June 10, 2025 • 52 mins
Israel relives the magical 2021-22 Championship season, with the emergence of Andrew Wiggins. Klay’s return from injuries, and Steph Curry breaking the 3-point record. Kevon Looney, DeMarcus Cousins, and Steve Kerr take us through the playoffs and the incredible performance by Steph, including the birth of the "Night Night" celebration." Steph deals with a foot injury in the first round, but overcomes everything to win Game 6 in Boston and his first Finals MVP cementing his place in history. Kerr, Kevin Love, David Lee, Chris Mullin and more attempt to sum up Steph's legacy and his indelible impact on the game. Plus, Israel takes us up to date with the current Warriors team with the departure of Klay Thompson and the trade for Jimmy Butler in 2025.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Dubbed Dynasty as a production of iHeartMedia and the NBA.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
I mean, when you think of point guards growing up,
I mean just true point guards, of guys bringing up
the ball, setting up their teammates, running, picking rolls and
pitting the pocket pass and.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Things like that.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Steph was like the first guy to like obviously shoot
threes the way he does and make the game the
way we all need to shoot threes now. But I
mean there's a lot of shooting guards now that are
looked at point guards because they have the ball in
their hand now, and Steph was kind of like one
of the first scoring guards to really be like that.
So now the game is for ever change. I feel
like every era has their own separate one, and Steph
(00:42):
is one of the kings of this era and that
will never be taken away from him.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
One of the best players of all time, no question,
and then he'll be slotting away he slotted. I think
what sticks out to me, because I've watched his entire
career is the way he's done it with the incredible passion,
the love of the game, the dedication to work ethic.
You cannot maintain that type of condition. Shooting accuracy without
(01:08):
being incredibly dedicated with incredible work ethic. I respect to
admire that, maybe more.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
So the way he's handled himself as a teammate.
Speaker 4 (01:19):
Incorporating different players throughout his career and bringing him up
to championship level, making all the teammates around him better
because of the gravity he attracts from the defense, deferring
to his teammates.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
You know, a humble superstar.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
Those were two of the greats discussing one of the greatest.
The first was three time All Star Trey Young, the
second Hall of Famer Chris Mullen. I'm Israel Gutierre and
this is dubb Dynasty. Young was regularly compared to Curry
prior to the twenty eighteen NBA draft, a comp that
(01:58):
placed some added pressure at the start of his career,
given that step had already won MVPs and championship to
that point. Mullen was a warrior great who watched Curry's
ascent up close. Their praise of Step is effectively echoed universally.
He's in the discussion for a greatest point guard of
all time, a top ten or even a top five
(02:20):
player of all time. He's easily the greatest shooter ever
and is on the shortlist of players who can say
without question that they revolutionized the game while they were playing.
Yet last We Left You, Curry looked like the only
surviving member on a sinking ship, and despite having three
(02:41):
titles and two MVPs at the time, Steph was still
in search of some decoration and validation. Curry still hadn't
won a Finals MVP to this point, and after winning
a pair of titles rather easily alongside Durant, there were
still some lingering questions about whether Curry had proven well
enough that he can win a championship as the clear
(03:03):
lead dog. Had the Warriors found a way to come
back against the Raptors in the twenty nineteen finals, Curry
likely would have won his first Finals MVP that season,
given that he averaged thirty points, six assists, and five
rebounds in those six games.
Speaker 5 (03:17):
They have no business in this game. Shorthanded in every
excuse to quit, but they refuse.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Curry gets his side, what's up.
Speaker 6 (03:26):
And Mike, they went back to demand the man on
that possession, Curry got some space and.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Was able to finish instead. The twenty nineteen season ended
with Curry looking as far away from a championship, as
he'd been in some time. Klay Thompson would clearly miss
the following season with a torn acl Kevin Durant would
also miss the next season with a torn achilles, and
his free agency decision lingered. What seemed quite evident is
(03:55):
the twenty nineteen twenty twenty season would be a hard
reset for Golden State. What level of reset would depend
on Durant's and after that spat with Green at the
start of the eighteen nineteen season, most believed Durant would
depart in free agency. He confirmed those beliefs, this time
(04:15):
not on the player's tribune, but on the Instagram page
of The Boardroom, an online series looking at sports business
produced by Durant and his business partner Rich Kleiman. Durant
would sign a four year deal with the Brooklyn Nets,
joining Kyrie Irving and James Harden in what was supposed
to be a super team that could repeat at a
(04:35):
Golden State level of success. It wasn't. But here was
Durant on his first media day with the Brooklyn Nets.
Speaker 7 (04:43):
I just evaluated my life up until this point, and
once I did that, and it's pretty easy to see
the direction that I needed to go into. And you know,
I had some great options on the table with some
championship winning organizations, some smart business minds behind the scenes
as well that I could have built with along around
the league. But I mean, I couldn't make a bad decision.
(05:06):
But you know, this one was a perfect one for me.
Speaker 8 (05:08):
And what were you weighing when you were thinking about
whether or not to return to Golden State?
Speaker 1 (05:13):
What ultimately made you decide that it was time to
move on?
Speaker 7 (05:17):
Just how I felt what I wanted to do at
that point in my career, what I accomplished in Golden
State and and Oklahoma City is going to ever be
a part of me. And I'm only taking those things
to the next destination. But I really put all that
stuff on the shelf when it was time to make
that decision. I really didn't care too much about what
I did in the past. Is really about how I
(05:38):
felt at that moment.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Okay, then the Warriors reset would be significant Besides the
Durant departure. Also gone were fixtures like Andrea Guadala and
Sean Livingston. Joining the Warriors were names like D'Angelo Russell,
Damian Lee and a rookie and Jordan Poole, Draymond Green
and Kevon Looney would still be around. From the start.
(06:04):
It would feel like a season to test just how
dominant Steph Curry could be without options like Thompson and
Durant beside him. But then, in just the fourth game
of the season, Curry would be taken out of that
equation altogether. In the third quarter of a blowout home
loss to the Suns, Curry tried to put up a
(06:25):
shot after driving past Kelly Oubre Junior, but a sliding
Aaron Baines under cut Curry as he went up for
the shot. Baines also landed on Curry's left hand when
he hit the floor. Curry, they pay a lot of contacts.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
He sold that left wrist.
Speaker 9 (06:47):
They already saw Steph tweak his ankle.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
He is not moving that left.
Speaker 6 (06:53):
Wrist right now.
Speaker 10 (06:54):
That is the absolute last thing in the.
Speaker 11 (06:56):
World that they need.
Speaker 12 (06:58):
He's on.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
The diagnosis would be a broken left hand for Curry.
He'd played one more game all season in March, and
just a few days after that, the world would be
rocked by the COVID pandemic, temporarily pausing all of sports.
The Warriors season would be over after a fifteen to
fifty record. They weren't even invited to participate in the
(07:21):
finish of the season in the bubble the NBA created
in Orlando's Disney World. It was quite the contrast. For
the previous five seasons, the Warriors had been dominating the
league with Curry, Thompson and Green at the center of it.
Now the entire league was happening without them. Carith Burke
was the Warrior's sideline reporter through this stretch and would
(07:44):
document the sudden shift this season took. When Curry joined
the list of injured Warriors.
Speaker 8 (07:51):
All the talk going in was like, okay, well, Steph
is a two time MVP, one of the best players
in the world. Now it's his time to step into
that leadership role. How far can he take the team
on his own and then proof he's gone. It was
like a decimation of going from the top of the
mountain to the worst record in the league fifteen and
(08:11):
fifty's that season. It was brutal because, as you know,
as a reporter, you want to keep telling the stories
of the guys on the team, and there are some
good stories, but you have to make people outside care
and the storylines just weren't there that year. The Warriors
just weren't a good team. They couldn't be competitive with
(08:34):
the better teams in the league. So it was sad.
I remember it being sad, and then that word merciful
comes up again because COVID cut that season short.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
In theory that COVID shortened twenty nineteen twenty season should
have been the proper amount of time to recover from
Durance's departure and the devastating injuries, but the Warriors would
be hit with one more major hurdle prior to the
twenty one season in a cruel twist of fake. The
(09:06):
same day the Warriors were to benefit from that horrible
fifteen and fifty season by picking second overall in the
NBA Draft, the team also got word that Klay Thompson
tore his right achilles tendon during a pickup game and
would likely miss his second consecutive full season.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
It was very painful.
