WEBVTT - Episode 10 - Steph Karma 0:00:03.789 --> 0:00:10.349 Dubbed Dynasty as a production of iHeartMedia and the NBA. 0:00:12.549 --> 0:00:14.348 I mean, when you think of point guards growing up, 0:00:14.389 --> 0:00:16.948 I mean just true point guards, of guys bringing up 0:00:16.949 --> 0:00:19.789 the ball, setting up their teammates, running, picking rolls and 0:00:19.829 --> 0:00:21.229 pitting the pocket pass and. 0:00:21.189 --> 0:00:21.789 Things like that. 0:00:22.029 --> 0:00:24.709 Steph was like the first guy to like obviously shoot 0:00:24.709 --> 0:00:26.788 threes the way he does and make the game the 0:00:26.829 --> 0:00:29.349 way we all need to shoot threes now. But I 0:00:29.389 --> 0:00:31.749 mean there's a lot of shooting guards now that are 0:00:31.829 --> 0:00:33.869 looked at point guards because they have the ball in 0:00:33.869 --> 0:00:35.869 their hand now, and Steph was kind of like one 0:00:35.909 --> 0:00:37.949 of the first scoring guards to really be like that. 0:00:38.229 --> 0:00:40.269 So now the game is for ever change. I feel 0:00:40.309 --> 0:00:42.869 like every era has their own separate one, and Steph 0:00:42.989 --> 0:00:44.989 is one of the kings of this era and that 0:00:45.029 --> 0:00:46.388 will never be taken away from him. 0:00:46.949 --> 0:00:48.869 One of the best players of all time, no question, 0:00:48.949 --> 0:00:50.989 and then he'll be slotting away he slotted. I think 0:00:51.029 --> 0:00:53.629 what sticks out to me, because I've watched his entire 0:00:53.669 --> 0:00:58.629 career is the way he's done it with the incredible passion, 0:00:58.989 --> 0:01:02.029 the love of the game, the dedication to work ethic. 0:01:02.309 --> 0:01:08.348 You cannot maintain that type of condition. Shooting accuracy without 0:01:08.749 --> 0:01:12.269 being incredibly dedicated with incredible work ethic. I respect to 0:01:12.309 --> 0:01:15.069 admire that, maybe more. 0:01:14.828 --> 0:01:19.228 So the way he's handled himself as a teammate. 0:01:19.548 --> 0:01:23.669 Incorporating different players throughout his career and bringing him up 0:01:23.669 --> 0:01:26.908 to championship level, making all the teammates around him better 0:01:26.949 --> 0:01:31.268 because of the gravity he attracts from the defense, deferring 0:01:31.309 --> 0:01:32.229 to his teammates. 0:01:32.869 --> 0:01:35.389 You know, a humble superstar. 0:01:36.229 --> 0:01:39.268 Those were two of the greats discussing one of the greatest. 0:01:40.149 --> 0:01:43.029 The first was three time All Star Trey Young, the 0:01:43.109 --> 0:01:47.188 second Hall of Famer Chris Mullen. I'm Israel Gutierre and 0:01:47.309 --> 0:01:54.948 this is dubb Dynasty. Young was regularly compared to Curry 0:01:54.989 --> 0:01:58.669 prior to the twenty eighteen NBA draft, a comp that 0:01:58.788 --> 0:02:01.549 placed some added pressure at the start of his career, 0:02:01.949 --> 0:02:05.229 given that step had already won MVPs and championship to 0:02:05.229 --> 0:02:09.789 that point. Mullen was a warrior great who watched Curry's 0:02:09.788 --> 0:02:14.708 ascent up close. Their praise of Step is effectively echoed universally. 0:02:15.309 --> 0:02:17.389 He's in the discussion for a greatest point guard of 0:02:17.388 --> 0:02:20.349 all time, a top ten or even a top five 0:02:20.429 --> 0:02:23.629 player of all time. He's easily the greatest shooter ever 0:02:24.149 --> 0:02:26.469 and is on the shortlist of players who can say 0:02:26.749 --> 0:02:31.189 without question that they revolutionized the game while they were playing. 