Stephen Curry is widely regarded as one of basketball’s nicest superstars, but Richard Jefferson still remembers the rare moment when Curry gave the Cleveland Cavaliers exactly the kind of motivational material they needed.
Before Golden State visited Cleveland during the 2015-16 regular season, Curry reflected on winning the previous year’s championship inside the Cavaliers’ arena.
“Obviously, walking in the locker room, it’ll be good memories,” Curry said at the time. “Hopefully, it still smells a little bit like champagne.”
The comment was clever, confident and unusually sharp by Curry’s standards. According to Jefferson, it also stayed with Cleveland.
“Steph talked a lot of s—, and we love Steph,” Jefferson recalled. “Steph’s one of the nicest human beings, but it was kind of out of character for him to say something.”
When the 2016 NBA Finals returned to Cleveland for Game 6, the Cavaliers were still alive after cutting Golden State’s 3-1 series lead to 3-2. Jefferson said the memory of Curry’s remark made Cleveland even more determined to prevent the Warriors from celebrating another title inside their building.
“For us, Game 6, we’re not letting them have any champagne in this building,” Jefferson said. “We don’t give a s—.”
Richard Jefferson on when Steph Curry said he hopes the locker room still smells like champagne in Cleveland 2016 finals:
“Steph talked a lot of sh*t and we love Steph. Steph’s one of the nicest human beings but like it was kind of out character for him to say something and that… pic.twitter.com/pIt821peTu
— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) July 18, 2026
The Cavaliers backed up that attitude with a 115-101 victory. LeBron James scored 41 points, Cleveland forced a decisive Game 7 and eventually completed the first 3-1 comeback in NBA Finals history.
Curry’s line was not the reason Cleveland won the championship, but Jefferson’s story shows how championship teams can turn even a playful sentence into fuel.
The Warriors once left champagne behind in Cleveland’s locker room. One year later, the Cavaliers made sure they took the bottles home themselves.
