Stephen Curry on gunning for NBA wins record: ‘You’ve got to go for it’

He’s the reigning NBA Most Valuable Player and is arguably the best player in the league. He’s having a career year. And he’s leading the defending champions to potentially the best record in NBA history.

Being Stephen Curry is pretty sweet right now.

Curry and the Golden State Warriors enter the All-Star break with a 48-4 record. They’re on pace to break the all-time regular-season record for wins, held by the Chicago Bulls, who finished the season 72-10 in the 1995-96 season. Aside from that Bulls team, no other NBA franchise has won 70 games in a regular season.

Curry doesn’t hide from it: The Warriors want that record.

“There’s not many opportunities that you probably have to go after that record,” Curry said Friday to CNN’s Andy Scholes. “Obviously, going to win a championship, that’s the main goal. But there’s a reason that we’re still talking about that ’95-‘96 Bulls team that was able to accomplish the 72-and-10 record. They were on a mission that year and ended up winning the championship as well. So that’s kind of where we want to be.

“But when you have a shot at history and being the best regular-season team in the history of the NBA, I think you’ve got to go for it.”

A historic start

The Warriors started the season 24-0, far and away the best start to a season in NBA history. To put it in perspective, the previous longest win streak to start a season was 15-0, which was set by the 1948-49 Washington Capitols and 1993-94 Houston Rockets.

And what makes it all the more impressive is the Warriors were doing this without their head coach, Steve Kerr, on the sideline. Kerr, who led the Warriors to a 67-15 record and the NBA championship last season, missed 43 games, more than half the 82-game season, because of complications from offseason back surgery. Luke Walton was the interim head coach.

“We have a lot of creativity and just confidence in what we can do out there,” Curry said. “There’s so much skill and talent on our roster and our team. When you put it all together, and you go out there, and you have fun and enjoy what you’re doing and enjoy the way that we’re playing and it’s a collaborative effort, I think that’s the beauty of basketball and what we’ve been able to accomplish out there.”

No matter what the obstacles have been, the Warriors keep winning, and it’s usually in dominating fashion. They lead the league with 115.5 points per game. Their average margin of victory is 12.5 points. Two of their signature wins against the other top teams in the league were blowouts, annihilating the Cleveland Cavaliers 132-98 on January 18 in Cleveland. On January 25, they took down the San Antonio Spurs 120-90. The Spurs have the league’s second-best record, at 45-8 heading into the break, .

“It’s been a historical journey and start,” Curry said. “We’ve got a lot more to accomplish. But just the ride that we’re on and the way that we’re gelling and find(ing) a way to win games has been amazing.

“And I think if you look at where we are in the grand scheme of all the great teams that have suited up in the history of the NBA and what we’re trying to do, it’s hard not to be wrapped up in the moment. But, you know, I appreciate what’s going on.”

Family priorities

It’s got to be hard trying to be the best player in the NBA and a husband and father at the same time.

“Life is definitely different than it was three or four years ago, winning a championship and MVP and all that kind of stuff,” Curry said. “The world was a lot smaller. But you know, my priorities are obviously (to) take care of my family. … I’m only going to be playing for so long. And I just want to be able to enjoy every single moment and involve them. So it’s not a difficult balance in that. Because I enjoy that part of my life so much. But you’ve just got to kind of learn how to navigate the new situations.”

Curry and his wife, Ayesha, have two daughters, Riley and Ryan.

Ah, yes, Riley. Remember her? She’s the adorable girl who won the hearts of many when she stole the show at her dad’s post-game press conferences when the Warriors were on their way to the NBA title last season. She was yawning, waving to reporters and telling her dad to “be quiet.”

Might we see Riley again at some end-of-game interviews?

“I’ll have to ask Riley and check with her people to see if her schedule is open,” Curry said. “She’s in high demand these days.”

So is her father, altering history one 3-point shot at a time.

NBA coach: Curry is ‘changing the game’

Last year, Curry made the case as the best shooter ever. In last year’s NBA All-Star festivities, he was the top vote-getter and hit 13 straight shots to win the 3-point contest, which was one of the most talented fields in the history of the event, beating the likes of teammate Klay Thompson and Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving in the final round. At the end of the regular season, Curry took home the NBA MVP award when he averaged 23.8 points, 7.7 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game.

Then there was the icing on the cake, winning his first NBA championship as the Warriors defeated the Cavaliers in six games.

But that may have just been the beginning.

Curry has taken it to yet another level this season, averaging 29.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game, all of which are career highs. He’s also averaging 6.6 assists. But the eye-popping number is how many 3-point shots he has made: 245, easily the most in the league this season. In a distant second place on that list is Thompson, with 161. Curry is on pace to shatter the NBA single-season record for threes made – a record he set last year by hitting 286.

Curry will be in the 3-point shootout in Saturday’s All-Star festivities, aiming to defend his title.

“I’m going to be ready for it,” Curry said. “And I’ve got some tough, tough competitors coming at me, especially my teammate, Klay Thompson. But I think I’ll be ready for it.”

In December, NBA legend Jerry West called Curry the best shooter he has ever seen. Others see him as revolutionary.

“Curry is changing the way the game is played before our eyes,” Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle said in December to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “What he’s doing right now, he’s changing the way our game is going to be played in the future. It’s really historic.

“No one has ever played this way off the dribble. It’s breathtaking to watch. It’s something that we really have never seen before in this league.”

When asked how comments like that made him feel, Curry said it’s something he doesn’t take for granted.

“This is how I know how to play the game, and I work at it and try to take my game to the next level every single year and get better,” Curry said. “I’m in my seventh year and hopefully got many more years to come.”

The numbers are great, of course, but the metric fans and critics measure the greats by are championships.

So the question was asked to Curry: If you beat the Bulls’ record of 72 wins and win another NBA championship this year, then is this the greatest team of all time?

“If we accomplish both those feats, it would be hard to argue not,” Curry said. “But we’ll talk about that in June.”