Speaker 1: Hey, everyone, welcome back to another episode of futt Around
Speaker 1: and find Out. I'm here with my girl as Shanty.
Speaker 2: We have a very special guess Azy.
Speaker 1: Today, we have a super special guest. I'm super excited
Speaker 1: about this episode.
Speaker 2: Today.
Speaker 1: We have someone who's been in my corner for a
Speaker 1: really long time. He's been some when I look up
Speaker 1: to a mentor, a champion, one of the greatest shooters, honestly,
Speaker 1: just one of the greatest players to touch a basketball period,
Speaker 1: the one and only Stephen Curry.
Speaker 3: What's happening? What's happening? Thank you all for having me
Speaker 3: on this is this is special for sure.
Speaker 2: Thank you for being here.
Speaker 1: Okay, So I want to start by taking it back
Speaker 1: to twenty eighteen Curry Camp when I was invited.
Speaker 2: What do you remember about that?
Speaker 4: Man?
Speaker 3: Oh man, it was like a very special time in
Speaker 3: you know, my journey in terms of what the you know,
Speaker 3: the select camp actually meant. I had been with UA
Speaker 3: for four years at that point, and we had had
Speaker 3: like this really tight roster of all young men who
Speaker 3: were coming in the ranks looking to work on their skills,
Speaker 3: and we had this idea obviously of you know, how
Speaker 3: can we make this better and more representative of what
Speaker 3: basketball looks like.
Speaker 4: And hear you and cam Brink come in.
Speaker 3: Walking into Walnut Creek, California in the gym and as
Speaker 3: the first two female Curry Select campers, and one I
Speaker 3: noticed just your confidence walking into the room of I'm
Speaker 3: supposed to be here, even if maybe I don't know
Speaker 3: how what your experience was, but it felt like one
Speaker 3: year ready to work and you were willing to do
Speaker 3: any and everything that we asked of you. But two,
Speaker 3: it was like you could tell the talent and the
Speaker 3: skill and the dedication to the game immediately. And so
Speaker 3: from that point it was it was the perfect kind
Speaker 3: of transition into you know, you taking that chance on
Speaker 3: coming and not knowing what you're getting into to now
Speaker 3: what it looks like, what eight years later and you're
Speaker 3: paving the way for so many athletes behind you now
Speaker 3: and now as a counselor coming in and hanging out
Speaker 3: with Cannon, you like you're like part counselor park babysitter,
Speaker 3: because that's all he was looking for, is where it's at.
Speaker 1: I prefer friend, you know, like me and Canon we're
Speaker 1: friends now, that is true. That is true.
Speaker 2: If you remembers me.
Speaker 4: Oh, he definitely remembers you.
Speaker 1: I still remember getting my invite to that first camp.
Speaker 1: Cam and I were on the you seventeen USA team
Speaker 1: I think or six I remember when you sixteen USA whatever.
Speaker 1: We're on the USA team. Just got to Belarus. My
Speaker 1: mom called me and she was like, hey, you just
Speaker 1: got this invite. Have you seen it? And the WiFi
Speaker 1: was weird, so I hadn't seen it, so they sent
Speaker 1: it to me. But Cam and I were actually roommates
Speaker 1: and we were talking about it and it's like this
Speaker 1: whole hype video of Curry Camp.
Speaker 2: What that looks like? They want to invite me?
Speaker 1: And I remember like being confused as to why you
Speaker 1: guys wanted to invite me, but also just in shock,
Speaker 1: like no way, And it was funny that we were roommates.
Speaker 1: We got to talk about it and then see each
Speaker 1: other a week later.
Speaker 4: There that's crazy, just knowing.
Speaker 3: We broadcast a little bit of the camp, and you know,
Speaker 3: you've seen some clips. I think it was like Seventh
Speaker 3: Woods and Dennis Smith Junior, who were like our first
Speaker 3: two campers back in the day into what it was
Speaker 3: when you showed up, But now we've got was it
Speaker 3: twelve to fourteen young men and young women both on
Speaker 3: as part of the Curry Camp. But none of that
Speaker 3: would have happened had y'all not accepted the invite and
Speaker 3: took a chance on us. So we're forever grateful for
Speaker 3: that because you had to walk through the door.
Speaker 2: Well, we definitely appreciate it. I do too.
Speaker 1: It's definitely a life changing moment and experience and has
Speaker 1: been since. Okay, Well, you've supported me through high school,
Speaker 1: my college commitment, through college, through injuries, championships, and now
Speaker 1: my rookie year. What moment has stood out to you?
Speaker 4: I mean, how much time do you have? How long's
Speaker 4: this pot? It's like so many moments, so many moments
Speaker 4: with you.
Speaker 3: I think my favorite moment though, is you trying to
Speaker 3: go out here and think that you could win the
Speaker 3: three point contest in a boot.