0:02:32.989 --> 0:02:36.749 Yet last We Left You, Curry looked like the only 0:02:36.829 --> 0:02:41.069 surviving member on a sinking ship, and despite having three 0:02:41.149 --> 0:02:44.509 titles and two MVPs at the time, Steph was still 0:02:44.549 --> 0:02:48.989 in search of some decoration and validation. Curry still hadn't 0:02:49.029 --> 0:02:52.388 won a Finals MVP to this point, and after winning 0:02:52.388 --> 0:02:56.309 a pair of titles rather easily alongside Durant, there were 0:02:56.309 --> 0:02:59.909 still some lingering questions about whether Curry had proven well 0:03:00.029 --> 0:03:02.948 enough that he can win a championship as the clear 0:03:03.029 --> 0:03:05.909 lead dog. Had the Warriors found a way to come 0:03:05.948 --> 0:03:09.549 back against the Raptors in the twenty nineteen finals, Curry 0:03:09.668 --> 0:03:12.589 likely would have won his first Finals MVP that season, 0:03:12.749 --> 0:03:15.909 given that he averaged thirty points, six assists, and five 0:03:15.948 --> 0:03:17.349 rebounds in those six games. 0:03:17.709 --> 0:03:20.509 They have no business in this game. Shorthanded in every 0:03:20.549 --> 0:03:22.388 excuse to quit, but they refuse. 0:03:22.788 --> 0:03:24.508 Curry gets his side, what's up. 0:03:26.668 --> 0:03:28.669 And Mike, they went back to demand the man on 0:03:28.749 --> 0:03:31.788 that possession, Curry got some space and. 0:03:31.869 --> 0:03:36.869 Was able to finish instead. The twenty nineteen season ended 0:03:36.869 --> 0:03:40.189 with Curry looking as far away from a championship, as 0:03:40.189 --> 0:03:44.269 he'd been in some time. Klay Thompson would clearly miss 0:03:44.309 --> 0:03:47.669 the following season with a torn acl Kevin Durant would 0:03:47.669 --> 0:03:50.269 also miss the next season with a torn achilles, and 0:03:50.349 --> 0:03:54.989 his free agency decision lingered. What seemed quite evident is 0:03:55.029 --> 0:03:58.669 the twenty nineteen twenty twenty season would be a hard 0:03:58.749 --> 0:04:02.629 reset for Golden State. What level of reset would depend 0:04:02.669 --> 0:04:06.629 on Durant's and after that spat with Green at the 0:04:06.629 --> 0:04:10.749 start of the eighteen nineteen season, most believed Durant would 0:04:10.789 --> 0:04:15.109 depart in free agency. He confirmed those beliefs, this time 0:04:15.229 --> 0:04:18.389 not on the player's tribune, but on the Instagram page 0:04:18.429 --> 0:04:22.148 of The Boardroom, an online series looking at sports business 0:04:22.469 --> 0:04:27.109 produced by Durant and his business partner Rich Kleiman. Durant 0:04:27.109 --> 0:04:29.949 would sign a four year deal with the Brooklyn Nets, 0:04:30.069 --> 0:04:33.389 joining Kyrie Irving and James Harden in what was supposed 0:04:33.428 --> 0:04:35.829 to be a super team that could repeat at a 0:04:35.868 --> 0:04:40.309 Golden State level of success. It wasn't. But here was 0:04:40.389 --> 0:04:43.269 Durant on his first media day with the Brooklyn Nets. 0:04:43.509 --> 0:04:47.669 I just evaluated my life up until this point, and 0:04:47.709 --> 0:04:49.669 once I did that, and it's pretty easy to see 0:04:49.669 --> 0:04:53.188 the direction that I needed to go into. And you know, 0:04:53.229 --> 0:04:54.988 I had some great options on the table with some 0:04:55.109 --> 0:04:59.509 championship winning organizations, some smart business minds behind the scenes 0:04:59.509 --> 0:05:02.029 as well that I could have built with along around 0:05:02.029 --> 0:05:06.508 the league. But I mean, I couldn't make a bad decision. 0:05:06.589 --> 0:05:08.469 But you know, this one was a perfect one for me. 0:05:08.829 --> 0:05:11.509 And what were you weighing when you were thinking about 0:05:11.509 --> 0:05:13.149 whether or not to return to Golden State? 0:05:13.149 --> 0:05:15.189 What ultimately made you decide that it was time to 0:05:15.189 --> 0:05:15.508 move on? 0:05:17.589 --> 0:05:19.828 Just how I felt what I wanted to do at 0:05:19.868 --> 0:05:23.828 that point in my career, what I accomplished in Golden 0:05:23.868 --> 0:05:26.029 State and and Oklahoma City is going to ever be 0:05:26.069 --> 0:05:28.909 a part of me. And I'm only taking those things 0:05:28.909 --> 0:05:32.508 to the next destination. But I really put all that 0:05:32.509 --> 0:05:34.589 stuff on the shelf when it was time to make 0:05:34.629 --> 0:05:36.868 that decision. I really didn't care too much about what 0:05:36.909 --> 0:05:38.709 I did in the past. Is really about how I 0:05:38.709 --> 0:05:39.469 felt at that moment. 