Kobe Bryant during a Los Angeles Lakers vs. Warriors game during the 2014-15 season, as former NBA guard Nick Young recently recalled on the “Gil’s Arena” podcast.
“I remember Kobe liked to do some extra motivational stuff. We played against the Warriors and Steph just killed us,” Young recalled. “We got back in the locker room and Kobe said, ‘I got him. I got him. I finally got him.’ Saying it out loud Saying, ‘I’m watching over him.’ We turn to Jeremy Lin, because Jeremy Lin was killed.
“Chef started doing the shimmy on Kobe! S–t, it’s hard to find someone like that.”
“Kobe said ‘I finally counted [Steph] out I got him, I’m keeping him.’”
Nick Young recounts the time Kobe tried to lock up Steph Curry 🤣 pic.twitter.com/eCT3VwAVrv
– Gilbert Arenas (@GilsArenaShow) November 14, 2024
The shimmy, of course, is just one of Curry’s many iconic celebrations that he whips up after a big 3-pointer or one of his killer layups.
But not one of the greats could contain the Warriors superstar that night — or that season, really, when Curry won his first NBA MVP award after averaging 23.8 points on 48.7 percent shooting from the field and 44.3 percent from beyond the arc, with 4.3 rebounds, 7.7 assists and two rebounds in 80 games.
Curry was 26 years old, while Bryant was 36 in his 19th NBA season, just one year before his final season in the league before retiring.
But there were no signs of Father Time for the Hall of Famer, who still averaged 22.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.6 assists in 34.5 minutes that season.
And as Bryant, the Lakers and the rest of the league quickly learned: Steph Curry can’t be stopped, but Young applauded Bryant’s efforts to slow him down.
“He did a better job than Jeremy Lin, I’m not going to lie,” Young said. “But Steph did pull the shimmy out on him. I’m like, ‘Kobe, you’re 36, 37 now. He is [26].’ He did shut him off a little bit, he shut off his water.”
