Warriors take over ESPYS as Steph and Klay take home awards

Nick Metallinos

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Warriors take over ESPYS as Steph and Klay take home awards image

It's not daunting enough for NBA teams to have to watch the Golden State Warriors dominate the NBA, now they have to watch them clean up all the awards too? 

The Warriors, fresh off their fourth NBA title in eight seasons were the talk of the evening in one way or another at the 2022 ESPY Awards in Los Angeles. 

Steph Curry hosted the event, and despite being one of the most clutch players in NBA history, he did admit to having some nerves about the gig, saying he reached out to some former hosts for advice. 

MORE: ESPY Award winners 2022

"I talked to Drake and Peyton Manning about what the hosting gig is really like, so I’m obviously nervous and excited and all the different emotions," Curry said, per People. 

The Warriors as a team and as individuals won a number of awards throughout the night. The Sporting News will take you through them, but first, let's begin with Curry's hosting and see if the greatest shooter of all time is as good at landing jokes as he is at making 3's. 

Best moments of Curry hosting 

From one Akron born great to another, Curry let LeBron James know it always feels better hosting after you've won an NBA Finals.

Grant Williams was just trying to enjoy the evening not realizing he'd be catching strays from Chef Curry.

C'mon, Steph! You definitely had something else on your mind.

And of course, Steph had to end it all with the now customary 'night-night'

Look, Draymond may be a little biased we think, but he rates the hosting job by Curry as the "best I've ever seen."

Curry wins for Best Record-Setting Performance

This past NBA season Curry broke Ray Allen's long-standing record for most career 3-pointers made and was honored for it at the ESPYS for Best Record-Setting Performance. 

More: Why Stephen Curry's 3-point record will be the NBA's next unbreakable record

"All records are meant to be broken and I know there's a lot of young kids out there that are working hard, I can't wait to be in the arena when y'all break this record," Curry said as he accepted his award. 

Klay Thompson wins Comeback Athlete of the Year 

We all know about Klay's journey back to an NBA court. After missing two full seasons with devastating knee and Achilles injuries, Klay Thompson finally made his return to the Warriors this season. 

Despite some rustiness early on, he proved to be a valuable contributor to the Warriors' fourth NBA title in their recent history. 

"I would not be here without the Warriors organization," Thompson said in a heartfelt speech. "I mean, who pays a guy after tearing his ACL? That's unheard of but they had faith in me." 

Warriors win Best Team award 

After the season they've just had it was only right that the Best Team award was handed to the Warriors. Their core guys - Curry, Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala -  went up to accept the award, but Iggy decided to use the moment to plug his podcast. 

"I'm just here to promote my podcast with my man Evan Turner," Iguodala joked. "We just got Joe Lacob fined $500,000. I'm sorry, Joe."  

Draymond Green hosted his podcast live from the ESPYS

Draymond Green hosted (well, tried to, anyway) his successful podcast 'The Draymond Green Show' from the ESPYS and managed to get a few jokes of his own in, especially at the Clippers' expense. 

There was big Dave Chappelle as Rick James energy on this joke here as Steph Curry brought some muscle to end Green's podcast.

 

Nick Metallinos

Nick Metallinos Photo

Nick has been working exclusively within the NBA world for over a decade. He hosted 46 episodes of Ball or Nothin' - a show screened on ESPN highlighting the social media aspects of the NBA. Nick has covered 3 NBA Finals, 5 NBA All-Star weekends, 8 NBA drafts, 5 Jordan Brand Classics plus dozens of playoff games and hundreds of regular season games. 
Nick spends his spare time trying to decide which sneakers best match his outfit.