0:05:43.149 --> 0:05:48.549 Okay, then the Warriors reset would be significant Besides the 0:05:48.629 --> 0:05:52.229 Durant departure. Also gone were fixtures like Andrea Guadala and 0:05:52.229 --> 0:05:56.429 Sean Livingston. Joining the Warriors were names like D'Angelo Russell, 0:05:56.789 --> 0:06:01.109 Damian Lee and a rookie and Jordan Poole, Draymond Green 0:06:01.149 --> 0:06:04.308 and Kevon Looney would still be around. From the start. 0:06:04.629 --> 0:06:07.188 It would feel like a season to test just how 0:06:07.229 --> 0:06:11.189 dominant Steph Curry could be without options like Thompson and 0:06:11.269 --> 0:06:15.389 Durant beside him. But then, in just the fourth game 0:06:15.428 --> 0:06:18.229 of the season, Curry would be taken out of that 0:06:18.269 --> 0:06:22.589 equation altogether. In the third quarter of a blowout home 0:06:22.669 --> 0:06:25.269 loss to the Suns, Curry tried to put up a 0:06:25.308 --> 0:06:29.109 shot after driving past Kelly Oubre Junior, but a sliding 0:06:29.189 --> 0:06:31.589 Aaron Baines under cut Curry as he went up for 0:06:31.629 --> 0:06:35.789 the shot. Baines also landed on Curry's left hand when 0:06:35.789 --> 0:06:41.509 he hit the floor. Curry, they pay a lot of contacts. 0:06:43.868 --> 0:06:45.149 He sold that left wrist. 0:06:47.428 --> 0:06:50.309 They already saw Steph tweak his ankle. 0:06:51.748 --> 0:06:53.589 He is not moving that left. 0:06:53.308 --> 0:06:54.029 Wrist right now. 0:06:54.229 --> 0:06:56.909 That is the absolute last thing in the. 0:06:56.868 --> 0:06:58.189 World that they need. 0:06:58.629 --> 0:06:58.869 He's on. 0:06:59.308 --> 0:07:02.149 The diagnosis would be a broken left hand for Curry. 0:07:02.909 --> 0:07:06.709 He'd played one more game all season in March, and 0:07:06.909 --> 0:07:09.669 just a few days after that, the world would be 0:07:09.749 --> 0:07:13.629 rocked by the COVID pandemic, temporarily pausing all of sports. 0:07:14.829 --> 0:07:17.829 The Warriors season would be over after a fifteen to 0:07:17.829 --> 0:07:21.509 fifty record. They weren't even invited to participate in the 0:07:21.509 --> 0:07:24.509 finish of the season in the bubble the NBA created 0:07:24.669 --> 0:07:28.828 in Orlando's Disney World. It was quite the contrast. For 0:07:28.909 --> 0:07:32.509 the previous five seasons, the Warriors had been dominating the 0:07:32.629 --> 0:07:36.229 league with Curry, Thompson and Green at the center of it. 0:07:36.869 --> 0:07:41.269 Now the entire league was happening without them. Carith Burke 0:07:41.389 --> 0:07:44.588 was the Warrior's sideline reporter through this stretch and would 0:07:44.629 --> 0:07:48.189 document the sudden shift this season took. When Curry joined 0:07:48.229 --> 0:07:50.069 the list of injured Warriors. 0:07:51.109 --> 0:07:53.909 All the talk going in was like, okay, well, Steph 0:07:54.029 --> 0:07:56.349 is a two time MVP, one of the best players 0:07:56.389 --> 0:07:58.429 in the world. Now it's his time to step into 0:07:58.429 --> 0:08:00.629 that leadership role. How far can he take the team 0:08:00.629 --> 0:08:03.989 on his own and then proof he's gone. It was 0:08:04.029 --> 0:08:06.389 like a decimation of going from the top of the 0:08:06.429 --> 0:08:11.349 mountain to the worst record in the league fifteen and 0:08:11.469 --> 0:08:18.269 fifty's that season. It was brutal because, as you know, 0:08:18.309 --> 0:08:21.268 as a reporter, you want to keep telling the stories 0:08:21.349 --> 0:08:23.309 of the guys on the team, and there are some 0:08:23.469 --> 0:08:27.708 good stories, but you have to make people outside care 0:08:28.709 --> 0:08:31.349 and the storylines just weren't there that year. The Warriors 0:08:31.389 --> 0:08:34.789 just weren't a good team. They couldn't be competitive with 0:08:34.869 --> 0:08:38.589 the better teams in the league. So it was sad. 0:08:38.869 --> 0:08:41.869 I remember it being sad, and then that word merciful 0:08:41.909 --> 0:08:45.109 comes up again because COVID cut that season short. 