Speaker 4: That's still my favorite. You remember that you were hurt,
Speaker 4: You were hurt.
Speaker 3: She's hurt, like can't really do all the other drills,
Speaker 3: but she's still around. I think this is the second year.
Speaker 3: We came back the next year and we had like
Speaker 3: an all star game at this high school in Oakland,
Speaker 3: and we have like a halftime three point contests and
Speaker 3: We're like, I think ag might shoot, but she's got
Speaker 3: Lily a walking boot on. We're like, all right, we'll
Speaker 3: see what happens. And she's the one out here having fun,
Speaker 3: but that look.
Speaker 4: Of I do this.
Speaker 3: And so she got out There was cash from all
Speaker 3: around the court, every rack in a boot. I don't
Speaker 3: know how she calibrated the balance and all of that stuff,
Speaker 3: but that was just to me, like my favorite moment
Speaker 3: of you're your confidence, your competitiveness too, Like no matter
Speaker 3: what the situation was, you just wanted to compete, get
Speaker 3: out there going against the guys, and so I feel
Speaker 3: like that was my favorite moment just knowing that you're
Speaker 3: a killer, it doesn't matter what the situation is. Toughness
Speaker 3: like you had to show that and there was no
Speaker 3: stakes of all, Like what a summertime select.
Speaker 4: Can three points shootout?
Speaker 2: I just wanted to win.
Speaker 4: I tell you to sit down.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Brandon was so mad at me. He did not
Speaker 1: want me to shoot or for everyone listening. Brandon is
Speaker 1: one of Stephan's basketball trainers that I work out with
Speaker 1: as well.
Speaker 3: He yeah, he's serious about we have to protect the
Speaker 3: asset like she's not supposed to be and you couldn't
Speaker 3: tell you anything. So he's been through that a lot
Speaker 3: with me too. He was he was well conditioned for that.
Speaker 3: That no answer.
Speaker 1: I'm good, Okay, this is something that I've always wanted
Speaker 1: to ask.
Speaker 2: But why me?
Speaker 1: Why did you decide once you invited me to kind
Speaker 1: of just take me under your wing. It's something you
Speaker 1: did not at all need to do.
Speaker 3: Whenever people ask me this question, like I think they
Speaker 3: answer changes just depend on what moment pops up in
Speaker 3: my head first, But I think generally it's just when
Speaker 3: you're around the game long enough, you understand somebody that
Speaker 3: has a spirit of gratitude and appreciation for every moment
Speaker 3: that they get to hoop. You get the seriousness they
Speaker 3: take it when it comes to watching you work, and
Speaker 3: you can't fake that. And no matter how talented you were,
Speaker 3: highlights us all if you're in high school or this
Speaker 3: and that, like when you you know, understand your parents
Speaker 3: and when you got to you know, talk to them
Speaker 3: and hear the story of you know, how you grew
Speaker 3: up and how much the game means to you, how
Speaker 3: you treated people when you came into the building like
Speaker 3: the most not polite, but like just professional even as
Speaker 3: a high schooler of understanding why you're here and not
Speaker 3: wasting anybody's time.
Speaker 4: That goes a long way. So yeah, we loved like.
Speaker 3: The fact that you were like one of the most talented,
Speaker 3: uh you know, hoopers that we had seen, But just
Speaker 3: the idea of just how you handle things on and
Speaker 3: off the court that matters more than anything, because then
Speaker 3: there's this idea that no matter what comes your way,
Speaker 3: you're gonna be able to figure it out. Like not
Speaker 3: everybody's path is and you would know and everybody's path
Speaker 3: is straight in terms of just this uh you know,
Speaker 3: easy breezy coast to the w n b A, but
Speaker 3: just the idea that no matter if it was an injury,
Speaker 3: no matter if it was you know, a tough loss
Speaker 3: or bad game or a hard workout or whatever the
Speaker 3: case was, like, you were going to show up. And
Speaker 3: so I think we felt that from the jump, and
Speaker 3: it's pretty much gone exactly as expected in terms of
Speaker 3: your ability to be able to figure out whatever challenge
Speaker 3: is in front of you. So, uh, the fact that
Speaker 3: you're wearing that sweatshirt right now is still crazy to me.
Speaker 3: Wanted means getting it means I'm getting old, But it's
Speaker 3: also dope. It's also dope that you're you know, you're
Speaker 3: right where you're supposed to be because of what you
Speaker 3: you know, the work that you put into it.
Speaker 1: Thank you, I really really appreciate that.
Speaker 2: That's so beautiful.
Speaker 5: And yeah, girl super resilient and you heard it from
Speaker 5: one of the goat's mouths.
Speaker 3: So I'm gonna keep giving the flowers. Don't worry out
Speaker 3: what I said, how many questions you got. We're gonna
Speaker 3: hype her up because she deserves it for.
