I’m not here to bore you on what we already know of Steph Curry’s greatness. Forget his impressive NCAA tournament run where he wheeled his small college Davidson to the Elite Eight. Or how his play style transcended the game landing him multiple championships, back-to-back MVP honors, and earning the Greatest Shooter of All Time label. That’s all readily available info. I’m here to put you on game of a time where Golden State’s most significant player in franchise history almost wasn’t even a Warrior. Cast aside to a sidekick roll. A massive risk, injury-prone dude who teams would be foolish to build their franchise around. Let’s meet those versions of Steph Curry in the prism.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00I'm not here to bore you on what we already know of Steph Curry's greatness.
00:04Forget his impressive NCAA tournament run where he willed his small college Davison
00:09to the Elite 8.
00:10Or how his playstyle transcended the game, landing him multiple championships, back-to-back
00:15MVP honors, and earning the greatest shooter of all time label.
00:19That's all readily available info.
00:21I'm here to put you on a game of a time where Golden State's most significant player
00:26in franchise history almost wasn't even a warrior.
00:29Cast aside to a sidekick role.
00:32A massive risk, injury-prone dude who teams would be foolish to build their franchise
00:37around.
00:38Let's meet those versions of Steph Curry in The Prism.
00:44Steph could have landed in several places.
00:46He was one of the headline prospects in a 2009 draft class filled with talent.
00:51Oklahoma forward Blake Griffin was top dog, but experts were torn on how the rest of the
00:55picks would fall.
00:57Some mock drafts had the baby-faced sharpshooter going as high as 4th overall, but most projections
01:03expected him to slide to the New York Knicks at the 8th spot.
01:06On paper, the selection made a ton of sense.
01:09Lincoln Curry's fast-paced playstyle with Knicks head coach Mike D'Antoni's innovative
01:13offense would have been the perfect coupling.
01:16D'Antoni looked his chops at the thought of drafting Steph.
01:20Regarding transitioning to the NBA, Steph also envisioned the Big Apple as the ideal place
01:25to launch his career.
01:26They openly flirted with each other, but come draft time, that ain't how things went down.
01:32Warriors brass had their eyes set on Steph, snagging him just a pick ahead of the Knicks,
01:36but selecting Steph seemed weird for a few reasons.
01:41Internally, Golden State went against Steph's dad and former NBA hooper Dale Curry's wishes
01:46when he straight-up told the Bay Area squad not to draft his son.
01:51Steph didn't even view the Warriors as a viable option.
01:54It wouldn't be wise for an organization to base its decisions solely on the thoughts
01:58of a player's parents, but the Warriors drafting Steph left some experts befuddled
02:02simply based on fit.
02:05Golden State already had a franchise guard in Monte Ellis who mirrored Steph both in
02:09size and playstyle.
02:12This may have made sense as to why they immediately tried to shop Steph in a trade package to
02:17Landon Mare Stoudemire.
02:19They later backtracked with Warriors head coach Dunn Nelson picturing an elite backcourt
02:24where Steph handled point guard duties allowing Monte to remain a potent scorer.
02:29Nelly had yet to run the idea by Ellis who spent the offseason working on his PG skills
02:34but figured Ellis would be pleased to have a quality running mate.
02:38Except Ellis wasn't having it.
02:41During a media day training session before training camp began, Ellis firmly told reporters
02:46he couldn't see a world in which a backcourt with him and Steph could be successful.
02:50When pushed by reporters for a reason behind his thoughts, Ellis refused to offer any real
02:55analysis simply saying they couldn't do it.
02:58I've heard the warmest way to welcome a teammate is completely telling them off before
03:02even spending a full week of practice together.
03:05So they were off to a strong start.
03:08Throughout the season, Ellis' statements kind of rang true.
03:11On the floor, a clear pecking order started to emerge with Monte being the leader of the
03:16squad.
03:17At times, Ellis played so well that journalists didn't even acknowledge Steph as a sidekick.
03:22It was a one man show.
03:24Steph ultimately did flash his potential at times with Ellis sidelined because of injury
03:28but when Ellis returned to the lineup, Steph knew his place.
03:32Media members believed the two couldn't coexist on the floor, were too undersized
03:36and things visibly looked out of whack between them.
03:40Despite Steph finishing second place in rookie of the year voting, Golden State found themselves
03:44in the draft lottery which further clouded his future yet again as they hit the offseason.
03:50With University of Kentucky's star point guard John Wall set to hit the upcoming draft,
03:55media members speculated if Golden State should strike while the iron was hot and deal curry.
04:00The ping pong balls didn't fall in Golden State's favor as they landed the 6th pick
04:04eventually drafting big man F.A. Udo.
04:08Either way, after a full season of nearly confirming Ellis' beliefs, many experts
04:12were convinced the Warriors had to do something, which didn't happen on the player personnel
04:18side.
04:19Nelson resigned and as new head coach Keith Smart fully took over, Curry saw his role
04:24diminish even more, being sent to the bench in high pressure situations.
04:29Ellis still reigned supreme as the team's leader but as Steph's sophomore season came
04:33to an end, he had much bigger problems on his hands, technically speaking, his feet.
04:40Steph wasn't an injury prone guy, he only missed a single game in his 3 collegiate seasons
04:46but was forced to sit out 8 games due to ankle sprains during his second year in the bay.
04:51The issue appeared more serious when reports circulated that he had to undergo surgery
04:56in the offseason.
04:57The operation appeared to be a success but seemingly wasn't the case as Steph rode
05:02the pine for 40 games in the following lockout shortened 2012 season.
05:07The frequency at which Steph kept hurting his ankles was extremely concerning.
05:12Less than a month into the campaign, the dude had already sprained his ankles on three separate
05:16occasions.