0:08:45.749 --> 0:08:50.869 In theory that COVID shortened twenty nineteen twenty season should 0:08:50.869 --> 0:08:53.669 have been the proper amount of time to recover from 0:08:53.789 --> 0:08:57.989 Durance's departure and the devastating injuries, but the Warriors would 0:08:57.989 --> 0:09:00.829 be hit with one more major hurdle prior to the 0:09:00.909 --> 0:09:06.269 twenty one season in a cruel twist of fake. The 0:09:06.389 --> 0:09:09.389 same day the Warriors were to benefit from that horrible 0:09:09.469 --> 0:09:12.509 fifteen and fifty season by picking second overall in the 0:09:12.589 --> 0:09:16.389 NBA Draft, the team also got word that Klay Thompson 0:09:16.469 --> 0:09:19.909 tore his right achilles tendon during a pickup game and 0:09:19.949 --> 0:09:22.869 would likely miss his second consecutive full season. 0:09:23.349 --> 0:09:24.309 It was very painful. 0:09:25.109 --> 0:09:26.829 It feels like someone kicks you in the back of 0:09:26.829 --> 0:09:32.069 your heel as hard as they could, and it just 0:09:32.109 --> 0:09:34.149 happened on a true double pull up jump shot, a 0:09:34.149 --> 0:09:38.709 move I do one hundred times a day. So it 0:09:38.789 --> 0:09:41.349 was just an unfortunate series of events. Nothing I could 0:09:41.389 --> 0:09:43.949 have ever prepared for nor prevented. I was working my 0:09:43.989 --> 0:09:48.029 butt off for ten months up to that point, and just. 0:09:48.309 --> 0:09:49.829 You got to go back to the drawing board. 0:09:49.829 --> 0:09:52.309 I knew I did it right away, and it's uh, 0:09:54.149 --> 0:09:56.109 you know, it's it's in the past. 0:09:56.149 --> 0:09:59.509 But I'm getting I'm getting better every day. And while 0:09:59.549 --> 0:10:02.709 that number two overall pick James Wiseman out of Memphis 0:10:02.949 --> 0:10:06.109 wouldn't work out for the Warriors either, there were a 0:10:06.149 --> 0:10:11.229 few key acquisitions during this stretch. In February of twenty twenty, 0:10:11.589 --> 0:10:14.789 the Warriors flipped D'Angelo Russell and a couple other players 0:10:15.109 --> 0:10:19.229 for former number one overall pick Andrew Wiggets. They also 0:10:19.309 --> 0:10:22.589 fortified the roster by picking up Otto Porter Junior, a 0:10:22.629 --> 0:10:26.149 former Max player on a minimum deal, and Golden State 0:10:26.229 --> 0:10:29.309 took a chance on Gary Payton the Second the son 0:10:29.349 --> 0:10:32.669 of NBA Hall of Famer and Bay Area native Gary Payton. 0:10:35.229 --> 0:10:39.229 Without Thompson, the Warriors spent the season relying heavily on Curry, 0:10:39.509 --> 0:10:41.509 who led the league in scoring with the career best 0:10:41.629 --> 0:10:44.549 thirty two a game. Curry would be back in the 0:10:44.589 --> 0:10:48.029 top three in MVP voting, but his team would finish 0:10:48.149 --> 0:10:51.669 eighth in the Western Conference and then eventually losing games 0:10:51.669 --> 0:10:54.069 to the Lakers and Grizzlies to get knocked out of 0:10:54.109 --> 0:10:57.269 the play in tournaments that meant no playoffs at all 0:10:57.309 --> 0:10:58.069 for Golden State. 