Thanks to Stephen Curry’s heroics, Paul Allen turned into a viral meme late Monday evening.
Allen, the Portland Trail Blazers owner and Microsoft co-founder, was absolutely stunned — along with everybody else inside the Moda Center and millions of others watching on TV — after Curry went to another level on Monday, scoring a record 17 points in overtime as Golden State topped Portland 132-125 in Game 4 of the Western Conference Semifinals.
Curry, who had just returned from an injury that kept the MVP out of the past four games, looked rusty early on during Monday’s bout, missing his first nine 3-point attempts.
But then the 6-foot-3 point guard showed everyone why he’s the most valuable player, making a series of clutch shots in the fourth quarter before going absolutely bonkers in overtime. With one minute left and the Warriors up by five points, Curry sunk a ridiculously hard shot from 3-point land that effectively ended the game while garnering this reaction from Allen:
Portland Trailblazer's owner Paul Allen as Steph buries his team in OT last night https://t.co/3uUoDrT4HX
— Downtown Josh Brown (@ReformedBroker) May 10, 2016
Allen’s reaction immediately turned into internet fodder, and will likely re-appear when Curry goes off again:
Paul Allen is about to be in 1000 memes and GIFs
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) May 10, 2016
when billionaires cry #paulallen pic.twitter.com/1XsjmRyyu5
— jason (@Jason) May 10, 2016
Bruh. pic.twitter.com/c0qk5X3fSP
— Chris Herring (@Herring_NBA) May 10, 2016
I'm sorry sir, first class checked in full, you'll have to board with your coach class group. pic.twitter.com/PPEXhW12vN
— Roy Wood Jr- Ex Jedi (@roywoodjr) May 10, 2016
lmao Paul Allen looked like someone just gave him a Zune for Christmas
— Myles Brown (@mdotbrown) May 10, 2016
Paul Allen’s going to name his next megayacht F*** Steph Curry.
— Dan Devine (@YourManDevine) May 10, 2016
Steph Curry just dropped that 3 on Paul Allen like Steve Jobs dropped the iPhone on Steve Ballmer. ??
— M.G. Siegler (@mgsiegler) May 10, 2016
As the Washington Post noted, Allen had a similar reaction when his other team, the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks, lost at the last-second during Super Bowl XLIX in 2015:
Paul Allen needs a hug. Got Stephed tonight. Malcolm Butler INT in Super Bowl pic.twitter.com/y2PZ9VyUtu
— John Clark CSN/NBC (@JClarkCSN) May 10, 2016
Curry’s performance was even more impressive considering the circumstances, with the Warriors now up 3-1 in the series and needing just one win in the next three games to advance in the playoffs. Regardless of how the series ends up, Allen, who bought the Blazers in 1988, can’t be too disappointed with his team’s performance this year. After losing four starters and entering the season with the league’s lowest payroll, the Blazers are perhaps the biggest surprise of the NBA in 2016. The third-youngest team crushed expectations and won 44 regular season games before again trumping critics with a playoff series win over the Los Angeles Clippers.