Speaker 13 (09:25):
It feels like someone kicks you in the back of
your heel as hard as they could, and it just
happened on a true double pull up jump shot, a
move I do one hundred times a day. So it
was just an unfortunate series of events. Nothing I could
have ever prepared for nor prevented. I was working my
butt off for ten months up to that point, and just.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
You got to go back to the drawing board.
Speaker 13 (09:49):
I knew I did it right away, and it's uh,
you know, it's it's in the past.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
But I'm getting I'm getting better every day. And while
that number two overall pick James Wiseman out of Memphis
wouldn't work out for the Warriors either, there were a
few key acquisitions during this stretch. In February of twenty twenty,
the Warriors flipped D'Angelo Russell and a couple other players
for former number one overall pick Andrew Wiggets. They also
(10:19):
fortified the roster by picking up Otto Porter Junior, a
former Max player on a minimum deal, and Golden State
took a chance on Gary Payton the Second the son
of NBA Hall of Famer and Bay Area native Gary Payton.
Without Thompson, the Warriors spent the season relying heavily on Curry,
(10:39):
who led the league in scoring with the career best
thirty two a game. Curry would be back in the
top three in MVP voting, but his team would finish
eighth in the Western Conference and then eventually losing games
to the Lakers and Grizzlies to get knocked out of
the play in tournaments that meant no playoffs at all
for Golden State.
Speaker 14 (10:58):
Laurant was a leading scorer, but players like Kyle Anderson,
Desmond Vane, Xavier Tillman making so many big plays and
that will do it. Memphis Grizzlies are in the playoffs,
they eliminate the Golden State Warriors. Now the Grizzlies will
now play the Jazz in the first round, starting on
Sunday afternoon at Salt Lake City.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
When the twenty twenty one twenty two season began, Klay
Thompson was still a few months away from returning following
his back to back devastating injuries, but it was the
first time the Warriors felt like they could truly move
on from Durant's departure. If this dynasty would be extended
past the Durant era, Curry and the Doves would have
(11:41):
to start showing it now Here's Burke I would.
Speaker 8 (11:44):
Say it was a cleansing that happened because they had
arrived at rock bottom. The injuries gave them the worst
record in the league, and then the next season after
that when they were bounced from the play in they
were embarrassed. So it was sort of like a reset
as far as how they felt about themselves. I think
it's a little silly to say that a team that
(12:05):
built a dynasty suddenly had a chip on their shoulder.
Ah'll watch out. But for them, whatever they needed mentally
to kind of turn the page from the team that
they once were and to turn the page from Kevin Durant,
this was that opportunity.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
The Warriors jumped out to an eighteen and two start
to kick off the season. Pool was providing scoring out
first when the team needed it, a lot like Thompson
had done in the past. Green was still among the
best at what he does, and Wiggins was on his
way to his first All Star season. The vibes were
similar to the surprising start of the twenty fourteen to
(12:39):
fifteen season when Curry won his first championship. But on
December fourteenth, with the team sitting at twenty two and five,
the Warriors visited Madison Square Garden with a different goal
in mind. Curry was just two away from breaking Ray
Allen's all time record of two thousand, nine hundred seventy
(12:59):
three three pointers made in the regular season. Here's Curry
Stephan the time free Curry broke the record in five
hundred eleven fewer games than out who has since been
(13:21):
passed by James Harden as well. Curry's credited with changing
the game to incorporate more shooting in space. In reality,
it's a concept the league was trending toward already, but
it was Curry who did the most to open people's eyes.
Even he needed a handful of years to fully embrace
just how many threes he should be taken. But once
(13:43):
he did, Curry continuously shocked even those who watched basketball
every single day. Mike Breen was a month.
Speaker 15 (13:56):
I think his whole journey is what makes him special.
He comes in early. He doesn't look like an NBA player.
He looks like a player that you know if you
go play pick up at the park. Yeah, this kid
can shoot a little bit, let's play him. But he
didn't have this massive athletic body, so everybody could relate
to him, and he became a fan favorite early. Then
with his style of the three point shooting, he changed
(14:18):
the way the game was played. Yet with all this
greatness that he showed, he still remained this humble, high character,
unselfish teammate through it all. He was beloved by his teammates,
he was beloved by his fans. He was the most
coachable player, and yet at the same time, he was
the greatest shooter ever played the game. And I think
all of that comes into play because he wasn't just
(14:40):
the greatest shooter. He was the greatest ambassador of the
league of how he handled himself both on and off
the court. I mean, I could go on and on
and on about all the wonderful characteristics of him on
and off the court, and I've always felt it has
been such an honor to sit courtside and call his games.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Even those who played alongside Curry can't fully understand the
control step has over a best the ball. DeMarcus Cousins
was only Steph's teammate for one season, but he saw
enough to question whether the game's greatest shooter might have
alien DNA.
Speaker 16 (15:16):
He has this like childlike demeanor where he's always just
kind of playing around and being himself. Like I said,
he's a joy to be around. But you know he
would walking the old practice arena, the one that was
still in Oakland. He would always and the way the
gym was set up, it was baskets all the way
or all around the gym, just random baskets. It was
(15:38):
I may be way off, but let's say it was
about sixteen different baskets all throughout the gym. We had
about three to four ball racks, and they were always
right at the door as soon as you walked in.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
So stuff was, you know, steph thing was as soon
as he.
Speaker 16 (15:51):
Walked in, he would just grab a ball and he
would just randomly, like just throw it over his head
like and I watched this guy to do this over
and over and over again, and I've literally watched him
make one hundred random just all net, not even looking
at the basket, just and it was to the point
(16:12):
where I'm like, man, this dude might not even really
be from here because I've never seen these, like or
maybe it's like a magic touching his fingertips or something.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
But I watched it over and over and over again.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Even those who never played with Curry were feeling his
impact in and around the league. You heard Trey Young
discussing stuff at the top of this episode. Young was
constantly compared to Curry during his final year at Oklahoma
and as he was preparing for the draft in twenty eighteen.
It immediately placed added pressure on Young, given that he
(16:48):
was really the first prospect to regularly hear those comparisons.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Yeah, I mean for me, I never like shot away
from it. But for me, like I never asked for it.
Speaker 3 (16:59):
Like I was.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
I was in college, a freshman in college and just
playing my game, and I would turn on ESPN, and
that's what people were labeling me as as the next
STEPH Curry because I was the only, I don't know,
light skinning point guard out there shooting threes and dropping down.
So I don't know what it was, but that's that
maybe what it was.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
And for me, when you're a kid.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
And that's one of the guys you lived up to
and when you're an idol, was just like, oh this
is this is cool whatever. But you know, I mean,
that wasn't the only guy looked up to as much
as he was where my role model, And so I
never went out and said I hated it or whatever,
but I just succepted it what it is, and that's
kind of how it was. And I just I know,
(17:43):
I created my own lane, and that's what I was
going to do the whole time.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
In the modern era, there have been very few players
who are considered to have changed the game. Michael Jordan
changed the way people thought about guards and that he
didn't need a dominant big man to win at a
high level. Shaquille O'Neal was so dominant and the paint
it forced his own defenses to be allowed. In the NBA,
Curry is often included on that list of game changers.
(18:10):
Another of Curry's former teammates, Jabey McGee, believes Steph might
actually top that list.
Speaker 17 (18:17):
I believe he might have the biggest impact on the
game of the game of basketball, second to literally Ladysmith,
just because who was trying to even shoot shots that
he was shooting Like he.
Speaker 15 (18:32):
Had kids coming down.
Speaker 17 (18:34):
In fourth grade trying to shoot four pointers. It's stuff
that we didn't even think we was legal or like
we could do before step started doing it. If we
shot some of the shots that he shot, we already
knew were coming out the camp, even if we made it.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
So the impact that he had in the game was
truly no one had.
Speaker 17 (18:55):
People doing okay, So if you put in the aspect
of okay, this player.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
Dunks and blah blah.
Speaker 17 (19:02):
Everybody came down and some people will never dunk in
their life, but everybody can attempt to shoot, not saying
they're gonna make him, not saying they're good. But he
had everybody in their mothers trying to shoot threes, and threes.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
Weren't even a thing like that.