0:10:58.589 --> 0:11:01.669 Laurant was a leading scorer, but players like Kyle Anderson, 0:11:01.789 --> 0:11:06.229 Desmond Vane, Xavier Tillman making so many big plays and 0:11:06.389 --> 0:11:10.109 that will do it. Memphis Grizzlies are in the playoffs, 0:11:10.389 --> 0:11:14.429 they eliminate the Golden State Warriors. Now the Grizzlies will 0:11:14.429 --> 0:11:17.589 now play the Jazz in the first round, starting on 0:11:17.749 --> 0:11:20.389 Sunday afternoon at Salt Lake City. 0:11:20.989 --> 0:11:23.829 When the twenty twenty one twenty two season began, Klay 0:11:23.909 --> 0:11:26.949 Thompson was still a few months away from returning following 0:11:26.949 --> 0:11:30.029 his back to back devastating injuries, but it was the 0:11:30.069 --> 0:11:32.829 first time the Warriors felt like they could truly move 0:11:32.869 --> 0:11:37.789 on from Durant's departure. If this dynasty would be extended 0:11:37.869 --> 0:11:41.149 past the Durant era, Curry and the Doves would have 0:11:41.229 --> 0:11:44.709 to start showing it now Here's Burke I would. 0:11:44.549 --> 0:11:46.709 Say it was a cleansing that happened because they had 0:11:46.789 --> 0:11:50.989 arrived at rock bottom. The injuries gave them the worst 0:11:50.989 --> 0:11:53.709 record in the league, and then the next season after 0:11:53.749 --> 0:11:55.749 that when they were bounced from the play in they 0:11:55.789 --> 0:12:00.109 were embarrassed. So it was sort of like a reset 0:12:00.189 --> 0:12:03.029 as far as how they felt about themselves. I think 0:12:03.029 --> 0:12:05.189 it's a little silly to say that a team that 0:12:05.189 --> 0:12:07.749 built a dynasty suddenly had a chip on their shoulder. 0:12:07.789 --> 0:12:11.709 Ah'll watch out. But for them, whatever they needed mentally 0:12:11.829 --> 0:12:13.629 to kind of turn the page from the team that 0:12:13.669 --> 0:12:16.389 they once were and to turn the page from Kevin Durant, 0:12:16.829 --> 0:12:18.029 this was that opportunity. 0:12:18.549 --> 0:12:21.189 The Warriors jumped out to an eighteen and two start 0:12:21.229 --> 0:12:24.749 to kick off the season. Pool was providing scoring out 0:12:24.749 --> 0:12:27.309 first when the team needed it, a lot like Thompson 0:12:27.349 --> 0:12:30.029 had done in the past. Green was still among the 0:12:30.029 --> 0:12:32.749 best at what he does, and Wiggins was on his 0:12:32.829 --> 0:12:36.309 way to his first All Star season. The vibes were 0:12:36.349 --> 0:12:39.269 similar to the surprising start of the twenty fourteen to 0:12:39.269 --> 0:12:43.629 fifteen season when Curry won his first championship. But on 0:12:43.669 --> 0:12:47.429 December fourteenth, with the team sitting at twenty two and five, 0:12:48.389 --> 0:12:51.829 the Warriors visited Madison Square Garden with a different goal 0:12:51.909 --> 0:12:55.829 in mind. Curry was just two away from breaking Ray 0:12:55.869 --> 0:12:59.309 Allen's all time record of two thousand, nine hundred seventy 0:12:59.349 --> 0:13:03.909 three three pointers made in the regular season. Here's Curry 0:13:07.589 --> 0:13:18.709 Stephan the time free Curry broke the record in five 0:13:18.869 --> 0:13:21.869 hundred eleven fewer games than out who has since been 0:13:21.909 --> 0:13:25.469 passed by James Harden as well. Curry's credited with changing 0:13:25.469 --> 0:13:29.789 the game to incorporate more shooting in space. In reality, 0:13:30.029 --> 0:13:33.349 it's a concept the league was trending toward already, but 0:13:33.429 --> 0:13:36.309 it was Curry who did the most to open people's eyes. 0:13:37.189 --> 0:13:40.069 Even he needed a handful of years to fully embrace 0:13:40.629 --> 0:13:43.589 just how many threes he should be taken. But once 0:13:43.629 --> 0:13:47.909 he did, Curry continuously shocked even those who watched basketball 0:13:48.029 --> 0:13:51.189 every single day. Mike Breen was a month. 0:13:56.949 --> 0:13:59.309 I think his whole journey is what makes him special. 0:13:59.749 --> 0:14:02.389 He comes in early. He doesn't look like an NBA player. 