Silver says Beal and Curry's scoring battle was 'spectacular to watch' originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Bradley Beal and Stephen Curry gave us one of the more entertaining scoring title battles in recent memory, with both players lighting up the stat sheet night in and night out as their teams clawed for a shot at the postseason.
In a season full of compelling storylines, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver sat down with NBC Sports Washington's Chris Miller and discussed why that was one of his favorites.
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"For the league, number one, you have two also just wonderful guys," Silver said. "Just complete athletes in every way, that are really centered in their community, great leaders among their teammates and two truly driven people."
"I don't think a lot of people understand how difficult it is for these guys to be doing what they're doing in terms of the 3-point shooting," Silver added.
But those who have been around the game long enough to witness its evolution can surely recognize the magnitude of what Bradley Beal and Steph Curry are doing. Silver recalled receiving a call from Celtics legend Bob Cousy, who changed the game himself en route to eight consecutive NBA assist titles between 1953–1960.
"He's in his early 90s and he said, 'I've been watching games and people don't understand how hard it is to do what they're doing. I was a guard--to shoot from 35, 38 feet out and to flick their wrist and to be making 3-pointers at the rate that they are--I want to shake people. It's super-human.'" Silver said.
Curry just barely came out on top of this battle of immortals, averaging 32.0 points per game to Beal's 31.3 points. The feat saw his name added to an exclusive list of 18 players throughout NBA history who have won multiple scoring titles -- Russell Westbrook (2015, 2017) among them.
"It was spectacular to watch those two athletes go back and forth," Silver said.
Despite Curry's incredible performances, the Warriors failed to make the NBA Playoffs. Bradley Beal and the Wizards, however, find themselves down two games to zero against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Beal has continued his brilliance in the postseason, but it'll take more than a super-human performance from the three-time All-Star to dig the Wizards out of a two-game hole. His teammates will have to follow suit.
Watch the full interview with Silver on Wizards Pregame Live at 6 p.m. Saturday night on NBC Sports Washington.
