Stephen Curry won the NBA MVP award on Monday, which was pleasing not only to people who care about efficiency in basketball but also about aesthetics in basketball. Simply: Curry plays the game beautifully. I know discussing beauty in sports is a thing that makes a lot of people (men, especially) uncomfortable, because sports are about battle and domination or whatever.
When we do talk about beauty in sports, it tends to be either as a) a description of golf courses or b) a description of a good-looking female athlete, because that’s all we feel comfortable about, for whatever reason. But sport in itself can be beautiful, and Stephen Curry’s game is evidence to that.
Here, in no particular order and only considering active athletes (forgive me, Ken Griffey Jr.’s swing), are 15 of the most beautiful things I see in sports.
1. Stephen Curry’s 3-point shot
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Stephen Curry’s 3-point shot is so automatic it almost becomes rote. Plays where he simply makes a 3 are no longer exciting, we need him to beat two guys off the dribble and throw the shot up with two people in his face to even quicken our pulse these days.
What I love so much about Curry’s shot though is that he isn’t exactly like other great 3-point shooters. Guys like Ray Allen and Kyle Korver are successful because of their machine-like preparation and perfect form. They always set their feet perfectly. They always elevate. They always release.
Curry improvises. He’ll throw up a 3 leaning back or sideways. He’ll throw up a one-footed 3 that’s almost like a runner.
SB Nation
This isn’t an automaton set with a mission to hit long range shots; he’s an artist.
2. Andrea Pirlo’s free kick
It’s easy to get lost in Andrea Pirlo’s hair when you’re talking about his beauty, but his free kicks, which he takes with the urgency of someone on a stroll to get a morning coffee, are more beautiful than his hair could ever be. (Forgive me, Pirlo’s hair.)
3. Roger Federer’s backhand
As a youth tennis player I was taught that one-handed backhands were a thing of the past — I was told you couldn’t generate enough power or spin off the shot. Then Roger Federer came along and showed that with that one-handed backhand he could make art.
What other player could have a video of him titled “best backhands of 2012” and have the video be nine minutes long.
4. Sidney Crosby’s no-look passes
It speaks to the greatness of an athlete that he knows the game so well, and his teammates so well, he doesn’t need to even see them to know where they are. Larry Bird had this gift, as did Magic Johnson. Sidney Crosby also has it. Other than Wayne Gretzky, no hockey player has ever better understood the area pass, a pass played to a space where Crosby knows someone should be. He doesn’t have to look because he knows where he’s going, and the results are beautiful.
5. Calvin Johnson’s vertical leap
No sports fans other than NFL fans get more worked up when you try to describe their sport as beautiful. The NFL is all about fighting in the trenches, warfare, etc. But for every bone-crushing hit there are moments of beauty in this sport as well. Barry Sanders played the game beautifully. So did Joe Montana.
More recently, Calvin Johnson has shown us the beauty of the game by being able to control his body while leaping above, well, anybody. Here he is going over three Bengals.
@cjzero
6. Chris Paul’s stepback mid-range jumper
The NBA is getting smarter, which means teams are getting smarter about choosing more efficient shots. Layups and corner 3s are the name of the game now, as they should be. But there is something wonderful about Chris Paul’s stepback mid-range jumper, a shot that most coaches discourage and fewer and fewer players try. It isn’t an efficient shot, unless it’s Chris Paul, in which case it is.
7. Bryce Harper’s swing
Watching Harper’s swing in slow motion reminds me of those slow motion videos of cheetahs running. The energy at work here is mind-boggling.
8. Ernie Els’ swing
I don’t care how old he is. And I don’t care where he’s playing. There’s nothing more beautiful on a golf course than the Big Easy’s swing.
AdamSarson.com
9. Clayton Kershaw’s curveball
I know guillotines are not typically considered beautiful, what with their whole purpose being to chop someone’s head off, but Clayton Kershaw’s curveball is beautiful like a guillotine. The sharp drop, the quick end.
10. Abby Wambach’s headers
Heading the ball is one of the most difficult things to teach in soccer. Players either have the belief or they don’t. Abby Wambach is one of the greatest headers of the ball, ever, and her ability to control her body while airborne and generate power on her headers is bewildering.
Wambach’s goal against Brazil will always be her most famous, by my favorite Wambach goal is this one against Japan, where she elevates over everyone and fires home the header, all while knowing the goalie is coming to punch her in the face. She finishes anyway.
11. Henrik Lundqvist’s glove
I still can’t believe he made this save against the Bruins.
12. Peyton Manning’s pre-snap directions
AP
This is probably the strangest thing on this list, but there’s an odd beauty in Peyton Manning’s ability to dissect a defense and design an offense at the line of scrimmage every play. It’s like watching an orchestra conductor work.
13. The Williams FW36 F-1 car
This isn’t really a beautiful sports moment as a beautiful thing that exists in sports, but I wanted to get racing in here, and there’s no more beautiful car than the Williams FW36.
Getty
14. Elena Delle Donne’s finishing at the basket
Only Kyrie Irving right now has a better knack for scoring at the basket. Delle Donne can have no angle at all, and finds a way to contort herself to get the bucket. It’s insane.
15. Juan Manuel Marquez’s combinations
Unless you like watching Floyd Mayweather dance, there was little beautiful about Saturday night’s fight. The combinations of Juan Manuel Marquez, on the other hand, are a thing of beauty.
