Coming soon: A chance to bid on Steph Curry’s game-used mouthguard
It’s no longer the highest-profile piece of gear Stephen Curry rocks — those, of course, would be the “straight fire” Curry Two Lows that have come to dominate headlines of late — but the Golden State Warriors superstar’s mouthguard remains among the NBA’s most recognizable accessories, thanks in large part to the back-to-back MVP’s seeming unwillingness to actually keep the dang thing in his mouth. Well, one of Steph’s game-used grill guards has now made it so far away from his molars that you yourself can get your hands on it … if, y’know, you’re interested in that, and have several stacks to spend in pursuit of that interest.
From Darren Rovell of ESPN.com:
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SCP Auctions, which is based in California, said it obtained the mouthguard from a fan who picked it up off the floor near the Golden State Warriors bench after a game this season.
“Steph Curry has given more life to mouthguards than any player in history,” said Dan Imler, vice president of the auction house. “The way he flips it in and out of his mouth has become part of watching him during a game.”
Imler expects the mouthguard to sell for at least $5,000.
Sure, $5,000 seems like a lot of scratch for something a person has gnawed on, spit in and chucked out. But it’s 2016. The boundaries of possibility continue to explode and expand with every passing day. When our scientists finally figure out how to safely and responsibly clone human beings using only a small amount of their DNA, the buyer who procured the spit of the greatest shooter ever for a mere five grand will prove to be the savviest investor of all time. Well, unless someone’s got dinosaur DNA, and really, I hope nobody does, because man, I have seen that movie before. Like four times, in fact!
If you’re champing at the bit to put your money where Steph’s mouth’s been, you’re going to need to cool your heels, my dude: bidding doesn’t start until Aug. 3, 2016, according to SCP. You’ll want to put a reminder on your calendar, though, because future such items might not have spent nearly as much time in Curry’s chops, according to noted Steph mouthguard watchdog Ben Cohen of the Wall Street Journal:
In the Count’s second annual study of Curry’s mouthguard coordinates—which is one way of saying we watched 423 of his free throws and recorded what he was doing with his mouthguard for each one of them—it became clear that Curry’s habit is becoming worse. Last year he took 63.5% of his free throws with his mouthguard outside his mouth. This year that number was 84.7%.
Curry says even he has no clue what’s going on with his mouthguard during free throws. Which makes it even wilder that Curry is still better with his mouthguard out than in. The Count confirmed Curry’s mouthguard location on 372 of his 400 regular-season free throws, and the NBA’s leading shooter shot 90.8% while twirling his mouthguard but 89.5% when his mouthguard kept his teeth company. These findings support his 2015 numbers of 92.5% and 89.4%.
When you put it that way, can you really put a price on the chance to own such a remarkable piece of free-throw-shooting history? (I can. It is way, way less than $5,000.)
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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