Speaker 5: Sure, Literally me all the time. Okay, that's my family
Speaker 5: to so steph Azy. You guys are you know, two
Speaker 5: of the best shooters in the game.
Speaker 2: Step.
Speaker 4: What makes a great shooter first is confidence. I think
Speaker 4: that's the biggest.
Speaker 3: It's kind of undefinable trait in terms of like if
Speaker 3: I walk into gym, I don't know how to say
Speaker 3: who's the most confident of the group. If you got
Speaker 3: a bunch of shooters but being able to mentally turn off,
Speaker 3: you know, a miss and have amnesia almost when it
Speaker 3: comes to what's supposed to happen next. I think there's
Speaker 3: like mechanics that you could direct somebody to if they're
Speaker 3: starting from scratch, on like what's quote unquote the perfect
Speaker 3: shot in terms of you know, your balance, how your
Speaker 3: feet are, position, shoulder square to the basket, what you're
Speaker 3: supposed to be looking at on the rim ball, position
Speaker 3: in the hand, like all that stuff. But I will
Speaker 3: say everybody, all I know, you know so many great
Speaker 3: shooters that everybody shoots differently. Me and As have totally
Speaker 3: distinct forms, Az and Klay, Thompson closer, but still different
Speaker 3: and unique to each of them. So I think it's
Speaker 3: a it's a mental part of the like the confidence
Speaker 3: and you're sometimes called it irrational confidence of no matter
Speaker 3: what shot I'm taking, I think I'm going to make,
Speaker 3: and it's built on you know, the reps helu.
Speaker 4: Yeah, for sure, the reps that you put into it.
Speaker 3: But then there's there's a repeatability that you know, great
Speaker 3: shooters have no matter what their shot looks like.
Speaker 4: That's what Asy has almost mastered.
Speaker 3: If you took, you know, a thousand pictures of a
Speaker 3: thousand shots, they probably it would all look exactly the
Speaker 3: same at the top of her her jump shot, and
Speaker 3: that's why she's such a consistent great shooter. I have
Speaker 3: a little bit like looser kind of mechanics to me,
Speaker 3: But I think when I get to the top, it all.
Speaker 4: Kind of looks the same as well.
Speaker 3: So you got to have a little bit of mental
Speaker 3: and the physical connector, but it's all built on work.
Speaker 4: You can't shoat the game.
Speaker 2: M Well said, what.
Speaker 3: Do you think I'd say, I'm not the host of
Speaker 3: this podcast. I'll ask you what is a great shooter
Speaker 3: to you? Because I want to know from another great
Speaker 3: shooter what that means.
Speaker 2: I agree with what you said.
Speaker 1: I feel like, if anything, when you watch basketball, you
Speaker 1: see not like no shots look the same, no form
Speaker 1: looks the same. You can have the ugliest looking build
Speaker 1: up wind up, but if it works for you, then
Speaker 1: it works for you. If it's consistent, like you make
Speaker 1: it work then but I agree you have to be
Speaker 1: able to repeat.
Speaker 2: That has to be consistent.
Speaker 5: I like the delusional confidence where it's like everything I
Speaker 5: put up is going in period period.
Speaker 3: If you if you if you could have a microphone
Speaker 3: on in your in your brain, like at that moment
Speaker 3: when you're about to shoot, it's like there's no other option.
Speaker 4: You almost surprised if you miss.
Speaker 3: But also I will say, you know you get to
Speaker 3: a point where you know right away, as soon as
Speaker 3: that ball leaves your fingertips, that which was about to happen,
Speaker 3: we could we could pretty much predict the outcome. You
Speaker 3: might get a couple of surprises or lucky bounce, but
Speaker 3: for the most part, we know as soon as we
Speaker 3: let it go.
Speaker 2: Could you break down some of your shooting drills or workouts.
Speaker 4: It depends on the time of year, in season, out
Speaker 4: of season.
Speaker 3: You know, if it's a shoot around, a bigger practice
Speaker 3: where I have some more time and a little bit
Speaker 3: more rest on the back end to really go hard.
Speaker 4: But I think we have.
Speaker 3: There's there's a different categories, I guess, so like conditioning
Speaker 3: shooting drills where you try to simulate kind of games.
Speaker 4: Look at our face, look at those are the ones.
Speaker 4: Those are the ones we love.
Speaker 3: We have a love hate relationship with those because you
Speaker 3: know you're getting some out of it, but you don't
Speaker 3: look forward to You don't look forward to those days
Speaker 3: at all. Like the full court star drill, but you
Speaker 3: have to also put a goal on top of the drill,
Speaker 3: and then if you don't hit that, then it could
Speaker 3: be a long workout, a longer than a longer workout
Speaker 3: than necessary. But like those conditioning drills, whether it's the
Speaker 3: full court star drill that people have seen or this
Speaker 3: drill that we do call perfection where you have to
Speaker 3: make four in a row five different spots, than three
Speaker 3: in a row, than two in a row.