Speaker 17 (19:17):
To the fact that that's how the NBA is now
is more three oriented because of analytics. That's a definition
of changing the game, and that's a definition of doing
something that we didn't think this possible until you did it,
And we had no idea that you could actually get
those mean threes up until Steph and his team did it.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Back in this twenty one to twenty two season, Steph
and his team still had more work to do. The
next big moment after Curry broke the three point record
was getting Thompson back in the fold after two and
a half years of nursing injuries. That day came on
January ninth at Chase Center against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Thompson
(20:00):
would play twenty minutes, take eighteen shots, and score seventeen
points in a heartwarming return.
Speaker 4 (20:07):
They play down the lane.
Speaker 18 (20:09):
We'll put it up.
Speaker 10 (20:11):
See the hand time too.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
I told you first shot, Why pin down?
Speaker 11 (20:16):
Just turn the corner.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
Lady's got Jared Allen on the switch.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
He went to reach.
Speaker 17 (20:23):
They played down the lane.
Speaker 4 (20:26):
I think he's healthy. Yuh bow, Soony, come double another steel?
Speaker 1 (20:35):
Play for three?
Speaker 10 (20:38):
Here we go.
Speaker 6 (20:39):
Oh oh, it's feels familiar, doesn't it.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
This wouldn't be the play a bowl. Who would expect
that after so much time off? And it was evident
in his shooting numbers. It was just thirty two regular
season games he played, but Thompson shot under forty percent
from three for the first time in his career. And
while Clay's return did bring back championship memories, it came
at a time when Draymond Green couldn't actually participate. Green
(21:12):
did play seven seconds in Thompson's comeback game just so
he could be a part of it, but he was
just beginning a two and a half month absence due
to back problems. The Warriors did manage a nine game
win streak while Green was out, but his absence eventually
took a toll, as Golden State lost nine to eleven
from February ninth to March seventh. Then, in Green's second
(21:35):
game back from his back injury, the Warriors would be
handed their toughest challenge of the year. Steph Curry injured
his left foot in a game against the Celtics when
Marcus Smart dove for a loose ball near Curry's feet.
Speaker 10 (21:48):
Step and Marcus are going for the loose ball.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Marcus dies and he goes right into steps knee.
Speaker 18 (21:53):
I mean he just hit the floor first.
Speaker 4 (21:55):
I understand seeing Steve curR is bad because it's a superstar.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
But if you hustle, you, if.
Speaker 19 (22:01):
You're hitting the floor like that, it is That wasn't
a chop boning for the Bault.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
The play itself drew immediate ire from Steve Kerr, who
actually shouted at Smart for some time after the play.
Curry wouldn't play another game in the regular season. The
Warriors had built up a decent cushion with their strong
start to the season, but still needed to win the
final five games of the season to secure the number
three seed ahead of the Dallas Mavericks. Curry would start
(22:30):
the playoffs coming off the bench in the first game
against the six seed Denver Nuggets, who had the MVP
and Nikolea Jokic, but were missing Jamal Murray, who was
out all year with a knee injury. But behind a
hot start from Jordan Poole, who had thirty, twenty nine
and twenty seven in the first three games, respectively, the
Warriors found their rhythm around Steph cool Kevon Looney had
(23:01):
been a part of two previous Warriors championships, so he
knew the formula when he saw it. He said, the
opening series with Curry starting it on the bench, would
set the team first tone for the postseason.
Speaker 11 (23:18):
Guys coming out and that play was coming back. So
it was like a lot of a lot of like
weird combinations. Well, Steve was trying to light else trying
to figure out who's gonna work best in it.
Speaker 3 (23:26):
You know, I think it's tested. It's one that you know.
He came up the bench and was like alleeneen. The
kind of fell off.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
Then Steph Curry also quietly unveiled a now signature celebration
in that Denver series. According to Curry, he had been
giving himself a pep talk earlier in the game, saying
it was time to put this game and maybe the
series to bet. So after Curry hit a layout that
made the score one sixteen to one eleven. With forty
seconds left in Game three, he put his two hands
(23:58):
together by the side of his face and quickly gave
the first night Night celebration the twenty four year No.
Twenty six as he SOMs to.
Speaker 20 (24:11):
The rack Denver Game three in twenty twenty two, Me
and Andre there was one possession right before I made
a layou down the stretch, like less than a minute left.
He was up on the sideline. He was barking at everybody,
and I was like, no, I got this, put him
asleep right now, And I said that to him. It
(24:32):
just mouthted. I didn't do the sign or other and
I made the layerup, but I did like a little
quick of the first quick Night Night and then it
kind of just evolved from there.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
Later in these playoffs, that celebration would be Steph's version
of a championship dack. In the second round, the Warriors
faced the Young Bridglies team led by John Moran, Jaron
Jackson Junior, and Dylan Brooks. Curry and the Warriors were
the more poised team and won in six.
Speaker 10 (25:01):
Helps.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
His half to Curry Curry three.
Speaker 20 (25:05):
He got.
Speaker 21 (25:08):
Market time of cat hurry a little sawing the ways.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
In the conference finals, they faced a surprise Dallas team
led by Luka Doncic and Jalen Brunston. Those Mavericks put
up less of a fight in the Grizzlies as the
Doves advanced in five games.
Speaker 6 (25:41):
Britain current hole.
Speaker 22 (25:49):
There's crowdies bat they're on their feet and their.
Speaker 21 (25:52):
Warriors are going to the NBA finals of kame.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Here's Luke.
Speaker 3 (26:03):
Uh just like you know, after being beating Denver.
Speaker 11 (26:08):
Yeah, like, as each round was growing, we it seemed
like we had the most experience. You know, we got
both in Steph Tremont Clay, even myself.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
You have been in a lot of big games.
Speaker 11 (26:17):
And you know, as our far young guys that was
at the time was Moses JK JP Higgs keeping the
veteran We haven't played in the playoffs that many times.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
So I think each round our confidence group and then
who else.
Speaker 11 (26:30):
Who's going up against you know, that was young as well,
so that MiFi team that was pretty young, Dallas team
that was pretty young.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
So we felt like man was supposed to win these games,
and uh know.
Speaker 11 (26:40):
And whenever we did, Spider a little bit stuff putting
on the cap and carriers. So I think it all
worked out, and I think each series with that confidence,
and it all came together in perfect time and in
the final when we felt like the ultimate confidence for
our team.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
Waiting for the Warriors in the finals this time was
the Boston Celtics, who had just taken out the top
seeded Miami Heat in seven games and appeared poised to
win a championship. The Warriors had the home court edge,
but lost Game one in San Francisco. Golden State ratcheted
up the defense for Game two, holding the Celtics to
thirty eight percent shooting to even the series at one
(27:15):
game apiece.
Speaker 11 (27:21):
Colts of.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
Game three would be a series changer. The Celtics would
win to take another lead in the series, but a
couple of late game occurrences seemed to trigger Kurry. First,
he injured his footing the same foot he injured against
the Celtics earlier in the season, and he also heard
the constant berating of Draymond Green by the Boston craft.
Speaker 23 (27:47):
You've heard over the years, fans getting on Draymond for
various things. What did you think of the chance tonight
and the frequency of the chance.
Speaker 20 (28:01):
Par for the course, every arena you kind of get
a little something. It's been like that the old playoffs
and every run we've made over the course that he
expects it, so no different tonight.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
The signs were evident early on in Game four. Curry
wasn't just chasing shots. He was animated the entire time.
Whether it was a flex or a shout toward the crowd,
it was clear Steph was on a particular mission. Curry's
not a long distance shot. That's good, Steph.
Speaker 22 (28:37):
Curry back to that long distance three and a five
point lead for the Warriors.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
Here's Burke.
Speaker 8 (28:43):
So Steph Curry got angry Game four of that one
where where he took the attention from Draymond because Draymond
admitted he was a little rattled with how much vitriol
the Boston fans were giving them and that his family
heard that and that bothered him. So yeah, it started.
(29:04):
Steph had to be that guy, and he loves being
that guy. But usually Draymond is the one who takes
that sort of attention.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
Curry had everyone's attention. He put up nineteen first half
points and was vocal about it. Then he put up
twenty four in the second half, taking the heart out
of the Celtics and the vitriol out of their craft.
Speaker 21 (29:26):
Back to Curry.
