Steph Curry’s prediction that the Golden State Warriors would “whoop that trick” hilariously backfired, and the Memphis Grizzlies were sure to rub it in.
Heading into Game 5, Steph Curry was a little too confident that the Warriors would dominate in Game 5.
So confident, in fact, that Curry jazzed up his Memphis pre-game prediction with some local flavor: the Warriors gameplan was to “whoop that trick.”
The reference is to a track in the 2005 film “Hustle and Flow” in which an aspiring rapper records a song by that name. Curry used a Memphis reference to burn the city, but the city burned him right back.
The Grizzlies finished the game 134-95, catching up to the Warriors in a 3-2 series. Grizzlies fans didn’t let Curry live down his embarrassing prediction.
During a fourth quarter timeout, the Grizzlies dance crew hyped up the crowd as the song blared over the speakers. All Curry could do was laugh, while Draymond Green made a point to join in on the fun as he swung around his towel.
Grizzlies wouldn’t let Steph Curry live down his “whoop that trick” prediction
While Curry dealt with his prediction the best way he could, Green’s embrace of the celebration was an unexpected turn of events. Green explained his decision to join in during a post-game interview.
“They’re not going to whoop that trick alone,” Green said. “We’re going to whoop that trick together if we’re going to whoop that trick.”
“One thing I don’t respect is people who only bring it when they win it, or embrace crowds when you win it,” Green said. “We call those front-runners. We’re not front-runners, you know? We got our a** kicked. That’s alright, it happens. But you don’t be front-runners.”
“When you spew it out, you got to be willing to take it — not hide from it, not duck from it, not run from it,” Green continued. “Embrace it. I appreciated the crowd tonight, the energy they brought to the game. If they want to whoop that trick, we’re going to whoop them together.”
Green’s attitude is the best way that Golden State could have dealt with the embarrassing loss: there was no getting around the fact that the Warriors did not play their best basketball in Game 5. Ideally for Golden State, there won’t be any Game 6 predictions that will fire up the Grizzlies for an encore.