The term “star” is very broad and all-encompassing in sports. There are many different ways to become a star in sports. And one such way is to simply have one game that put you into the mind and eyes of all fans watching. The three men featured in this article are some of the best players in NBA history that all have one game in particular to thank for propelling them from “good or great player” to “bonafide star”.
1. Steph Curry
(source: bleacherreport.com)
Steph Curry is the current reigning NBA MVP and a member of the 2015 NBA Champion Golden State Warriors. But in 2013, Curry was just an up and coming sharpshooter trying to make a name for himself in the league. Well, in a game in February 2013, he did just that in dramatic fashion. Steph Curry put on one of the best shooting performances in history. He scored 54 points on the Knicks on 18-28 shooting, including 11-13 from three point range. The 11 threes made were also a franchise record and only one shy of the NBA record.
2. Magic Johnson
(source: biography.com)
In 1980, Magic Johnson was little more than a rookie point guard on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s Los Angeles Lakers. But in the 1980 Finals, when Kareem went down with an injury, Magic was leaned on to be a team leader, and boy, did he ever live up to it in Game 6. Magic started the game at center, in place of Kareem, and went on to score 42 points, 15 rebounds and 7 assists to lift the Lakers to an NBA championship. Thus began the career of the best point guard in NBA history.
3. Michael Jordan
(source: nba.com)
In 1986, arguably the best basketball game in NBA history started the road to eventual superstardom for the best player in NBA history, Michael Jordan. At the time, he was nothing more than a young player with a ton of potential, and he realized it in this game. Michael Jordan scored an NBA playoff record 63 points on one of the best teams in the history of the league. The 1986 Celtics has 5 future Hall of Famers, which makes it even more impressive what Jordan did to them as a young player and it cemented his spot as a star in the NBA.