Speaker 4: Than one in a row, but you can't miss.
Speaker 3: You can't miss two in a row, you can't miss
Speaker 3: two shots in a row, or else you have to
Speaker 3: start all over. So it's more of a test of
Speaker 3: mental resilience. At the end of a workout, we've got
Speaker 3: warm up drills where you're dribbling one basketball at the
Speaker 3: same time you're shooting with the other hand to kind
Speaker 3: of training like the mental dexterity being able to lock
Speaker 3: in on the shooting motion while you have something else
Speaker 3: kind of distracting you while you're drivening the other basketball.
Speaker 3: That's a fun one because it kind of just gets
Speaker 3: the mind and the body going.
Speaker 4: We do that at the beginning of workouts.
Speaker 3: But yeah, there's like a lot of different categories that
Speaker 3: and I'm still trying to figure out and kind of
Speaker 3: design new ones because you got to, you know, keep
Speaker 3: your got to keep challenging yourself in new ways. You
Speaker 3: don't want to kind of settle into a groove of
Speaker 3: knowing exactly know how you're going to experience a drill.
Speaker 3: So seventeen years into the league, I'm still trying to
Speaker 3: figure out new routines and stuff.
Speaker 1: And that was a very vague explanation of what his
Speaker 1: workouts looked. Like what I love about what his work
Speaker 1: he very lightly mentioned it. But everything you have to
Speaker 1: think like you have to there'll be addition, subtraction, multiplication,
Speaker 1: like number of letters in some of those drills, doing
Speaker 1: ball handling while having like multiply plus three with different
Speaker 1: colors and tennis balls and juggling, and also with the
Speaker 1: shooting drills, Like my favorite part is that it's not
Speaker 1: just okay, make ten, make three in a row and
Speaker 1: then do this like it's okay, Well if you don't
Speaker 1: do this, then you have to go back if you
Speaker 1: don't do that right thing. So like you're constantly being
Speaker 1: challenged in different ways.
Speaker 2: And I love that.
Speaker 1: I mean, and explains why he's the best. But yeah,
Speaker 1: I love watching him.
Speaker 2: Doing math with colors while dribbling issues. I don't even
Speaker 2: know how to describe some of these drills.
Speaker 5: I mean, by itself, maybe that's awesome.
Speaker 4: Be pays holding.
Speaker 3: In front of you and you're like, all right, answer,
Speaker 3: oh man, it's fun, it's fun.
Speaker 2: It is fun.
Speaker 1: Okay, I want to take it back to your draft night.
Speaker 1: What what's one of your favorite memories from your draft night?
Speaker 3: Ooh uh, well fun fact, not fun fact, horrible fact.
Speaker 3: That was the day Michael Jackson passed away June twenty fifth,
Speaker 3: two thousand and nine. So I heard Jeff t tell
Speaker 3: the story on his party the other day because we
Speaker 3: were in the same draft class. But it was my
Speaker 3: dad's birthday. It was the day Michael Jackson passed. In
Speaker 3: New York, it was just the idea of being in
Speaker 3: the you know, in the city, getting dressed like I
Speaker 3: did the old get It was like the premature get
Speaker 3: ready with me situations when.
Speaker 4: I had on my fit with a little purple tie.
Speaker 3: Nervous as all get out, but one I didn't know
Speaker 3: how long the night was going to be. So you're
Speaker 3: there for two hours before the David Stern at the time,
Speaker 3: the commissioner, before he even walked out. And so yeah,
Speaker 3: there are a lot of fans in there, and you
Speaker 3: know a lot of New York fans, which are pretty awesome.
Speaker 4: My favorite moment is how loud.
Speaker 3: They booed when Golden State selected me at number seven.
Speaker 3: We're passionate, yes, one hundred percent, so they they bowed
Speaker 3: like crazy, and I'm trying to, you know, have that moment.
Speaker 3: I couldn't get that distraction out of my head, like
Speaker 3: they booing. I was like, oh, no, they really wanted me.
Speaker 3: I got it that It took me a second. Is
Speaker 3: in that moment, there's just so many thoughts going on,
Speaker 3: but you're getting that call was from Larry Riley, the
Speaker 3: GM at the time. Don Nelson, who was the coach
Speaker 3: at the time, getting that call and being like, hey,
Speaker 3: we're looking forward to having you excited, and then me
Speaker 3: quickly looking at my phone trying to figure out exactly
Speaker 3: where Golden State was.
Speaker 4: All I was thinking about was New York. But careful
Speaker 4: what you wish for. But I'm glad. I'm glad I went.
Speaker 4: My wife for sure.