0:14:02.389 --> 0:14:04.189 He looks like a player that you know if you 0:14:04.349 --> 0:14:06.749 go play pick up at the park. Yeah, this kid 0:14:06.789 --> 0:14:09.589 can shoot a little bit, let's play him. But he 0:14:09.629 --> 0:14:13.229 didn't have this massive athletic body, so everybody could relate 0:14:13.269 --> 0:14:15.829 to him, and he became a fan favorite early. Then 0:14:15.909 --> 0:14:18.189 with his style of the three point shooting, he changed 0:14:18.509 --> 0:14:21.149 the way the game was played. Yet with all this 0:14:21.269 --> 0:14:25.869 greatness that he showed, he still remained this humble, high character, 0:14:26.229 --> 0:14:29.669 unselfish teammate through it all. He was beloved by his teammates, 0:14:29.709 --> 0:14:31.549 he was beloved by his fans. He was the most 0:14:31.549 --> 0:14:34.189 coachable player, and yet at the same time, he was 0:14:34.229 --> 0:14:37.949 the greatest shooter ever played the game. And I think 0:14:38.029 --> 0:14:40.269 all of that comes into play because he wasn't just 0:14:40.309 --> 0:14:43.149 the greatest shooter. He was the greatest ambassador of the 0:14:43.229 --> 0:14:45.789 league of how he handled himself both on and off 0:14:45.789 --> 0:14:47.509 the court. I mean, I could go on and on 0:14:47.549 --> 0:14:51.149 and on about all the wonderful characteristics of him on 0:14:51.269 --> 0:14:53.709 and off the court, and I've always felt it has 0:14:53.749 --> 0:14:57.189 been such an honor to sit courtside and call his games. 0:14:57.989 --> 0:15:01.629 Even those who played alongside Curry can't fully understand the 0:15:01.669 --> 0:15:05.709 control step has over a best the ball. DeMarcus Cousins 0:15:05.789 --> 0:15:08.829 was only Steph's teammate for one season, but he saw 0:15:08.949 --> 0:15:12.509 enough to question whether the game's greatest shooter might have 0:15:12.669 --> 0:15:15.549 alien DNA. 0:15:16.229 --> 0:15:20.709 He has this like childlike demeanor where he's always just 0:15:20.789 --> 0:15:23.029 kind of playing around and being himself. Like I said, 0:15:23.029 --> 0:15:27.109 he's a joy to be around. But you know he 0:15:27.109 --> 0:15:29.789 would walking the old practice arena, the one that was 0:15:29.829 --> 0:15:33.549 still in Oakland. He would always and the way the 0:15:33.589 --> 0:15:35.509 gym was set up, it was baskets all the way 0:15:35.549 --> 0:15:38.109 or all around the gym, just random baskets. It was 0:15:38.589 --> 0:15:40.509 I may be way off, but let's say it was 0:15:40.549 --> 0:15:44.749 about sixteen different baskets all throughout the gym. We had 0:15:44.789 --> 0:15:47.349 about three to four ball racks, and they were always 0:15:47.389 --> 0:15:48.909 right at the door as soon as you walked in. 0:15:48.989 --> 0:15:51.349 So stuff was, you know, steph thing was as soon 0:15:51.349 --> 0:15:51.669 as he. 0:15:51.629 --> 0:15:53.589 Walked in, he would just grab a ball and he 0:15:53.629 --> 0:15:56.309 would just randomly, like just throw it over his head 0:15:56.429 --> 0:16:00.629 like and I watched this guy to do this over 0:16:00.829 --> 0:16:04.469 and over and over again, and I've literally watched him 0:16:04.469 --> 0:16:08.469 make one hundred random just all net, not even looking 0:16:08.509 --> 0:16:12.789 at the basket, just and it was to the point 0:16:12.829 --> 0:16:15.149 where I'm like, man, this dude might not even really 0:16:15.229 --> 0:16:20.109 be from here because I've never seen these, like or 0:16:20.149 --> 0:16:23.509 maybe it's like a magic touching his fingertips or something. 0:16:23.669 --> 0:16:26.869 But I watched it over and over and over again. 0:16:28.909 --> 0:16:31.469 Even those who never played with Curry were feeling his 0:16:31.549 --> 0:16:35.629 impact in and around the league. You heard Trey Young 0:16:35.749 --> 0:16:38.669 discussing stuff at the top of this episode. Young was 0:16:38.709 --> 0:16:41.789 constantly compared to Curry during his final year at Oklahoma 0:16:42.069 --> 0:16:44.829 and as he was preparing for the draft in twenty eighteen. 