Stephen Curry Takes Panthers’ Super Bowl Loss in Stride

Stephen Curry joined fans in poking fun at the Carolina Panthers’ Super Bowl loss, takes social media response with a laugh.

More from Golden State Warriors

• Warriors unlikely to draft Anthony Edwards due to character concerns
• Warriors: September minicamp mimics NBA bubble
• Warriors: Eric Paschall named to NBA All-Rookie first team
• Warriors reportedly eyeing a wing in the 2020 NBA Draft
• Warriors: Is the team destined to trade its No. 2 overall draft pick?

The world of social media can be a cold, unforgiving place, and not many people know that better than 3-time NBA All-Star, Stephen Curry. Though the reigning NBA MVP has enjoyed a rise in popularity over the past couple years, with that increase in exposure has come a number of haters who continually wish nothing but the worst for him, his young family, and the Golden State Warriors.

But that’s sports right? We’re all strong, manly men with big muscles, women don’t really watch sports and should keep to their rightful place in the kitchen, Tom Brady had nothing to do with balls being deflated, Sepp Blatter had no idea there were corrupt practices within FIFA, and the Warriors were the main reason behind other NBA players being injured and were therefore the luckiest team in the NBA last season. The league should probably put an asterisk on their title.

Oh, and Donald Trump will make America great again. But I digress.

Curry is no stranger to being ridiculed via social media, but as he’s proven, it’s important to understand that if you ain’t got haters, you ain’t poppin’. Also poppin’ as of late were Cam Newton and his Carolina Panters, who earned a trip to Super Bowl 50 after achieving a 15-1 regular season record for the 2015-16 NFL calendar year.

As a high profile fan of the Carolina Panthers, Curry has never been shy about supporting his favorite American football team. A North Carolina native and once a basketball player for Davidson College, Curry was accused of being a Panthers bandwagon by a number of uninformed fans despite a long social media trail of undying support for his hometown team.

Here he is in 2011 after the Panthers went 2-14 on the season, securing the number one overall pick in the 2011 NFL draft:

And here he is chatting with Newton at practice in 2011:

Well as great as it may have been for Curry watching the Panthers develop the past five or so years, it all culminated in this trip to the Super Bowl, and it would be an understatement to say that Carolina was underwhelming the entire game.

To sum things up: Curry was forced to watch as the 2016 NFL MVP was sacked six times, all of which went down in Curry’s Bay Area domain. And to add a bit of irony to the story, the game ended with the Denver Broncos up 24-10, which is the exact score Curry predicted prior to the big game in favor of the Panthers.

But instead of tweeting through it negatively like most sports fans, the sharpshooting point guard took to social media and gracefully accepted defeat:

Curry may not have been visibly upset after Carolina’s unfortunate end to the NFL season, but I probably wouldn’t want to be the James Harden and the Houston Rockets right now. The Warriors will host them this Tuesday before heading off to Phoenix on Wednesday, after which Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green will head off to Toronto, Canada for All-Star Weekend festivities.

While it may be true that the level of greatness a team achieves in the regular season never guarantees that that team wins a title, I think it’s pretty safe to say Curry and Golden State Warriors are on their way to a repeat, and I fully expect to see Cam Newton and the Panthers back for another chance at the hardware.

And as unfortunate as it may be, I also fully expect fans to continue accusing a Carolina native to be a Carolina bandwagon. Never change, Internet. Never change. #Dab