Speaker 1: Everything works out that part, that part, I guess step
Speaker 1: if you were drafted today, what would you wear?
Speaker 5: I like the like purple tie. Look, I saw the drop.
Speaker 5: It wasn't I've seen crazier.
Speaker 2: It wasn't bad.
Speaker 3: It was kind of chill with a pop on the time.
Speaker 3: What would I wear it this year. Oh, that's a
Speaker 3: good question. It would probably be like something like real fitted,
Speaker 3: double breasted, like kind of pin stripey, but like dark
Speaker 3: navy suit. Just something classic, but something that fit actually
Speaker 3: fit me more than my suit did back in on
Speaker 3: nine because we had a whole different definition of what
Speaker 3: what fit.
Speaker 4: Yeah, something something classic like that.
Speaker 2: I like that vision you gotta You're gonna.
Speaker 4: Hear me say that and you go see what I'm
Speaker 4: wearing at the met gall of the night like that?
Speaker 4: Ain't the same person?
Speaker 2: Is it like a crazy look? Or you could tell
Speaker 2: us this drops off like on a Friday.
Speaker 3: I don't have it with me, but it's it's like, uh,
Speaker 3: I'm like the black Assassin's creed. Let's put it that way.
Speaker 3: I like, I gotta uh yeah, and it involves gloves.
Speaker 3: Let's put add that to big, big, big hood and
Speaker 3: leather gloves that.
Speaker 2: I'm excited to see. I am excited? Is it just you?
Speaker 2: Ors I usual with you?
Speaker 4: With me too? So she is? Uh? I think the
Speaker 4: theme is costume mark.
Speaker 3: She's got it fall less like silhouette dress with a
Speaker 3: little little legs showing it's gonna be nice.
Speaker 4: I'm the arm candy this time around.
Speaker 2: You guys are gonna look amazing. But listen, we all
Speaker 2: still like make macaroni and cheese on the side.
Speaker 4: You know this is true. It's just true.
Speaker 1: Well, I had some more questions from his rookie year,
Speaker 1: but we're gonna We're gonna bring it back. Sorry, that's exciting.
Speaker 1: The process for going to the NBA is way different
Speaker 1: than the wu of months prepare, get ready, combine train.
Speaker 1: What was the hardest part about transitioning for you?
Speaker 3: I think just getting comfortable with the physical demands because
Speaker 3: we have a certain in college. You know, like there's
Speaker 3: it's just different in terms of the college practices are.
Speaker 4: Insane and hard.
Speaker 3: I know you play for one of the hardest coaches
Speaker 3: in terms of the expectations on a daily basis, But
Speaker 3: everybody had that experience of you know, six am workouts
Speaker 3: and weight room and study hall and then back practice
Speaker 3: and then like two games a week, So practices were
Speaker 3: even crazier just because they had the time to run
Speaker 3: you into the ground. The league is different because it's
Speaker 3: more self motivated, like you have to figure it out
Speaker 3: for yourself how to meet that level of work because
Speaker 3: there's nobody really like you got team camaraderie. I know
Speaker 3: there's you know, organized team activities and stuff, but for
Speaker 3: the most part, your prep has to be your own process.
Speaker 3: And it took me a minute to understand how to
Speaker 3: set that up to you know, get me through the
Speaker 3: off season. And thankfully I got to hang out with
Speaker 3: Chris Paul a good amount over that summer, and I
Speaker 3: basically shattered him for like two months off and on.
Speaker 3: I even went to I was joking with him. I
Speaker 3: went to their family reunion in Orlando. Me and I
Speaker 3: used to just we we got a room because he
Speaker 3: was working out in the mornings, and so we went
Speaker 3: down there for three days and just to see his process,
Speaker 3: you know, and how he showed up every morning with
Speaker 3: an intention of what he was trying to work on,
Speaker 3: and how he pushed himself even when he didn't have to,
Speaker 3: how he made himself uncomfortable. That was great to kind
Speaker 3: of draft off that energy and it helped me, you know,
Speaker 3: transition into the league. And then obviously once you get
Speaker 3: the training camp, it's a whole nother process. Like every
Speaker 3: every day is something new and something different. It's so
Speaker 3: cool talking to you literally right now, because you're right
Speaker 3: in the middle of that.
Speaker 4: I saw that video yesterday. You're doing the jump ball
Speaker 4: situation like.
Speaker 2: We're talking about like the handshakes.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, I don't get like I don't know these
Speaker 1: people yet, like I have to go say hi, th
Speaker 1: like I don't.
Speaker 2: I was so worried. My gosh. I remember watching that.
Speaker 2: I was like, she looks just so excited to say hello.
Speaker 2: I'm like doing. I was like, I don't know you
Speaker 2: like high Hi. Hello.
Speaker 5: That's so it's hilarious, so funny.