Speaker 22 (29:27):
Step back, three pointer, Steph Curry, throw the prey. That's
a six point Warriors way.
Speaker 21 (29:33):
Tied off, lost him.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
Mike Green called the game and was certainly not surprised
at Curry carrying his team.
Speaker 15 (29:41):
There's that expression that we use a lot of time,
he will not let them lose. And that was Steph
Curry in those finals. He was not going to let
the Warriors fall short. Whatever he needed to be able
to do on any of those games, he was going
to get it done. That was one of those those
moments swear he plans himself and says, all right, we
(30:03):
will not was this series.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
Curry only needed sixteen points in Game five as the
Warriors won at home. He'd save his best for Boston's
floor once again, and in Game six, Curry capped off
the magical championship run with thirty four points, seven assists,
seven rebounds, and the season ending Night Night celebration that
(30:25):
signaled STEP's fourth championship. It would also be Curry's first
Finals MVP, completing the trophy collection with the one that
had been missing and.
Speaker 14 (30:35):
More magic here. In Game six, Currie catch it fakes,
fires free pointer Steph Curry from downtown a fifteen point lead.
Another thirty point Finals game for Steph Curry.
Speaker 5 (30:52):
Steph Curry gets opened wide open the side, out of
bounds out off a fly by sire rely in the
building realizing that Chef Curry with the shot has just
put you to sleep.
Speaker 22 (31:06):
It's over the Golden State. Oria's returned to a familiar place.
They're on top of the NBA world, the fourth title
of eight years, but Dug's dynasty is still very much alive.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
It was also Steve Kerrzforth title all with Steph. He
acknowledged that a lot of things fell their way that postseason,
but having Curry was the most important detail.
Speaker 17 (31:39):
To me.
Speaker 24 (31:39):
That championship was just karma. That was Steph. Karma with
that guy has brought to the game, to the NBA,
to the world. I think the basketball gods just decided,
you know what, We're going to give him his moment.
Speaker 10 (31:55):
You know, he hasn't been Finals MVP. We no longer
had Kevin.
Speaker 18 (31:59):
We were a good team, not a great team, but
we had great.
Speaker 24 (32:03):
Chemistry all year, great energy in the locker room, and
we had continuity. We had no how so once we
got to the playoffs, we felt like, hey, we got
a shot.
Speaker 10 (32:14):
And then I think everything.
Speaker 24 (32:16):
Really fell our way. Matchups fell our way. We had
to get by Memphis, which was a hard one. They've
always been a difficult matchup for us. Once we got
past them in the second round, our guys knew like
we got a real shot here. And Dallas upsets Phoenix
at it that was a better matchup for us.
Speaker 18 (32:38):
And then I think with the Celtics, you know, they maybe.
Speaker 24 (32:42):
Weren't quite ready just from an experience standpoint, and I
thought our playoff experience was a.
Speaker 10 (32:50):
Huge factor in that series.
Speaker 24 (32:52):
But in the end, I just remember sitting there watching
the Staph get his Finals MVP and win his four championship,
and I'm thinking, this is the most fit thing I've
ever seen in basketball, because nobody, nobody on Earth deserves us.
Speaker 10 (33:07):
More than Steph Curry for what he's brought to the world.
Speaker 24 (33:11):
It goes so far beyond the.
Speaker 10 (33:14):
The the joy of watching him play.
Speaker 24 (33:18):
You know, he's so mesmerizing, and but when I watch him,
I just I just I feel like he's one of
the few people in sports who really transformed culture and community.
It's the way he goes about his business.
Speaker 10 (33:35):
It's the.
Speaker 24 (33:38):
How comfortable he is in his own skin without any pretense,
with an authentic perspective.
Speaker 18 (33:45):
On the world, and how lucky he is. There's this
wonderful sort of combination and his personality of the arrogance
that comes with making these shots that he makes, even
taking them alone, is so much audacity to that, and
the night night celebrations and the shimmys, and then the
(34:08):
genuine humility. It's an incredible combination. It doesn't really exist,
and I think people are mesmerized by that. And then
when you think about how many people he has impacted
across the country, across the world, and not only with
his play and his personality, but literally in his charitable
work and some of the programs he has started.
Speaker 10 (34:31):
And some of the unique ways he.
Speaker 24 (34:33):
Has impacted people in his life, it's just stunning.
Speaker 25 (34:38):
When you reach amounts out of I mean, you get injuries,
very breaks, all that stuff. The goal is see so
far away when you just focus on the present work,
get around the right eyes still keep that paid.
Speaker 9 (34:54):
Three years later, almost of the week.
Speaker 25 (34:59):
Seven years ago to the day he got a first.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
One, not Yes, what that surprising twenty twenty two title
did was elevate Curry to an even higher stratosphere. No
longer were there questions about his ability to carry a team.
Now the conversations were more about his place in history.
Is he a top five player of all time? Is
(35:23):
he the best point guard of all time? Is he
even a point guard? Because of his scoring prowess? Kevin
Love faced Steph in multiple finals. He says he can't
compare Steph with Magic Johnson personally because he's never seen
Magic play in person. But he's not afraid to place
Curry in very elite company.
Speaker 19 (35:42):
In our generation. He is certainly the greatest point guard,
greatest shooter. But I think there's no doubt he's a
top ten player. Is he the best point guard of
all time? You have to ask that question, You absolutely
have to. I grew up watching all the VHS tapes. Yes,
I'm dating myself as an eighty eight baby. But I
watched Magic, but I never got to see him live,
(36:05):
so I can't compare the two. Like obviously, Lebron is
more of that comparison in terms of style of play.
And then you have to compare Lebron and Jordan with
greatest player ever. But again for what Steph has done
for the game, you know, and revolutionize the game, He's
certainly on that like Mount Rushmore for guys that.
Speaker 26 (36:24):
Have changed it. Four championships, unanimous MVP couple MVPs, greatest
shooter of all time, and a record that'll never be broken,
consistent and consummate winner.
Speaker 10 (36:40):
I mean, he's very very high on my list.
Speaker 19 (36:43):
And it's another guy that, like again I just talk about,
like you know, complimenting and giving people their flowers. I
can't say enough good things about him. And also with
how he's done it too. He's it's just been amazing
year after year to watch him. And obviously it was
on the wrong side of a lot of what I
(37:04):
just mentioned, but again, that respect level is, you know,
there's no ceiling for that when it comes to stuff.
Speaker 1 (37:11):
To David Lee, a teammate of Curry's, for the first championship,
the league today is effectively a reflection of that twenty
fifteen Warriors team, and that in itself shows how much
of an impact Curry has had.
Speaker 9 (37:25):
I think that the NBA is really a copycat league,
and I think that Golden State twenty fourteen twenty fifteen
was the first one of the first teams to play
that small ball, but to really optimize. Shooting a ton
of threes was small ball, and you had groups that
tried it in the past. The problem with the copycat
league is you need guys like Step that don't miss shots.
(37:46):
Otherwise you just have a bunch of guys bricking threes
and it doesn't work. But I think it really introduced
a new style of play. I think maybe right now
it might be headed a little bit overboard with everybody
shooting so many threes, But I mean it's lasted in
Golden State for a long time. It's been a decade
still making threes and they're still winning games. So it's
(38:07):
been really special to see.
Speaker 3 (38:09):
That change in the game.
Speaker 9 (38:11):
And there's very few players or teams that can say
that they kind of shifted the way a sport has played.
And I think that the team ten years ago that
won the first championship for the Warriors in the modern
era can make that claim.
Speaker 1 (38:37):
Since that twenty fifteen championship, the Warriors have effectively won
titles with three different iterations of their team. The initial
championship that Lee claims really changed the game behind movement,
shooting and the tricky part, a stellar defense.
Speaker 3 (38:53):
And it's over.
Speaker 6 (38:54):
The championship is back in the Bay for the first
time in forty years.
Speaker 1 (39:00):
Then there were the Durant era championships. They added an
unstoppable offensive force to an equation that had already worked.
Then there was the twenty twenty two title, which will
likely go down as one of the greatest anomaly championships
in the history of the sport. And they won that
behind the power of Steph Curry and a collective winning
(39:20):
experience that no other team could match.
Speaker 6 (39:23):
With four titles of the last eight years, the run
is not done. The Golden State Warriors once again are
NBA champions.