0:16:45.829 --> 0:16:48.829 It immediately placed added pressure on Young, given that he 0:16:48.989 --> 0:16:52.669 was really the first prospect to regularly hear those comparisons. 0:16:52.989 --> 0:16:56.949 Yeah, I mean for me, I never like shot away 0:16:56.989 --> 0:16:59.549 from it. But for me, like I never asked for it. 0:16:59.589 --> 0:17:00.069 Like I was. 0:17:00.909 --> 0:17:03.349 I was in college, a freshman in college and just 0:17:03.509 --> 0:17:06.869 playing my game, and I would turn on ESPN, and 0:17:06.909 --> 0:17:09.309 that's what people were labeling me as as the next 0:17:09.349 --> 0:17:12.109 STEPH Curry because I was the only, I don't know, 0:17:12.189 --> 0:17:16.429 light skinning point guard out there shooting threes and dropping down. 0:17:16.589 --> 0:17:18.908 So I don't know what it was, but that's that 0:17:18.949 --> 0:17:19.789 maybe what it was. 0:17:19.909 --> 0:17:22.509 And for me, when you're a kid. 0:17:22.349 --> 0:17:24.069 And that's one of the guys you lived up to 0:17:24.189 --> 0:17:26.269 and when you're an idol, was just like, oh this 0:17:26.349 --> 0:17:29.908 is this is cool whatever. But you know, I mean, 0:17:29.949 --> 0:17:32.309 that wasn't the only guy looked up to as much 0:17:32.309 --> 0:17:34.869 as he was where my role model, And so I 0:17:34.949 --> 0:17:38.509 never went out and said I hated it or whatever, 0:17:38.589 --> 0:17:40.909 but I just succepted it what it is, and that's 0:17:40.949 --> 0:17:43.269 kind of how it was. And I just I know, 0:17:43.349 --> 0:17:44.829 I created my own lane, and that's what I was 0:17:44.829 --> 0:17:45.869 going to do the whole time. 0:17:46.429 --> 0:17:49.269 In the modern era, there have been very few players 0:17:49.269 --> 0:17:52.749 who are considered to have changed the game. Michael Jordan 0:17:52.949 --> 0:17:55.589 changed the way people thought about guards and that he 0:17:55.629 --> 0:17:57.709 didn't need a dominant big man to win at a 0:17:57.749 --> 0:18:01.429 high level. Shaquille O'Neal was so dominant and the paint 0:18:01.909 --> 0:18:04.389 it forced his own defenses to be allowed. In the NBA, 0:18:05.869 --> 0:18:08.629 Curry is often included on that list of game changers. 0:18:10.869 --> 0:18:15.389 Another of Curry's former teammates, Jabey McGee, believes Steph might 0:18:15.429 --> 0:18:16.789 actually top that list. 0:18:17.269 --> 0:18:20.309 I believe he might have the biggest impact on the 0:18:20.389 --> 0:18:25.669 game of the game of basketball, second to literally Ladysmith, 0:18:26.949 --> 0:18:31.148 just because who was trying to even shoot shots that 0:18:31.229 --> 0:18:32.549 he was shooting Like he. 0:18:32.629 --> 0:18:34.709 Had kids coming down. 0:18:34.549 --> 0:18:38.269 In fourth grade trying to shoot four pointers. It's stuff 0:18:38.269 --> 0:18:41.549 that we didn't even think we was legal or like 0:18:41.629 --> 0:18:45.029 we could do before step started doing it. If we 0:18:45.069 --> 0:18:47.269 shot some of the shots that he shot, we already 0:18:47.309 --> 0:18:49.708 knew were coming out the camp, even if we made it. 0:18:50.829 --> 0:18:53.069 So the impact that he had in the game was 0:18:53.109 --> 0:18:56.029 truly no one had. 0:18:55.949 --> 0:18:58.709 People doing okay, So if you put in the aspect 0:18:58.789 --> 0:19:01.229 of okay, this player. 0:19:01.269 --> 0:19:02.388 Dunks and blah blah. 0:19:02.429 --> 0:19:05.469 Everybody came down and some people will never dunk in 0:19:05.509 --> 0:19:09.149 their life, but everybody can attempt to shoot, not saying 0:19:09.149 --> 0:19:10.989 they're gonna make him, not saying they're good. But he 0:19:11.109 --> 0:19:15.869 had everybody in their mothers trying to shoot threes, and threes. 