You ever watch someone do something so well, for so long, that you forget they’re mortal? That’s Stephen Curry with a basketball in his hands at the three-point line.
And now, sitting on the sidelines at All-Star Weekend 2026 with a bum knee, he casually dropped a bombshell during his NBC interview: he’s coming back to the 3-point contest in Phoenix next year. Oh, and he wants Klay Thompson and Damian Lillard there with him.
Curry’s relationship with the three-point contest has always been fun. He won it in 2015 with a then-record 27 points in the final round, draining 13 straight shots like he was playing warmups at an empty Oracle Arena. The next year, Klay beat him in Toronto with 27 of his own, matching Steph’s record in the ultimate Splash Brothers showdown. Then Curry came back in 2021, dropped a ridiculous 31 in the first round, and won the whole thing on his final shot. Drama. Theater. Pure Steph.
This isn’t new for Steph. The three-point contest isn’t just some side show he decided to enter for fun. It’s in his blood, woven into the fabric of who he is as a player and as a person. Picture this: 1994 NBA All-Star Weekend in Minneapolis. A six-year-old Stephen Curry, sitting courtside with his brother Seth, watching their father Dell Curry compete in the three-point shootout. Dell didn’t win that night, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is the image seared into young Steph’s brain: his dad, under the bright lights, shooting for glory in front of the world. The racks lined up, crowd buzzing, and the crisp swish of the net. That’s where the dream got planted.
But here’s the thing: Curry hasn’t touched that contest since Atlanta five years ago. And in those five years, he’s continued to rewrite the record books, continued to make shots that shouldn’t exist, continued to prove that he didn’t just change the game, he is the game now. The man is 37 years old, shooting 39.1% from three this season, and he’s still the most dangerous shooter who’s ever lived. Damian Lillard just won his third contest this past weekend, joining elite company. Curry could join that club too with one more win in Phoenix.
Think about what that would mean. Three 3-point contest titles. The all-time leader in made threes. Eight scoring titles from beyond the arc. A legacy built on redefining what’s possible from 30 feet. And he’s doing it because he watched Dame win and thought, “Yeah, I’m not done yet.”That’s hunger. That’s pride. That’s the kind of competitive fire that made him who he is.
And wanting Klay there? That’s poetry. The Splash Brothers, back where they belong, competing for a crown that they’ve owned more than any other duo in NBA history. The Warriors are the only team ever to have different players win the contest in back-to-back years. Steph in 2015, Klay in 2016. They made that event theirs. Bringing that energy back to Phoenix, with everything they’ve been through, with everything the Warriors have been through? That’s not just nostalgia. That’s a statement.
Curry was sitting there in street clothes, injured, unable to play in the All-Star Game he was voted into as a starter, and he’s already thinking about next year. Already plotting his return: imagining the racks, the money balls, the roar of the crowd when he gets hot. You think he’s washed? You think his time is up? He’s about to remind everyone exactly who he is.
Phoenix 2027. The Chef’s coming back to cook.
