Mark WiedmerNot that Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry seems to be into such things, but just in case the two-time reigning league MVP needed a little extra motivation for the start of tonight's NBA Finals against Cleveland, ESPN may have inadvertently provided it Wednesday afternoon.
Taking into account everything from Google searches to salary and endorsements to social media popularity, the media giant's website ranked the world's 100 most famous athletes.
Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James was second, trailing only soccer's Cristiano Ronaldo. Curry came in at No. 34, with six NBA players among the athletes in front of him: James, Kevin Durant (6), the retiring Kobe Bryant (11), Carmelo Anthony (29), Derrick Rose (30) and Dwyane Wade (33).
To Curry's credit, he was somewhat surprisingly ahead of Peyton Manning (38), though behind Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton (32). Given that Durant, Anthony, Rose and Newton have all failed to win their sport's ultimate prize, championships - at least in the world of Google and Twitter - are apparently overrated.
However, what can never be overrated in assessing who will prevail in this repeat of last year's Finals is the will to win displayed by Curry, who simply refused to surrender the Warriors' crown after falling behind Oklahoma City 3-1 in the best-of-seven Western Conference final series.
Yes, the Thunder helped, especially in the sixth game, when they were outscored 16-4 down the stretch on their home court in a 108-101 loss. It also marked the first time in the series one could question whether former University of Florida coach Billy Donovan was using Oklahoma City's dynamic duo of Russell Westbrook and Durant for too many minutes, since both appeared physically and mentally fatigued down the stretch.
But Curry also all but guaranteed the ultimate outcome after winning the series' fifth game and shouting, "We're not going home."
And so they didn't, hugely helped by Splash Brother Klay Thompson's 41 points and 11 3-pointers in the sixth game, followed by 36 points and eight assists from Curry in the finale.
That amazing shooting talent is far from Curry's only MVP trait, though. Thanks to an excellent interview with Bleacher Report, Davidson coach Bob McKillop shed new light on his former player's remarkable servant leadership skills.
Two stories from McKillop in the interview bear repeating.
The first occurred during Curry's junior season, when he was the nation's leading scorer and facing a Loyola University team whose coach, Jimmy Patsos, told a pregame radio show, "I'm going to hold Steph Curry scoreless," McKillop said.
The plan was simple. Loyola would play a triangle-and-2 defense against Curry.
"That meant three defenders playing a triangle zone, and two guys guarding Steph," McKillop explained in the interview.
But during the first media timeout, Curry came to the bench and told his coach that he was going to stand in the corner with the two defenders, and "let four of our guys play against three of theirs."
The Wildcats won by 30 despite Curry failing to score, McKillop said.
The second story involved a game against top-ranked North Carolina during the 2007-2008 season. Bothered by a left wrist that looked as if it would need season-ending surgery, Curry met with his father, Davidson's two senior captains, McKillop and the school's trainer the day before the game.
Recalled McKillop: "His two teammates were seniors, and it was going to be their last year, and Steph was just a sophomore. So Steph said at the end of that conversation: 'I'm not going to have the surgery because it would put me out for the year. I will not let my two captains down.' We talk about miracles all the time. He played that year, made All-American and miraculously his left wrist healed without needing the surgery."
Almost as miraculously, and thanks almost exclusively to Curry, the Wildcats reached the Elite Eight that spring, losing a heartbreaker to eventual national champ Kansas.
Not that McKillop is proudest of Curry for his basketball accomplishments.
"The proudest moment I had was in the same week that he won the MVP, Steph was also honored by being on the cover of Parents magazine," McKillop said in the interview. "For an NBA player to be an MVP as a basketball player and as a father and a spouse, I think is very rare in our society. He has become iconic."
Does this mean Curry should be ranked ahead of James as the world's most popular basketball player? Not necessarily.
As good as Curry is - and at this juncture of his career he looks more and more like the greatest outside shooter in the history of the game - it's still hard not to place James above him.
James led the Cavs to two wins over the Warriors in last year's Finals without the help of either point guard Kyrie Irving or Kevin Love, who were both injured. Good as Curry is, does anyone think if the Warriors were without Thompson and Draymond Green that Golden State could take two games from a healthy Cleveland squad?
Yet Golden State has Thompson and Green at full strength for tonight.
And, of course, it also has Curry.
Said the unanimous regular-season MVP of the prospect of repeating as champs: "You've got to be appreciative of this accomplishment."
Curry soon added, "And I look forward to getting four more wins."
With the Finals format now a 2-2-1-1-1 deal, make it Warriors in five. Then expect Curry to be a lot closer to No. 1 than No. 34 the next time ESPN ranks the world's most popular athletes.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.