When Stephen Curry’s playing days are over, he’s going to get a statue outside the Golden State Warriors’ still-to-be-built San Francisco arena. And as tempting as it will be for the designer of that statue to base it on his iconic three-point stroke, the more accurate image will be something simpler and grosser: Curry with his mouthguard hanging halfway out of his mouth. The dangling plastic mouthguard has become as central to Curry’s iconography as the tongue was to Michael Jordan or the jaw-jut was to Kobe Bryant. The difference is, you can own this piece of history.
ESPN’s Darren Rovell reports that a fan is auctioning off a game-worn Curry mouthguard, if you’re into that sort of thing:
SCP Auctions, which is based in California, said it obtained the mouthguard from a fan who picked it up off the floor near the Golden State Warriors bench after a game this season.
“Steph Curry has given more life to mouthguards than any player in history,” said Dan Imler, vice president of the auction house. “The way he flips it in and out of his mouth has become part of watching him during a game.”
Imler expects the mouthguard to sell for at least $5,000.
If you’re a diehard Steph Curry fan and you have a few thousand bucks to burn, knock yourself out, I guess. But what do you do with the mouthguard when you get it? Nobody who comes over to your house is going to want to pick it up and touch it, and if you clean it, it won’t have the two-time MVP’s DNA on it. If you’re going to spend that much money on a piece of Steph memorabilia, just buy an autographed jersey. It won’t be as unique, but it will actually look good on your wall, and you can touch it without wearing gloves.