Speaker 4: It's a little stuff like that.
Speaker 3: Okay, I guess, But then you got locked back into
Speaker 3: what was the coverages?
Speaker 4: What's the first play called?
Speaker 3: Like it's just a mental mentally exhausting, like going through
Speaker 3: all of these reps, but it's going to help you
Speaker 3: in the long run.
Speaker 4: So like little stuff like.
Speaker 3: That that always makes me laugh, just because there's no
Speaker 3: way to really prepare yourself and what you about to
Speaker 3: get into.
Speaker 4: You just gotta go through it.
Speaker 2: You just gotta do it.
Speaker 1: Okay, So how long would you say that it took
Speaker 1: you to really get down your routine because that's like
Speaker 1: even just the game day routine. Like I'm looking around,
Speaker 1: it's so different than college and I'm trying to look
Speaker 1: at my bets and people who have much more of
Speaker 1: an understanding what's going on.
Speaker 2: But like, how did you figure out what works best
Speaker 2: for you? How long did that take?
Speaker 4: So I think the answer to the question is about
Speaker 4: four years.
Speaker 3: Wow, it took me to understand what worked and what
Speaker 3: didn't work, what I had time for, what I didn't,
Speaker 3: How I could blend my process into the game day,
Speaker 3: practice day, shoot around flows in season. But within that
Speaker 3: four year process, it was almost like every three months,
Speaker 3: I felt like I was either forced to change something
Speaker 3: or experimenting on my own, even the idea. I talked
Speaker 3: to a lot of young guys today who come you
Speaker 3: know in our locker room.
Speaker 4: You got to learn how to rest too.
Speaker 3: That's a hard thing, is a as a young player,
Speaker 3: because we're you're trained like you got there because of
Speaker 3: your work ethic most likely and the idea of I know,
Speaker 3: I might need to go get a couple extra one
Speaker 3: hundred shots, or I might need to thirty minutes, you know,
Speaker 3: working through some ball handling stuff or whatever like.
Speaker 4: Those are important.
Speaker 3: You kind of have to learn yourself as you go,
Speaker 3: But you still have to balance being sharp and ready,
Speaker 3: especially if you're playing, you know, minutes as a rookie,
Speaker 3: which not everybody has that experience, so it's a little different.
Speaker 3: But that even that part you're always reassessing four years
Speaker 3: is when I got comfortable. But even in that I
Speaker 3: still was changing things from time to time, but I
Speaker 3: just got comfortable knowing everything that was going to come
Speaker 3: at me, and I felt like that's the moment where
Speaker 3: there weren't really any surprises on just the day to
Speaker 3: day experience of being professional.
Speaker 4: You know a basketball player.
Speaker 2: When you think about your rookie year, is there anything
Speaker 2: that you would change?
Speaker 3: Yeah, our win total. We struggling to get twenty wins
Speaker 3: my rookie year. Our only thing was chasing I think
Speaker 3: we might be like twenty three wins to get Don
Speaker 3: Nelson the record for all time win as a head coach,
Speaker 3: which is last year and he needed I think it
Speaker 3: was twenty three, Like correct me if I'm wrong, But
Speaker 3: that was our only goal, Like the last half of
Speaker 3: the season was can we get him that record? And
Speaker 3: when we did it in Minnesota and we celebrated like
Speaker 3: we won a championship, and then you came out and
Speaker 3: like we were thirteenth place in the.
Speaker 2: West steps celebrate the.
Speaker 3: Small ones beginnings humbo beginnings for sure, but I wouldn't
Speaker 3: change anything else just because my experience was my own.
Speaker 4: You had to figure it out.
Speaker 1: Okay, early on, how did you navigate walking into a
Speaker 1: locker room with players already established in the league and
Speaker 1: trying to find your voice in that space.
Speaker 3: That was one of the harder journeys for sure, because
Speaker 3: even to the point of where we were that year,
Speaker 3: I had a couple of vets Roni, Terry offf Corey
Speaker 3: mcghetty and Andris Biedrin's who were the voices that kind
Speaker 3: of helped me navigate some stuff. They made it hard
Speaker 3: on me at times, but they showed me so much love,
Speaker 3: just introduced me to, you know again, what the NBA.
Speaker 4: Life was like.
Speaker 3: And then Matte Ellis was kind of in between as
Speaker 3: a guy that was a budding All Star and trying
Speaker 3: to get, you know, lead a team himself because he
Speaker 3: was a part of that we believed team that had
Speaker 3: a bunch of older guys and he was the young pup.