Speaker 1 (39:35):
The real question following the twenty twenty two title was
similar to the end of the twenty nineteen season. Will
this franchise be able to extend this run atop the
league or have we seen the last of Curry's championship celebrations.
Is there a Michael Jordan like last dance for Curry,
(39:56):
Green Cerr and those core Warriors. Hey Kerr was on
those final Bulls Championship teams. He can effectively recreate the
mood if he wanted to. The two seasons following Golden
State's fourth title in eight years, however, didn't have much
sign of hope. The championship vibes didn't last very long.
(40:17):
During training camp, video leaked of a Warrior's practice in
which Draymond Green punched teammate Jordan Poole. The video shows
Green and Pool jawing at each other during a portion
of practice they weren't involved in. After Green approached Pool
and got in his face, Poole pushed Green, to which
Green responded with a lunging punch. Draymond was fined and
(40:40):
spent some time away from the team, but was not suspended.
The regular season was uneven and frustrating, as the Warriors
couldn't figure out how to win on the road. They
easily had the worst road record among the playoff teams,
but still managed to upset the Kings in the first
round with a Game seven win on the road that
(41:02):
included a fifth point outburst from Curry that had folks
believing another title run was very possible.
Speaker 14 (41:10):
Just how ironic one of the worst road teams in
the NBA during the regular season, we'll have the biggest
road win of the playoffs as Curry lays it up
on a fifty point Game seven for Steph Curry.
Speaker 27 (41:21):
And focus on the details of how you're trying to execute.
We trust each other, everybody that's out there on the floor.
We had great energy off our bench. You know, everybody
who played came in with the right intentions. There's a
lot of conversation and communication and togetherness on the bench,
which is huge for us. And everything was connected. So
when that happens and then you're on the court and
(41:42):
you have clarity of a well, what you're trying to do,
you know.
Speaker 3 (41:45):
Good things usually happen.
Speaker 27 (41:46):
And it was a great time to kind of put
it all together on the road in Game seven.
Speaker 1 (41:54):
But the Warriors would lose to the Lakers in the
second round in six games, ending hope of a second
back to back run for Steph and the Warriors. The
twenty twenty three to twenty four season wouldn't get any better.
The Warriors traded Pool to Washington in exchange for former
rival Chris Paul Draymond Green spent the season crossing lines.
(42:18):
He was suspended for five games after putting Rudy Gobert
in a headlock during a November fourteenth game against the Timberwolves,
and on December twelfth, he struck use of Nurkic in
the face, which got him suspended indefinitely, a suspension that
lasted sixteen games, and during it Green said he even
considered retirement. The Warriors would lose in the play into
(42:40):
the Kings as a temp see and never see the actual.
Speaker 22 (42:43):
Playoffs, and they can't like the beam here in Sacramento,
and they're gonna do just that. Two great friends Mike
Brown and Steve hurr Ill embrace.
Speaker 1 (43:01):
That meant the Warriors would face a very difficult decision
that offseason. Would Clay Thompson, the franchise fixture and four
time champion, be re signed as he entered unrestricted free agency.
With the Warriors in a difficult financial situation and believing
Clay's best days were well behind him following two devastating
(43:21):
leg injuries, it appeared the writing was on the wall
for a Thompson departure. He spoke about the idea of
leading the Warriors following the twenty four season.
Speaker 13 (43:30):
Oh Man on twenty nineteen, Well, could you imagine if
they didn't pay me after I got hurt?
Speaker 3 (43:35):
That would have been really bad?
Speaker 13 (43:37):
Oh With the five straight finals.
Speaker 3 (43:40):
You blew your knee out.
Speaker 10 (43:41):
Yeah, sorry, So.
Speaker 13 (43:44):
No, I mean that was very nice in them.
Speaker 3 (43:48):
I mean I try.
Speaker 13 (43:51):
I mean every year I give my best effort, and
ownership group has been great. I have nothing but positive
things to say about them. They treat us like I
treat us with great respect and do all the little
things for us to do our jobs at the highest level.
(44:13):
So it's been I mean, I don't really know how
to answer that.
Speaker 3 (44:18):
I mean, it's up to them.
Speaker 13 (44:20):
But at the end of the day, whatever happens' small gravy,
it's been such a freaking special run.
Speaker 1 (44:29):
On July sixth, twenty twenty four, Thompson officially joined the
Dallas Mavericks as a part of a sign in trade.
The Warriors got back Kyle Anderson and Buddy Healed in
the move, looking to create a winner post Clay, but
it wasn't until another in season trade was made that
dynasty rejuvenation talk started. The Warriors traded Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson,
(44:52):
and a first round pick to the Miami Heat for
Jimmy Butler as part of a five team trade. The
addition reminded Draymond Green of what a championship Warriors team
felt like to the point where Green guaranteed a championship
while appearing on T n T during the All Star weekend.
Speaker 12 (45:09):
Jimmy Butler, Okay, how has it been so far? It's
been incredible. He's bought a purpose back to this this organization.
I think, you know, we were kind of headed in
the wrong direction thinking we're figuring it out and never
figuring it out this year. Throughout the course of this
year and since he's been here, we walked into every
game thinking and believing that we're going to win that game,
(45:31):
and that goes a long way in this league. But
you walk in the game like, ah, man, we're probably.
Speaker 3 (45:35):
Going to lose this game.
Speaker 12 (45:37):
It's not good. And so he's brought back that belief
and I think we're going to win the championship.
Speaker 1 (45:44):
Say that one more time so than everybody here say that.
Speaker 22 (45:47):
I didn't hear you my ear piece because they added
Jimmy Butler the third.
Speaker 3 (45:51):
So I'm sorry.
Speaker 12 (45:53):
I said, I think we're going to win a championship,
but I lie, we are going to win the champions
wing tray.
Speaker 1 (46:06):
Even former Golden State great Chris Mullen was believing the
Warriors could make a run after he watched Butler's addition
enhance the team's defense and their ability to control the
game from the free throw line.
Speaker 3 (46:19):
I mentioned little earlier.
Speaker 4 (46:21):
You know, we talked about, you know, analytics, the free throw,
how important free throws are too, offensive basketball and defensive basketball.
Back when I was a kid, we were always taught
the biggest weapon was drawing fouls.
Speaker 1 (46:35):
Yep, you get so much positive things.
Speaker 4 (46:39):
From a foul. Obviously, you get points, you get to
set your defense, you get to rest, you get to
communicate with your teammates, all for drawing a foul. And
during his time of analytics, where you said, you know,
open two point shots should be layups, the free throw
is kind of taking a back seat to the three
point shot. Now, nothing wrong with wide open threes, I
(47:02):
love them. But when you have a balanced attack of freeze,
fast break points, points off turnovers, nice layups pull up
all of a sudden. The ultimate offensive weapon as a
team and as a player is the element of surprise
and the balance of attack, and that's what the free
(47:24):
throw does. So with Jimmy Butler, like I said that
this team in four games has gone from thirtieth to second.
Speaker 1 (47:31):
That's drastic Golden State managed to nab the seventh seed
and upset the second seeded Rockets, but a hamstring injury
to Curry derailed the second round against Minnesota and the
Warriors were knocked out in five games. But it was
Curry's performance late in the regular seat and throughout that
series against Houston that has the Warriors still believing their
(47:53):
dynasty isn't over just yet. For those who've been around Curry,
as long as Mullen has, his presence alone gives the
Warriors real hope. Here's Mulley.
Speaker 4 (48:05):
To me, the way he's handled himself off the floor
is as extraordinary as the way he's performed, and that's
an incredible dynamic. And so for me, you know, I
obviously get to cover their games. I love watching him play,
but I'm always as impressed how he treats his teammates,
(48:25):
how he treats the fans. Just very aware of what's
going on around him, and he cares so for that,
I mean, I've got the utmost respect namiration for Steph
as a player and the way he has himself tremendous
mentor and a role model.
Speaker 1 (48:44):
Curry's global impact is difficult to measure. His influence goes
beyond basketball, whether it's through his philanthropic efforts or entrepreneurial ventures,
but it's on the basketball court where his magnetism is
at its strongest. He showed as much to the world
during the twenty twenty fourth Summer Olympics when he closed
out both Serbia and France with ridiculous shooting efforts, then
(49:08):
celebrating with his signature night Night celebration that everyone was
waiting for. Warrior's assistant coach Bruce Frasier considers even Curry's
celebrations a part of what makes him so easy to embrace.