05:18Steph couldn't hide his emotions, tossing his mouth guard or shielding his face in his
05:22jersey with each rolled ankle.
05:24In search of some sort of answer, Steph visited Nike headquarters during the season to have
05:30his shoes analyzed for fit, learning that his ankle naturally rolled to the outside.
05:34Maybe it was the kicks all along, or just maybe his ankle was truly screwed when he
05:40had to be shut down for the remainder of the year after attempting to make a comeback.
05:44Golden State wouldn't publicly admit it but they figured it was the latter as well.
05:49With Steph out, the Warriors front office reportedly tried to include their down bag
05:53guard in a trade package to acquire Milwaukee Bucs center Andrew Volkin.
05:58The deal ultimately got nixed because Milwaukee viewed Steph as damaged goods.
06:03Instead, Golden State shipped off Monte Alice in a trade that appeared to rattle fans.
06:09A week later, during a game that was meant to honor Golden State icon Chris Mullin, Warriors
06:13fans rained down boos on co-owner Joe Lacob to the point where the dude could barely speak.
06:19Golden State supporters were fed up with the direction of their team, but the trade
06:34indicated the franchise was ready to turn the keys over to Steph when he came back healthy.
06:39Which by season's end seemed to be a bigger if than expected.
06:43A day before the final game of the year, Steph underwent a second surgery on his right ankle.
06:49Steph vowed he would do everything possible to avoid repeating going under the knife,
06:53but after multiple consultations, he had no other options.
06:58Even scarier, as Steph hit the operation table, doctors initially didn't know how severe
07:03the surgery would be.
07:05The worst case scenario surgery required Steph to get total re-reconstruction, essentially
07:10meaning a complete redo of his first operation, but this time with tendons from a dead dude.
07:16However, a procedure of that nature wouldn't guarantee how the ghost ankle would hold
07:21up on the floor.
07:22Luckily, a set of x-rays found no structural damage to the ligaments and Steph could go
07:27under the least intrusive option in his eyes.
07:30An operation was still needed, but it allowed for a much quicker recovery time.
07:34While a less invasive surgery presented promising news, it didn't fully calm Warriors' management.
07:41Steph had looney-tune-ass types of injuries where he often got hurt without anyone around
07:46On one instance, he rolled his ankle during a preseason game by jumping into a passing
07:50lane.
07:51In another situation, he dribbled up court in a matchup against the Spurs with hardly
07:56anyone near him before his right ankle gave out underneath him as if he slipped on an
08:01invisible banana peel.
08:03Whispers circulated in the league that Steph had glass ankles.
08:07His own GM, Bob Myers, admitted to never seeing anything like it before.
08:12A bum ankle is one thing, but with Steph's rookie contract set to expire the following
08:17season, his future with Golden State became much more complicated.
08:22Both sides engaged in early negotiations, with talks starting at nearly $9 million per
08:27year.
08:28Then, a major off-season domino fell.
08:31Major for Steph and Golden State's second lease.
08:33The Denver Nuggets extended fellow 0-9 draftee Ty Lawson to a four-year, $48 million deal.
08:40Steph and Ty both ran the point for their respective teams, but the major difference
08:44between the two lay in their responsibilities.
08:47For Denver, Ty was a piece of a puzzle that made the Nuggets more at home.
08:52For Golden State, especially not with Montague on, Steph was the puzzle.
08:58The following day after Lawson got his bread, Golden State dropped Steph his bag, but his
09:02price point said it all.
09:04With a vast difference in their expected rolls, Steph should have cleared Lawson's figure
09:09by a large margin.
09:11And while Steph was pleased to finally have a secure future with the Warriors, he understood
09:15the lower tag in his eyes came at the expense of Golden State looking out for themselves.
09:20Journalists, on the other hand, saw the deal in a much different light.
09:24They believed the Warriors giving an injury-prone guard an extension before his deal was up,
09:29especially at that price, was a huge risk.
09:33Maybe under market value, but anything near the max seemed absurd.
09:38The contract not only signified Golden State entrusting their franchise to Steph, but it
09:42presented a turning point in his career.
09:45Would he ever turn into the true sharpshooter that the league envisioned, able to sauce
09:49defenders with spectacular lateral quickness?
09:52Or would he go down as an overpriced guy, leaving fans with the image of him in pain,
09:57wondering what could have been?
09:59We all know how that turned out, but the quickness with which it happened was remarkable.
10:04That very season, Steph played a reassuring 78 games with a superb breakout year.
10:10Two seasons later, he was an NBA champion and MVP of the league.
10:16Journalists marveled at his transformation from a hooper with shattered ankles to one
10:20of the NBA's best players, all within the same contract window that was viewed as a
10:24massive gamble.
10:26The ankle surgery wasn't some miracle cure.
10:29Steph worked hard to get to that point.
10:31He teamed up with trainers gaining knowledge on the importance of his body, learning to
10:35get shifty with power from his hips, relieving the pressure on his ankles.
10:40Steph played hesitant at first, not fully trusting in the movements he'd often attempted
10:44in the past, but after a while, he grew comfortable and gained the confidence to barrel into driving
10:50lanes and finish at the cup against much larger defenders.
10:55Steph had his scares, but at each turn shook him off and seemed to come back more lethal.
11:00It was a long journey, and if you had asked Steph two months after his second surgery,
11:05he thought he would never play again.
11:07It's easy to get lost in his long-range threes and see him make defenders touch earth
11:12with killer crossovers on a nightly basis, but that wasn't who Steph was always destined
11:17to be.
11:18He could have just as easily been a sidekick, almost shipped off to another squad, or even
11:24worse, robbed of his career completely because of injuries.
11:28But those all just seemed like distant memories in the rearview mirror of the greatest shooter
11:33of all time.