Speaker 3: And then when I got there, he was considered the
Speaker 3: vet even though he was in his mid twenties. And
Speaker 3: that balance was tough because you know, it was tough
Speaker 3: being two small guards in that backcourt and we were
Speaker 3: you know, he felt like we were under achieving based
Speaker 3: on where he had been me even a couple of
Speaker 3: years before. So me fighting my voice as a leaders
Speaker 3: mostly by example and like you, establishing a trust in
Speaker 3: my teammates because of my work ethic and how I
Speaker 3: showed up every day.
Speaker 4: But I don't think I'm going back to that four
Speaker 4: year journey.
Speaker 3: Like that year four or five, six was kind of
Speaker 3: when I really became more of a vocal leader. It
Speaker 3: was very uncomfortable at times because it wasn't that necessarily
Speaker 3: my strong suit, or knowing when and where to say
Speaker 3: you know what, or when to bring that fiery emotion,
Speaker 3: or when to pull somebody aside and have a one
Speaker 3: on one conversation, like learning your teammates and what can
Speaker 3: get the most out of them.
Speaker 4: There's no playbook for that.
Speaker 3: You just have to one not be afraid of judgment
Speaker 3: or you know, fear of saying the wrong thing at
Speaker 3: the wrong time.
Speaker 4: Like that's easier said than done for anybody.
Speaker 3: But eventually, I think that's where it became noticeable that
Speaker 3: that was important for us to get where we wanted
Speaker 3: to go because I don't think people are going to
Speaker 3: look at me as the guy on the court playing
Speaker 3: at the high level and how it worked. But that
Speaker 3: voice matters because they want to know that there's expectations.
Speaker 4: On the line.
Speaker 3: They want to have you know that you got to
Speaker 3: make people uncomfortable at times. I think that's that's just
Speaker 3: a learning curve as you go through, especially if you
Speaker 3: wanted like the quieter types, and I think that's that's
Speaker 3: who I was early.
Speaker 4: In my career.
Speaker 1: It's hard like obviously not knowing you early in your career,
Speaker 1: but it's hard to think that you were quieter knowing
Speaker 1: who you are now.
Speaker 4: No, for sure, it's it was like seventeen years.
Speaker 3: You think about all the different iterations of me as
Speaker 3: a as a person and a player. I think I
Speaker 3: haven't changed much in terms of how I see the world.
Speaker 3: But I think to your point, yes, it's challenged you
Speaker 3: to stretch you and force you to to mature and
Speaker 3: grow in different areas that you never really thought you'd
Speaker 3: have to.
Speaker 5: I guess you mentioned earlier that you know Chris Paul
Speaker 5: and you had other great bets who came alongside you.
Speaker 5: Is there anyone in particular that really like took you
Speaker 5: under their wing to help you develop your voice and
Speaker 5: develop your leadership style.
Speaker 4: That's crazy as it sounds.
Speaker 3: He's younger than me, but it was Draymond and that
Speaker 3: my fourth year because can you imagine he was the
Speaker 3: loudest one in the room even in his first year
Speaker 3: in the locker room, and as me and his relationship grew,
Speaker 3: it kind of became important for me to make sure
Speaker 3: I elevated my voice so that he wasn't the only
Speaker 3: one that you heard on a daily basis. It was
Speaker 3: kind of like a big ying yang kind of perspective
Speaker 3: that was necessary. Those guys that I mentioned before were
Speaker 3: more of the vets that I had that. Oh, Darrell
Speaker 3: Wright was another one as well, who was a guy
Speaker 3: my second third year that just had a charisma about
Speaker 3: him and connected with, you know, pretty much everybody in
Speaker 3: the locker room. So I kind of got to see
Speaker 3: how he navigated that space. And he was a champion
Speaker 3: in Miami why the time he came, you know, with us,
Speaker 3: and so he had been around a successful veteran team
Speaker 3: and so he had he had seen how it's done.
Speaker 4: And even in that short time I learned a lot
Speaker 4: from him.
Speaker 3: So yeah, between you know, my rookie year vets, Darrell, Jarrett,
Speaker 3: Jack and Draymond. Those were are my guys that helped
Speaker 3: me elevate my presence more than just you know, the
Speaker 3: skill and the talent.
Speaker 2: He's gonna loved hearing that.
Speaker 4: That's my guy for sure.
Speaker 1: This was my last question about your early years, your
Speaker 1: rookie years. But looking back, what was one thing that
Speaker 1: you wish you had understood or learned early in your
Speaker 1: career that you figured out later on in the league.
Speaker 3: You realize how fast these games come, and you learn
Speaker 3: not to dwell on the losses are.
Speaker 4: The bad games for too long? Uh.
Speaker 3: In college, you have a whole week to think about
Speaker 3: a tough loss, thirtain situations and it's it's miserable, Like
Speaker 3: all right, coach, how many times can you watch film
Speaker 3: on this exact game.
Speaker 4: Like we get it.