Speaker 2 (49:22):
That's some beauty of stuff, as he's got a lot
of little kid in him and there's nothing that's like
calculated or unauthentic about him.
Speaker 20 (49:31):
So the celebrations comes from deep within and they just
kind of show up.
Speaker 1 (49:36):
I think sometimes he almost.
Speaker 5 (49:39):
Looks bad and giggles out him and says, I wish
I wouldn't have done that.
Speaker 15 (49:42):
Maybe you know that I'm guessing, but he's pretty humble
at times, but it comes out the.
Speaker 1 (49:48):
Spirit comes out on the floor.
Speaker 2 (49:50):
So you know, those are all authentic celebrations of many
of them, Many of them stuck.
Speaker 1 (49:57):
Will also stick around forever are the stories of just
how great a human Curry has been. Out this entire experience,
you've heard several folks discuss how step has changed the
game while lifting a once down trodden Warriors franchise to
the height of sports success for more than a decade.
But if you keep digging, there are even more stories
(50:19):
along the way that displayed just how that humble superstar
brought joy to others around him just because he could.
Among them comes one from former Warriors general manager Larry Ryan,
the man most responsible for the Warriors drafting Curry. Do
you remember that adorable daughter Curry would bring up to
the podium many years ago during those first few finals
(50:40):
runs from stand.
Speaker 3 (50:46):
Entertaining basketball?
Speaker 20 (50:47):
But it's we're both supposed to do.
Speaker 18 (50:53):
Down.
Speaker 3 (50:54):
I don't want to say quiet.
Speaker 1 (50:59):
That was Ryan Curry. She's twelve now, and I might
have guessed if I now, but she was named after
Larry Riley himself. But first, of course, Steph had to
ask for permission. Here's Larry Riley.
Speaker 28 (51:14):
I was really surprised Steph had no problems to speak of.
Speaker 3 (51:20):
And he came to my office and came in and
sat down and.
Speaker 28 (51:24):
Talked to me and he said, we're going to have
our first child and we're thinking about naming a Riley.
What would you think about Well, I just that moved
me away, and Steph and I had a good relationship
and probably a little closer than with most.
Speaker 10 (51:48):
Corecourse that I was around.
Speaker 28 (51:52):
I enjoyed his dad and his parents were His parents
were really really solid in the upbringing of their children, and.
Speaker 1 (52:01):
I just I had a lot of respect for him.
Speaker 28 (52:04):
And when he came in and mentioned that, it did
blue me what.
Speaker 1 (52:12):
I was honored with that question whether or not this
Dub Dynasty continues with any more championships, Curry's legacy as
the centerpiece of a run that may never be duplicated
has long been cemented, partially because of gestures just like
that one. Thanks for listening to Dub Dynasty. Dub Dynasty
(52:45):
is a production of iHeartMedia and the NBA. For more
podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you get your podcasts.
Dubbed Dynasty as a production of iHeartMedia and the NBA.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
I mean, when you think of point guards growing up,
I mean just true point guards, of guys bringing up
the ball, setting up their teammates, running, picking rolls and
pitting the pocket pass and.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Things like that.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Steph was like the first guy to like obviously shoot
threes the way he does and make the game the
way we all need to shoot threes now. But I
mean there's a lot of shooting guards now that are
looked at point guards because they have the ball in
their hand now, and Steph was kind of like one
of the first scoring guards to really be like that.
So now the game is for ever change. I feel
like every era has their own separate one, and Steph
(00:42):
is one of the kings of this era and that
will never be taken away from him.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
One of the best players of all time, no question,
and then he'll be slotting away he slotted. I think
what sticks out to me, because I've watched his entire
career is the way he's done it with the incredible passion,
the love of the game, the dedication to work ethic.
You cannot maintain that type of condition. Shooting accuracy without
(01:08):
being incredibly dedicated with incredible work ethic. I respect to
admire that, maybe more.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
So the way he's handled himself as a teammate.
Speaker 4 (01:19):
Incorporating different players throughout his career and bringing him up
to championship level, making all the teammates around him better
because of the gravity he attracts from the defense, deferring
to his teammates.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
You know, a humble superstar.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
Those were two of the greats discussing one of the greatest.
The first was three time All Star Trey Young, the
second Hall of Famer Chris Mullen. I'm Israel Gutierre and
this is dubb Dynasty. Young was regularly compared to Curry
prior to the twenty eighteen NBA draft, a comp that
(01:58):
placed some added pressure at the start of his career,
given that step had already won MVPs and championship to
that point. Mullen was a warrior great who watched Curry's
ascent up close. Their praise of Step is effectively echoed universally.
He's in the discussion for a greatest point guard of
all time, a top ten or even a top five
(02:20):
player of all time. He's easily the greatest shooter ever
and is on the shortlist of players who can say
without question that they revolutionized the game while they were playing.
Yet last We Left You, Curry looked like the only
surviving member on a sinking ship, and despite having three
(02:41):
titles and two MVPs at the time, Steph was still
in search of some decoration and validation. Curry still hadn't
won a Finals MVP to this point, and after winning
a pair of titles rather easily alongside Durant, there were
still some lingering questions about whether Curry had proven well
enough that he can win a championship as the clear
(03:03):
lead dog. Had the Warriors found a way to come
back against the Raptors in the twenty nineteen finals, Curry
likely would have won his first Finals MVP that season,
given that he averaged thirty points, six assists, and five
rebounds in those six games.
Speaker 5 (03:17):
They have no business in this game. Shorthanded in every
excuse to quit, but they refuse.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Curry gets his side, what's up.
Speaker 6 (03:26):
And Mike, they went back to demand the man on
that possession, Curry got some space and.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Was able to finish instead. The twenty nineteen season ended
with Curry looking as far away from a championship, as
he'd been in some time. Klay Thompson would clearly miss
the following season with a torn acl Kevin Durant would
also miss the next season with a torn achilles, and
his free agency decision lingered. What seemed quite evident is
(03:55):
the twenty nineteen twenty twenty season would be a hard
reset for Golden State. What level of reset would depend
on Durant's and after that spat with Green at the
start of the eighteen nineteen season, most believed Durant would
depart in free agency. He confirmed those beliefs, this time
(04:15):
not on the player's tribune, but on the Instagram page
of The Boardroom, an online series looking at sports business
produced by Durant and his business partner Rich Kleiman. Durant
would sign a four year deal with the Brooklyn Nets,
joining Kyrie Irving and James Harden in what was supposed
to be a super team that could repeat at a
(04:35):
Golden State level of success. It wasn't. But here was
Durant on his first media day with the Brooklyn Nets.
Speaker 7 (04:43):
I just evaluated my life up until this point, and
once I did that, and it's pretty easy to see
the direction that I needed to go into. And you know,
I had some great options on the table with some
championship winning organizations, some smart business minds behind the scenes
as well that I could have built with along around
the league. But I mean, I couldn't make a bad decision.
(05:06):
But you know, this one was a perfect one for me.
Speaker 8 (05:08):
And what were you weighing when you were thinking about
whether or not to return to Golden State?
Speaker 1 (05:13):
What ultimately made you decide that it was time to
move on?
Speaker 7 (05:17):
Just how I felt what I wanted to do at
that point in my career, what I accomplished in Golden
State and and Oklahoma City is going to ever be
a part of me. And I'm only taking those things
to the next destination. But I really put all that
stuff on the shelf when it was time to make
that decision. I really didn't care too much about what
I did in the past. Is really about how I
(05:38):
felt at that moment.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Okay, then the Warriors reset would be significant Besides the
Durant departure. Also gone were fixtures like Andrea Guadala and
Sean Livingston. Joining the Warriors were names like D'Angelo Russell,
Damian Lee and a rookie and Jordan Poole, Draymond Green
and Kevon Looney would still be around. From the start.
(06:04):
It would feel like a season to test just how
dominant Steph Curry could be without options like Thompson and
Durant beside him. But then, in just the fourth game
of the season, Curry would be taken out of that
equation altogether. In the third quarter of a blowout home
loss to the Suns, Curry tried to put up a
(06:25):
shot after driving past Kelly Oubre Junior, but a sliding
Aaron Baines under cut Curry as he went up for
the shot. Baines also landed on Curry's left hand when
he hit the floor. Curry, they pay a lot of contacts.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
He sold that left wrist.
