It Must Feel Good to Drop 24 on Your Father-In-Law

I remember asking my father-in-law if I could marry my wife was incredibly awkward. A few days earlier I had called him and asked him if he wanted to get breakfast. Let me make something very clear: I had been dating Joh

n's daughter for four years and we had never spent any quality time together- much less gone to breakfast. So as I sat across from him in what seemed to be the greasiest breakfast buffet in West Tennessee, it would have been obvious to any of the other patrons that we were both seriously uncomfortable. I tried to think of what I could say to him to convince him that I was worthy to marry his daughter, but I felt like this is all he would hear, "Hey, you know that daughter you have loved and cared for since she was born? You mind if I, a 23 year old punk with no life experience, took a whack at it?" Now the conversation went better than that, and John even agreed to let me marry his daughter, but did that mean it wasn't awkward? No it was still extremely uncomfortable, but do you know what would make me feel more uncomfortable? If my father-in-law was also my boss. That has been the reality of Seth Curry over the past couple of seasons.

I don't think that Seth Curry and Doc Rivers have a relationship like Ben Stiller and De Niro in Meet the Fockers, but I personally would not want to work for my father-in-law. There are some key differences between my father-in-law and me, and Curry and Rivers. First of all I am an accountant who hates his job while John is a farmer. Seth Curry is a talented role player and his father-in-law is a legendary (*cough* unless you count the playoffs *cough* ) coach. So there really are not many similarities between the four of us. Regardless of what their relationship is, it does not change that Doc and his team traded his son-in-law away in a little trade involving Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, and Ben Simmons to Brooklyn for one James Harden. The big conversations after this trade were "Which team won the trade?", "Which stars will fit better with what team?", "Is Ben Simmons going to play?" , and "What will happen when these teams finally meet for the first time?" Luckily, that last question was answered at the end of last week.

Going into the match-up you would have thought the 76ers had not only already won that game, but had also already conquered the Eastern conference. Joel Embid was their constant superstar, and Harden was the Messiah with biggest beard since Moses. The two of them would easily overthrow the 76ers worst enemy, Ben Simmons, and cruise to another easy win behind the newly dubbed "Kobe and Shaq." Unfortunately for the Sixers they seemed to forget three extremely important points:

1. Kevin Durant, the best scorer in the NBA and the modern embodiment of the Michael Jordan "and I took that personally." meme plays for the Brooklyn Nets.

2. The game was being played in Philadelphia, which meant Kyrie Irving was going to be in the Nets' starting line-up.

3. That guy we traded away, Seth Curry, that guy can really shoot the ball.

While the primary story obviously became James Harden (3-17 on the night) laying an egg and Durant and Irving scrambling it. (I don't think this is an actual saying, but I like it.) I was interested in what it was Seth Curry was doing. Curry ended up having the second most points on the night behind Durant and finished the night 4-8 from three. The only thing I could think was "Man, it must feel good to drop 24 points on your father-in-law."

Now people are going to probably say this blog is a little biased. If you were to ask anyone who really knows me who I think is one of the most underrated players in the NBA, one of the top people on my list is always going to be Seth Curry. I just have always appreciated a person who knows their role on the team, and goes out and performs that role to the best of their ability. Seth Curry's role: get buckets. What does Seth Curry do? The man goes and gets buckets! Curry has been an effective scorer everywhere he has played, but especially when he became a starter in Philadelphia in the previous season. During the 2020-2021 regular season Curry was shooting 45% from three and averaging 12.5 points a game. A very effective role player. People really started to take notice of Curry's play during his exceptional performance in the playoffs. Curry ended up averaging 18.8 points a game during those playoffs while shooting an impressive 50.6% from behind the three point line. While the 76ers were eventually eliminated by the Hawks in game seven, it felt good to see Curry excel and prove to everyone that not only did he belong in the league, but he also deserved to be a starter. So after that playoff run I was excited to see what Curry and the 76ers would do this season. I was not dissapointed.

Curry and Embid were made for each other in a basketball sense. Embid is having a year where he could arguably become the MVP, and that kind of reputation brings something that really helps Seth Curry: double teams. Much like his big brother, Curry has a great knack for running around the court non-stop until he gets an open shot. Curry runs, and runs waiting for a defender to crash on Embid, or for Embid to set the perfect pin-down screen. Either way it leads to Curry getting an open three or finding Embid on the roll. This kind of movement doesn't only help Curry, but it is also beneficial for the way that Embid plays. If Embid has a teammate who is constantly moving off the ball, it helps when all the defenders eventually crash on him when the ball is in his hand. You know who doesn't move off the ball and usually has to have the ball in his hand to have an impact on the game? The Beard himself, James Harden.

Now, am I delusional enough to believe that Seth Curry is a better player than James Harden? No. Harden is an All-NBA level talent who has won (*cough* in the regular season *cough*) everywhere he has played. Now, am I educated enough to know that it's possible that certain players fit better in certain systems? Yes, yes I am. James Harden is going to find success anywhere he goes, but watching that game it was obvious that the Sixers were moving sluggishly in comparison to the much more up-tempo Nets team. Curry was able to get shots in transition because, like I have said before, the man is constantly in motion. Many people saw the biggest parts of this trade were Ben Simmons and James Harden, which is fair. Harden has proven himself to be an all-star throughout his career, and Ben Simmons has been a fun name to have in the news over this entire season, so it's natural that those two would grab most of the attention. However, Curry seems to be the forgotten piece that will have an impact on the Brooklyn Nets offense.

When both Irving and Durant are playing, Curry will play a similar role to what he did in Philly. I don't know if you have heard but Kevin Durant can score the basketball. Durant's ability to score will always draw crashing defenders which will lead to what? A wide open Curry coming off a down screen. The same thing can happen with Irving as well. Curry's efforts to get open will always be beneficial when the defenders are focused on the all-star talent around him. How will this work with Ben Simmons on the court? You know how I said Durant can score a basketball, let's look at Simmons as the opposite of that. If Simmons chooses to not shoot the ball, he has some extremely talented scorers around him who can take on that load. I think the Nets with everyone healthy and playing can be very dangerous, and one of the key aspects of their game will be finding an open Curry to hit a few shots for you throughout the game.

Seth Curry was able to go back to Philadelphia and put 24 points on the board against his father-in-law. That must feel good. I will be the first to admit that I am not the most handy man in the world, so often with questions of hardware my wife goes to her dad. Sometimes, however, my wife will ask me a question and I happen to know the answer. What feeling does that give me? Pure elation. So if knowing when my wife's car needs an oil change gives me absolute joy, then I can only imagine what it feels like to drop 24 points on your father-in-law.