Reflective Steph Curry Looks Back On Warriors Successful Championship Run
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry is on the mend, but his time away from the game has allowed him time to reflect on the team's amazing run of five straight NBA Finals.
Curry appeared on 'All The Smoke' with hosts former Warriors Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson this week to air some of his thoughts.
The two-time MVP has been sidelined since the third game of the 2019-2020 season with an injured wrist, he's undergone a couple surgeries and may not return this year. So he's had plenty of time to be with his family and reflect on the journey.
Unlike the current NBA, where star players jump from team to team to link up with other superstars, the core of the Warriors -- Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green -- was built through draft picks.
"It's a different story unlike today's league but it was wild to think when they traded Monta (Ellis) during Klay's rookie year that was kind of a sign that we were moving into the future," he said. "Draymond comes in a second round pick, the steal of the draft,
When asked about Thompson, who is also sitting out this season with an injury, Curry revealed a unique relationship between the two unencumbered with the kind of egos so common in professional sports.
"He's just so one of a kind, man. Low maintenance. Low key -- can blend in with anybody," Curry said. "(He) knows his role, is competitive as hell and he can shoot. He has the whole package in terms of how he's helped us win championships and I know he's going to come back strong after his ACL situation."
His thoughts about Draymond Green run much deeper.
"Draymond the basketball player is not Draymond the person," he said. "We (his Warriors teammates) all know Draymond the person – nicest dude, caring dude, always checking in on you. He's loyal – everything about him off the court is somebody you want around. You want somebody in your camp like Draymond."
"On the court, same way, but he comes with that passion, a lot of volatility," he continued. "It can galvanize us as a team...We got a lot of nice guys, finesse game myself included – you need that fire, somebody who is that bulldog."
"He'll admit the same thing, sometimes it does get in this way because it might distract him from just playing basketball, but over the course of nine seasons we have been playing together I'm taking that. Every single day of the week."
Curry said Green's reputation on the court comes from the fact that he does little to hide his passion.
"That narrative is kind of tough because his transgression are just exposed on the court,' he said. "The guy that he was in the first championship run is not the same dude. He's evolved and learned like we all have. He wears everything on his sleeve so everybody gets to have that journey with him."
When asked about his three-year run with superstar Kevin Durant as a teammate, Curry said the public perception had little to so with the feelings that gripped the Warriors lockerroom.
"Anytime you have greatness, they're going to try to break it down or find some way to just get their (the media's) foot in the door," he said. "It was always the drafted guys plus the hired assassin, KD... As unfortunate as that narrative is, it couldn't have been further from the truth of how we felt."