Speaker 9 (06:47):
They already saw Steph tweak his ankle.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
He is not moving that left.
Speaker 6 (06:53):
Wrist right now.
Speaker 10 (06:54):
That is the absolute last thing in the.
Speaker 11 (06:56):
World that they need.
Speaker 12 (06:58):
He's on.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
The diagnosis would be a broken left hand for Curry.
He'd played one more game all season in March, and
just a few days after that, the world would be
rocked by the COVID pandemic, temporarily pausing all of sports.
The Warriors season would be over after a fifteen to
fifty record. They weren't even invited to participate in the
(07:21):
finish of the season in the bubble the NBA created
in Orlando's Disney World. It was quite the contrast. For
the previous five seasons, the Warriors had been dominating the
league with Curry, Thompson and Green at the center of it.
Now the entire league was happening without them. Carith Burke
was the Warrior's sideline reporter through this stretch and would
(07:44):
document the sudden shift this season took. When Curry joined
the list of injured Warriors.
Speaker 8 (07:51):
All the talk going in was like, okay, well, Steph
is a two time MVP, one of the best players
in the world. Now it's his time to step into
that leadership role. How far can he take the team
on his own and then proof he's gone. It was
like a decimation of going from the top of the
mountain to the worst record in the league fifteen and
(08:11):
fifty's that season. It was brutal because, as you know,
as a reporter, you want to keep telling the stories
of the guys on the team, and there are some
good stories, but you have to make people outside care
and the storylines just weren't there that year. The Warriors
just weren't a good team. They couldn't be competitive with
(08:34):
the better teams in the league. So it was sad.
I remember it being sad, and then that word merciful
comes up again because COVID cut that season short.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
In theory that COVID shortened twenty nineteen twenty season should
have been the proper amount of time to recover from
Durance's departure and the devastating injuries, but the Warriors would
be hit with one more major hurdle prior to the
twenty one season in a cruel twist of fake. The
(09:06):
same day the Warriors were to benefit from that horrible
fifteen and fifty season by picking second overall in the
NBA Draft, the team also got word that Klay Thompson
tore his right achilles tendon during a pickup game and
would likely miss his second consecutive full season.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
It was very painful.
Speaker 13 (09:25):
It feels like someone kicks you in the back of
your heel as hard as they could, and it just
happened on a true double pull up jump shot, a
move I do one hundred times a day. So it
was just an unfortunate series of events. Nothing I could
have ever prepared for nor prevented. I was working my
butt off for ten months up to that point, and just.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
You got to go back to the drawing board.
Speaker 13 (09:49):
I knew I did it right away, and it's uh,
you know, it's it's in the past.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
But I'm getting I'm getting better every day. And while
that number two overall pick James Wiseman out of Memphis
wouldn't work out for the Warriors either, there were a
few key acquisitions during this stretch. In February of twenty twenty,
the Warriors flipped D'Angelo Russell and a couple other players
for former number one overall pick Andrew Wiggets. They also
(10:19):
fortified the roster by picking up Otto Porter Junior, a
former Max player on a minimum deal, and Golden State
took a chance on Gary Payton the Second the son
of NBA Hall of Famer and Bay Area native Gary Payton.
Without Thompson, the Warriors spent the season relying heavily on Curry,
(10:39):
who led the league in scoring with the career best
thirty two a game. Curry would be back in the
top three in MVP voting, but his team would finish
eighth in the Western Conference and then eventually losing games
to the Lakers and Grizzlies to get knocked out of
the play in tournaments that meant no playoffs at all
for Golden State.
Speaker 14 (10:58):
Laurant was a leading scorer, but players like Kyle Anderson,
Desmond Vane, Xavier Tillman making so many big plays and
that will do it. Memphis Grizzlies are in the playoffs,
they eliminate the Golden State Warriors. Now the Grizzlies will
now play the Jazz in the first round, starting on
Sunday afternoon at Salt Lake City.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
When the twenty twenty one twenty two season began, Klay
Thompson was still a few months away from returning following
his back to back devastating injuries, but it was the
first time the Warriors felt like they could truly move
on from Durant's departure. If this dynasty would be extended
past the Durant era, Curry and the Doves would have
(11:41):
to start showing it now Here's Burke I would.
Speaker 8 (11:44):
Say it was a cleansing that happened because they had
arrived at rock bottom. The injuries gave them the worst
record in the league, and then the next season after
that when they were bounced from the play in they
were embarrassed. So it was sort of like a reset
as far as how they felt about themselves. I think
it's a little silly to say that a team that
(12:05):
built a dynasty suddenly had a chip on their shoulder.
Ah'll watch out. But for them, whatever they needed mentally
to kind of turn the page from the team that
they once were and to turn the page from Kevin Durant,
this was that opportunity.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
The Warriors jumped out to an eighteen and two start
to kick off the season. Pool was providing scoring out
first when the team needed it, a lot like Thompson
had done in the past. Green was still among the
best at what he does, and Wiggins was on his
way to his first All Star season. The vibes were
similar to the surprising start of the twenty fourteen to
(12:39):
fifteen season when Curry won his first championship. But on
December fourteenth, with the team sitting at twenty two and five,
the Warriors visited Madison Square Garden with a different goal
in mind. Curry was just two away from breaking Ray
Allen's all time record of two thousand, nine hundred seventy
(12:59):
three three pointers made in the regular season. Here's Curry
Stephan the time free Curry broke the record in five
hundred eleven fewer games than out who has since been
(13:21):
passed by James Harden as well. Curry's credited with changing
the game to incorporate more shooting in space. In reality,
it's a concept the league was trending toward already, but
it was Curry who did the most to open people's eyes.
Even he needed a handful of years to fully embrace
just how many threes he should be taken. But once
(13:43):
he did, Curry continuously shocked even those who watched basketball
every single day. Mike Breen was a month.
Speaker 15 (13:56):
I think his whole journey is what makes him special.
He comes in early. He doesn't look like an NBA player.
He looks like a player that you know if you
go play pick up at the park. Yeah, this kid
can shoot a little bit, let's play him. But he
didn't have this massive athletic body, so everybody could relate
to him, and he became a fan favorite early. Then
with his style of the three point shooting, he changed
(14:18):
the way the game was played. Yet with all this
greatness that he showed, he still remained this humble, high character,
unselfish teammate through it all. He was beloved by his teammates,
he was beloved by his fans. He was the most
coachable player, and yet at the same time, he was
the greatest shooter ever played the game. And I think
all of that comes into play because he wasn't just
(14:40):
the greatest shooter. He was the greatest ambassador of the
league of how he handled himself both on and off
the court. I mean, I could go on and on
and on about all the wonderful characteristics of him on
and off the court, and I've always felt it has
been such an honor to sit courtside and call his games.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Even those who played alongside Curry can't fully understand the
control step has over a best the ball. DeMarcus Cousins
was only Steph's teammate for one season, but he saw
enough to question whether the game's greatest shooter might have
alien DNA.
Speaker 16 (15:16):
He has this like childlike demeanor where he's always just
kind of playing around and being himself. Like I said,
he's a joy to be around. But you know he
would walking the old practice arena, the one that was
still in Oakland. He would always and the way the
gym was set up, it was baskets all the way
or all around the gym, just random baskets. It was
(15:38):
I may be way off, but let's say it was
about sixteen different baskets all throughout the gym. We had
about three to four ball racks, and they were always
right at the door as soon as you walked in.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
So stuff was, you know, steph thing was as soon
as he.
Speaker 16 (15:51):
Walked in, he would just grab a ball and he
would just randomly, like just throw it over his head
like and I watched this guy to do this over
and over and over again, and I've literally watched him
make one hundred random just all net, not even looking
at the basket, just and it was to the point
(16:12):
where I'm like, man, this dude might not even really
be from here because I've never seen these, like or
maybe it's like a magic touching his fingertips or something.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
But I watched it over and over and over again.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Even those who never played with Curry were feeling his
impact in and around the league. You heard Trey Young
discussing stuff at the top of this episode. Young was
constantly compared to Curry during his final year at Oklahoma
and as he was preparing for the draft in twenty eighteen.
