PHILADELPHIA — With just over seven minutes left in the fourth quarter Saturday, Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry leaked out after seeing teammate Buddy Hield steal the ball.
Hield quickly passed it to Curry for what usually would be a breakaway layup. Except, for the first time since 2019, Curry threw down a one-handed dunk as Golden State fans at Wells Fargo Center roared.
At the 7:15 mark, Curry recorded his 27th career regular-season dunk. But he said after the 126-119 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers that it was the final slam of his storied career.
“That will probably be my last dunk,” Curry said. “I’m calling it right now. That was the last one you’re going to see.”
Curry had 29 points and 13 assists as the Warriors’ five-game winning streak ended with Jimmy Butler on the sideline because of back spasms.
But the Warriors fought to keep their streak alive. They trailed by 13 points with 10:34 left when they went on an 18-6 run, which included three consecutive dunks. The first was when Curry’s breakaway jam.
The play happened near Allen Iverson, who was seated on the baseline; Curry arrived at the game wearing an Iverson jacket in honor of the Sixers legend.
Curry, 36, was asked if he remembered the last time he dunked in a game.
“Of course I do,” Curry replied. “Six years ago. At home. Right wing. The right corner. A little back cut. I think it was a pass from KD [Kevin Durant].”
Curry’s memory was precise. His previous dunk occurred Feb. 21, 2019.
“I was at Oracle. I never dunked at Chase [Center]. How about that?”
Curry explained that at the Warriors’ morning shootaround Saturday, assistant coach Jerry Stackhouse told him he wanted to see the game’s all-time leading 3-point shooter throw down a dunk.
After the dunk, he pointed toward Stackhouse as Curry walked to the Warriors bench during a timeout.
“He hadn’t said that all year,” Curry said. “And I haven’t heard that in years and it happened tonight.
“It was a very random comment this morning and the fact that it happened, it was hilarious.”
Curry said the dunk was a byproduct of how good his body is feeling after battling knee pain for much of the season. And he couldn’t turn down “a cherry-pick opportunity.”
“And you want to take advantage of a cherry-pick opportunity,” Curry said. “That will probably be my last dunk though. … For sure, I will only lay the ball up. It took everything out of me to get up there.”