When Steph Curry was struggling from long range, he turned to the experts. Not basketball experts, though—musical theatre experts like Lin-Manuel Miranda and his smash hit Hamilton.
Curry saw Hamilton in San Francisco during his slump and used the musical phenomenon’s motivational soundtrack to help him get his groove back. According to a brilliant piece written by somehow unemployed former ESPN writer Sherwood Strauss, Curry’s musical inspiration came after Curry drew comparisons between himself and America’s first secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton. From the ESPN The Magazine piece:
“I am not throwing away my … shot,” Steph belts out, followed by the whoosh of leather hitting twine. “I am not throwing away my … shot.” Another swish.
Curry has just seen Hamilton in San Francisco. Not having known much about it going in, he was entranced by the production and has since embraced “My Shot” as an anthem (“for obvious reasons,” Steph explains with a smile).
Hamilton uses “shot” as a metaphor for opportunity. And there the parallels between man and musical end. Alexander Hamilton, or at least the stage version of him, is a selfish jerk whose arrogant undoing causes his wife to belt, “I hope that you burn.” Meanwhile, Curry might lead the league in G-rated, adorable portrayals of his marriage on social media. But while he has little in common with the Hamilton of Hamilton, after a night at the Orpheum Theatre with his wife, Ayesha, he’s feeling an ambitious ode to reclaiming what’s his.
Because Hamilton is larger than you or I and its influence will soon create the third biggest economy on Earth, we know the exact date the Currys saw Hamilton: March 12. Steph and Ayesha got in before the show opened to the public on the left coast thanks to a special event with Champion Charities. He also posted about it on Instagram.
Curry saw Hamilton on the heels of three straight Warriors losses. He famously did not dress against the Spurs on March 10, but the two previous games saw him go just 3 of 17 from behind the arc. After Hamilton and what had to be a very quick iTunes purchase, Curry’s game from distance slowly improved.
Curry shot 6 of 8 from three in a win over Milwaukee on March 18. He went 7 for 12 against Oklahoma City on March 20 in another win. As Curry got right, the Warriors won 14 straight to finish out the month of March, and dropped just one game before cruising into the postseason back in championship form.
So there you have it. Lin-Manuel Miranda can fix basketball superstars, too. The man really is magic.