0:19:15.629 --> 0:19:16.708 Weren't even a thing like that. 0:19:17.029 --> 0:19:18.989 To the fact that that's how the NBA is now 0:19:19.189 --> 0:19:22.948 is more three oriented because of analytics. That's a definition 0:19:23.029 --> 0:19:25.509 of changing the game, and that's a definition of doing 0:19:25.589 --> 0:19:28.309 something that we didn't think this possible until you did it, 0:19:28.389 --> 0:19:30.429 And we had no idea that you could actually get 0:19:30.429 --> 0:19:33.189 those mean threes up until Steph and his team did it. 0:19:40.589 --> 0:19:43.469 Back in this twenty one to twenty two season, Steph 0:19:43.549 --> 0:19:46.709 and his team still had more work to do. The 0:19:46.749 --> 0:19:49.349 next big moment after Curry broke the three point record 0:19:49.869 --> 0:19:52.389 was getting Thompson back in the fold after two and 0:19:52.429 --> 0:19:55.709 a half years of nursing injuries. That day came on 0:19:55.829 --> 0:20:00.829 January ninth at Chase Center against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Thompson 0:20:00.829 --> 0:20:05.069 would play twenty minutes, take eighteen shots, and score seventeen 0:20:05.149 --> 0:20:06.869 points in a heartwarming return. 0:20:07.709 --> 0:20:08.908 They play down the lane. 0:20:09.069 --> 0:20:09.789 We'll put it up. 0:20:11.549 --> 0:20:12.829 See the hand time too. 0:20:13.229 --> 0:20:15.709 I told you first shot, Why pin down? 0:20:16.269 --> 0:20:17.188 Just turn the corner. 0:20:19.189 --> 0:20:20.829 Lady's got Jared Allen on the switch. 0:20:21.709 --> 0:20:22.549 He went to reach. 0:20:23.189 --> 0:20:24.549 They played down the lane. 0:20:26.949 --> 0:20:33.429 I think he's healthy. Yuh bow, Soony, come double another steel? 0:20:35.789 --> 0:20:38.149 Play for three? 0:20:38.869 --> 0:20:39.469 Here we go. 0:20:39.709 --> 0:20:43.908 Oh oh, it's feels familiar, doesn't it. 0:20:46.309 --> 0:20:49.349 This wouldn't be the play a bowl. Who would expect 0:20:49.349 --> 0:20:52.389 that after so much time off? And it was evident 0:20:52.429 --> 0:20:55.668 in his shooting numbers. It was just thirty two regular 0:20:55.709 --> 0:20:58.909 season games he played, but Thompson shot under forty percent 0:20:59.029 --> 0:21:01.869 from three for the first time in his career. And 0:21:01.909 --> 0:21:06.029 while Clay's return did bring back championship memories, it came 0:21:06.109 --> 0:21:12.589 at a time when Draymond Green couldn't actually participate. Green 0:21:12.709 --> 0:21:15.869 did play seven seconds in Thompson's comeback game just so 0:21:15.949 --> 0:21:17.589 he could be a part of it, but he was 0:21:17.709 --> 0:21:20.109 just beginning a two and a half month absence due 0:21:20.109 --> 0:21:23.629 to back problems. The Warriors did manage a nine game 0:21:23.669 --> 0:21:27.189 win streak while Green was out, but his absence eventually 0:21:27.269 --> 0:21:30.189 took a toll, as Golden State lost nine to eleven 0:21:30.429 --> 0:21:35.469 from February ninth to March seventh. Then, in Green's second 0:21:35.469 --> 0:21:38.309 game back from his back injury, the Warriors would be 0:21:38.389 --> 0:21:42.709 handed their toughest challenge of the year. Steph Curry injured 0:21:42.709 --> 0:21:45.069 his left foot in a game against the Celtics when 0:21:45.109 --> 0:21:47.789 Marcus Smart dove for a loose ball near Curry's feet. 0:21:48.269 --> 0:21:50.149 Step and Marcus are going for the loose ball. 0:21:50.229 --> 0:21:53.189 Marcus dies and he goes right into steps knee. 0:21:53.229 --> 0:21:55.629 I mean he just hit the floor first. 0:21:55.869 --> 0:21:59.229 I understand seeing Steve curR is bad because it's a superstar. 0:21:59.989 --> 0:22:01.909 But if you hustle, you, if. 0:22:01.789 --> 0:22:04.309 You're hitting the floor like that, it is That wasn't 0:22:04.309 --> 0:22:07.149 a chop boning for the Bault. 0:22:07.429 --> 0:22:10.629 The play itself drew immediate ire from Steve Kerr, who 0:22:10.709 --> 0:22:13.429