Speaker 3: We we were horrible that night, and then you gotta wait,
Speaker 3: you know, forever to go back out and redeem yourself
Speaker 3: in the league. It got turned the page quick, you know,
Speaker 3: every other night, back to back. So the emotional rollercoaster,
Speaker 3: I would say, learning how to still keep your competitive
Speaker 3: fire but try to stay more even keeled because it's
Speaker 3: such a long season. I think for me was what
Speaker 3: I wish I learned earlier.
Speaker 1: You know what, stuff go ahead, wait, yeah, we still
Speaker 1: have beef. I have a bone to pick with you.
Speaker 1: I was in college for five years.
Speaker 2: Five years.
Speaker 1: Granted I didn't play a lot of those years or
Speaker 1: a lot of those games, that's still five years of
Speaker 1: opportunity that you had to come to a game.
Speaker 2: And you didn't, and you didn't.
Speaker 4: I'm going to deflect the blame. You're right. I'm going
Speaker 4: to deflect the blame on Adam Silver for not.
Speaker 3: Scheduling us in the Northeast at a certain point, or
Speaker 3: at least giving us a day off when you were
Speaker 3: in the tournament.
Speaker 4: And then I'm gonna also blame.
Speaker 3: Larry Riley, who drafted me, because if I was in
Speaker 3: New York, I could have been up there. No, probably
Speaker 3: they had to put us little on either side of
Speaker 3: the coast like I was. You know when you come
Speaker 3: to the Bay and you come to Balhalla, and it
Speaker 3: was that ju June something.
Speaker 2: June seventeenth is the first I'm going.
Speaker 4: To try to make up for five years and one night.
Speaker 1: You see how he said try. So there's still like
Speaker 1: a back door for him to escape. But that's cool.
Speaker 2: We'll see. I'll believe it what I see.
Speaker 4: It's on you to accept my apology.
Speaker 2: We'll see if I forgive you.
Speaker 1: You have a little over a month to figure out
Speaker 1: your schedule that part.
Speaker 4: That part, I'm gonna be there.
Speaker 1: Okay, now that we got that out of the way.
Speaker 1: I mean, you've done and accomplished a ton of things
Speaker 1: with having a movie come out championship. Just what is
Speaker 1: one thing that you have not done yet that you
Speaker 1: want to do.
Speaker 4: That's a great question.
Speaker 3: I've been blessed, man, I had such a blessed NBA
Speaker 3: experience that just obviously, winning a championship is the only
Speaker 3: real motivator for for anything outside of that, I'm a
Speaker 3: pivot to to golf because that's my other love. Like
Speaker 3: eventually we're not going to talk basketball, but eventually. Uh,
Speaker 3: it's a very niche community. I'll understand what I'm saying.
Speaker 3: But I would I would want to qualify for a
Speaker 3: US Open as an amateur.
Speaker 4: Oh wow, that would be that would be another goal.
Speaker 2: The popularity of golf is going up.
Speaker 4: It's going crazy right now.
Speaker 2: I see a lot more young people get into it.
Speaker 3: And I love that as they should. There's a lot
Speaker 3: of room. The water is warm in the golf world,
Speaker 3: so eventually it's shanty as you gotta get y' all
Speaker 3: out there too, as she's been the top golf and
Speaker 3: I try to. I try to help the swing a
Speaker 3: little bit, but there's some game in there somewhere.
Speaker 2: Raw talent. I gotta work on.
Speaker 3: Raw.
Speaker 2: Extremely wrong, extremely wrong.
Speaker 1: We could have kept talking for hours. I have so
Speaker 1: many more questions, comments, things I could ask you, say
Speaker 1: to you, but we know you're busy, so I really appreciate,
Speaker 1: we really appreciate you taking the time spending this time
Speaker 1: with us today.
Speaker 2: Listeners.
Speaker 1: Thank you guys for watching, for listening, for tuning in,
Speaker 1: don't forget to rate, review and subscribe to fut around
Speaker 1: and find out wherever you get your podcasts, and we'll
Speaker 1: see you all next week. Steph again, thank you so
Speaker 1: much for being here today, but for the last what
Speaker 1: like eight years, you being in my corner, supporting me,
Speaker 1: being someone I look up to, a mentor either or
Speaker 1: not enough words to tell you how grateful and appreciate
Speaker 1: it if I am for everything you've done for me.
Speaker 4: Super proud of you.
Speaker 3: Keep going and watching every step of the way through
Speaker 3: a pronoun so, let's get it, let's get it, let's
Speaker 3: get it.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much, Steph.
Speaker 1: Futter Around and find Out is a production of iHeart
Speaker 1: Women's Sports and Unanimous Media. Executive producers are Jesse Katz,
Speaker 1: Eric Payton, Charlotte Sumter Brugette, and Stephan Curry. Co executive
Speaker 1: producer is Kleana Maria Cutney. Producers are My Mike Costcarelli,
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