What Panthers superfan Steph Curry said about upcoming Week 18 tilt

The Carolina Panthers, by virtue of not playing in a big market and historically not being a great team or organization, don't have a ton of notable celebrity fans. There's no Taylor Swift dating one of the star players, either.

However, they do have future NBA Hall of Famer Steph Curry, who grew up down the road and has long watched and rooted for the Panthers from the West Coast. Yesterday, he was back in Charlotte to take on the Hornets.

After, he was asked about the upcoming Panthers' bout with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and what it means to have reached this point.

Steph Curry opens up on massive Panthers-Bucs matchup

Feb 7, 2016; Santa Clara, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry on the sidelines prior to Super Bowl 50 between the Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images | Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

It's not as black and white as this, but for the most part, this Saturday's Panthers-Buccaneers matchup is essentially for the playoffs. The winner, barring an Atlanta Falcons win, will win the division.

Steph Curry knows this. He's been watching all season long, cheering on his beloved hometown team. After dropping 26 points on the Hornets in a big win, Curry was asked about the Panthers.

I asked No. 1 Panthers fan Steph Curry what he thought about Carolina’s big game against Tampa Bay coming up. pic.twitter.com/rXa4HD5mRz
— Scott Fowler (@scott_fowler) December 31, 2025

"I've been rooting for them all year from the West Coast," Curry said. "Been a rollercoaster ride of emotions. I'm excited you still control your destiny, hopefully get it done. I'll obviously be watching, locked in."

He said he's seen crazier things with a team that's "still trying to figure it out" like the Panthers are. "But in the end, having something meaningful to play for, as a Panther fan, that's a big deal this deep in the year, " he said.

He stopped short of making a prediction, likely because he knows there are two versions of this team that can show up.

The first version is the team that beat the Green Bay Packers, Los Angeles Rams, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers two weeks ago. The other is the team that got swept by the New Orleans Saints and only had 139 total yards last week against the Seattle Seahawks.

Typically, the Panthers operate in a cycle of good and bad, so they're primed for a good game this week, but this is also the biggest game any one of these players, save for Taylor Moton and JJ Jansen, has ever played, so who knows how it will go?

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