Steph explains mindset behind first-ever ‘night night’ celly originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
As the “night night” celebration continues to take the sports world by storm, Steph Curry recently looked back at when he first did it and the impact it has had so far.
“The first time I did it was Game 3 in Denver. It happened quick, and it was one of those situations where you were back in the playoffs vibe,” Curry said in an interview with Boardroom’s Nick DePaula. “We had missed it for two years. I was just feeling amped being back on that stage.”
The four-time NBA champion added that down the stretch in the fourth quarter after a critical stop, he was just talking to himself.
“‘Put ’em to sleep. Put ’em to sleep.’ That was the conversation I was having with myself. Not with anyone else on the team or anyone else in the arena,” Curry said.
After hitting a tough layup against 2021-22 NBA MVP Nikola Jokić, Curry decided to do the then-unnamed celebration.
“I didn’t say, ‘night night’ at the time. I was just telling myself, ‘Put ’em to sleep,’ ” Curry recalled. “Fast forward to Game 5, when I made the last layup to go up five with 19 seconds left. That was the official, ‘Put them to sleep.’ The camera didn’t get me on that one, but I actually said it.”
From there, the ‘night night’ took off, with Curry doing the celebration in each of the following series against the Memphis Grizzlies, Dallas Mavericks, and in the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics.
What’s more, soccer stars like Neymar and Alex Morgan have performed the celebration as well, showing just how versatile it is. It is also set to be featured in NBA 2K23, which is scheduled to release in September.
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With the ‘night night’ celebration fully entrenched in the sports world, Curry can claim that he not only changed basketball but also the celebration game as well.
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