It immediately placed added pressure on Young, given that he
(16:48):
was really the first prospect to regularly hear those comparisons.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Yeah, I mean for me, I never like shot away
from it. But for me, like I never asked for it.
Speaker 3 (16:59):
Like I was.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
I was in college, a freshman in college and just
playing my game, and I would turn on ESPN, and
that's what people were labeling me as as the next
STEPH Curry because I was the only, I don't know,
light skinning point guard out there shooting threes and dropping down.
So I don't know what it was, but that's that
maybe what it was.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
And for me, when you're a kid.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
And that's one of the guys you lived up to
and when you're an idol, was just like, oh this
is this is cool whatever. But you know, I mean,
that wasn't the only guy looked up to as much
as he was where my role model, And so I
never went out and said I hated it or whatever,
but I just succepted it what it is, and that's
kind of how it was. And I just I know,
(17:43):
I created my own lane, and that's what I was
going to do the whole time.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
In the modern era, there have been very few players
who are considered to have changed the game. Michael Jordan
changed the way people thought about guards and that he
didn't need a dominant big man to win at a
high level. Shaquille O'Neal was so dominant and the paint
it forced his own defenses to be allowed. In the NBA,
Curry is often included on that list of game changers.
(18:10):
Another of Curry's former teammates, Jabey McGee, believes Steph might
actually top that list.
Speaker 17 (18:17):
I believe he might have the biggest impact on the
game of the game of basketball, second to literally Ladysmith,
just because who was trying to even shoot shots that
he was shooting Like he.
Speaker 15 (18:32):
Had kids coming down.
Speaker 17 (18:34):
In fourth grade trying to shoot four pointers. It's stuff
that we didn't even think we was legal or like
we could do before step started doing it. If we
shot some of the shots that he shot, we already
knew were coming out the camp, even if we made it.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
So the impact that he had in the game was
truly no one had.
Speaker 17 (18:55):
People doing okay, So if you put in the aspect
of okay, this player.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
Dunks and blah blah.
Speaker 17 (19:02):
Everybody came down and some people will never dunk in
their life, but everybody can attempt to shoot, not saying
they're gonna make him, not saying they're good. But he
had everybody in their mothers trying to shoot threes, and threes.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
Weren't even a thing like that.
Speaker 17 (19:17):
To the fact that that's how the NBA is now
is more three oriented because of analytics. That's a definition
of changing the game, and that's a definition of doing
something that we didn't think this possible until you did it,
And we had no idea that you could actually get
those mean threes up until Steph and his team did it.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Back in this twenty one to twenty two season, Steph
and his team still had more work to do. The
next big moment after Curry broke the three point record
was getting Thompson back in the fold after two and
a half years of nursing injuries. That day came on
January ninth at Chase Center against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Thompson
(20:00):
would play twenty minutes, take eighteen shots, and score seventeen
points in a heartwarming return.
Speaker 4 (20:07):
They play down the lane.
Speaker 18 (20:09):
We'll put it up.
Speaker 10 (20:11):
See the hand time too.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
I told you first shot, Why pin down?
Speaker 11 (20:16):
Just turn the corner.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
Lady's got Jared Allen on the switch.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
He went to reach.
Speaker 17 (20:23):
They played down the lane.
Speaker 4 (20:26):
I think he's healthy. Yuh bow, Soony, come double another steel?
Speaker 1 (20:35):
Play for three?
Speaker 10 (20:38):
Here we go.
Speaker 6 (20:39):
Oh oh, it's feels familiar, doesn't it.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
This wouldn't be the play a bowl. Who would expect
that after so much time off? And it was evident
in his shooting numbers. It was just thirty two regular
season games he played, but Thompson shot under forty percent
from three for the first time in his career. And
while Clay's return did bring back championship memories, it came
at a time when Draymond Green couldn't actually participate. Green
(21:12):
did play seven seconds in Thompson's comeback game just so
he could be a part of it, but he was
just beginning a two and a half month absence due
to back problems. The Warriors did manage a nine game
win streak while Green was out, but his absence eventually
took a toll, as Golden State lost nine to eleven
from February ninth to March seventh. Then, in Green's second
(21:35):
game back from his back injury, the Warriors would be
handed their toughest challenge of the year. Steph Curry injured
his left foot in a game against the Celtics when
Marcus Smart dove for a loose ball near Curry's feet.
Speaker 10 (21:48):
Step and Marcus are going for the loose ball.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Marcus dies and he goes right into steps knee.
Speaker 18 (21:53):
I mean he just hit the floor first.
Speaker 4 (21:55):
I understand seeing Steve curR is bad because it's a superstar.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
But if you hustle, you, if.
Speaker 19 (22:01):
You're hitting the floor like that, it is That wasn't
a chop boning for the Bault.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
The play itself drew immediate ire from Steve Kerr, who
actually shouted at Smart for some time after the play.
Curry wouldn't play another game in the regular season. The
Warriors had built up a decent cushion with their strong
start to the season, but still needed to win the
final five games of the season to secure the number
three seed ahead of the Dallas Mavericks. Curry would start
(22:30):
the playoffs coming off the bench in the first game
against the six seed Denver Nuggets, who had the MVP
and Nikolea Jokic, but were missing Jamal Murray, who was
out all year with a knee injury. But behind a
hot start from Jordan Poole, who had thirty, twenty nine
and twenty seven in the first three games, respectively, the
Warriors found their rhythm around Steph cool Kevon Looney had
(23:01):
been a part of two previous Warriors championships, so he
knew the formula when he saw it. He said, the
opening series with Curry starting it on the bench, would
set the team first tone for the postseason.
Speaker 11 (23:18):
Guys coming out and that play was coming back. So
it was like a lot of a lot of like
weird combinations. Well, Steve was trying to light else trying
to figure out who's gonna work best in it.
Speaker 3 (23:26):
You know, I think it's tested. It's one that you know.
He came up the bench and was like alleeneen. The
kind of fell off.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
Then Steph Curry also quietly unveiled a now signature celebration
in that Denver series. According to Curry, he had been
giving himself a pep talk earlier in the game, saying
it was time to put this game and maybe the
series to bet. So after Curry hit a layout that
made the score one sixteen to one eleven. With forty
seconds left in Game three, he put his two hands
(23:58):
together by the side of his face and quickly gave
the first night Night celebration the twenty four year No.
Twenty six as he SOMs to.
Speaker 20 (24:11):
The rack Denver Game three in twenty twenty two, Me
and Andre there was one possession right before I made
a layou down the stretch, like less than a minute left.
He was up on the sideline. He was barking at everybody,
and I was like, no, I got this, put him
asleep right now, And I said that to him. It
(24:32):
just mouthted. I didn't do the sign or other and
I made the layerup, but I did like a little
quick of the first quick Night Night and then it
kind of just evolved from there.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
Later in these playoffs, that celebration would be Steph's version
of a championship dack. In the second round, the Warriors
faced the Young Bridglies team led by John Moran, Jaron
Jackson Junior, and Dylan Brooks. Curry and the Warriors were
the more poised team and won in six.
Speaker 10 (25:01):
Helps.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
His half to Curry Curry three.
Speaker 20 (25:05):
He got.
Speaker 21 (25:08):
Market time of cat hurry a little sawing the ways.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
In the conference finals, they faced a surprise Dallas team
led by Luka Doncic and Jalen Brunston. Those Mavericks put
up less of a fight in the Grizzlies as the
Doves advanced in five games.
Speaker 6 (25:41):
Britain current hole.
Speaker 22 (25:49):
There's crowdies bat they're on their feet and their.
Speaker 21 (25:52):
Warriors are going to the NBA finals of kame.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Here's Luke.
Speaker 3 (26:03):
Uh just like you know, after being beating Denver.
Speaker 11 (26:08):
Yeah, like, as each round was growing, we it seemed
like we had the most experience. You know, we got
both in Steph Tremont Clay, even myself.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
You have been in a lot of big games.
Speaker 11 (26:17):
And you know, as our far young guys that was
at the time was Moses JK JP Higgs keeping the
veteran We haven't played in the playoffs that many times.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
So I think each round our confidence group and then
who else.
Speaker 11 (26:30):
Who's going up against you know, that was young as well,
so that MiFi team that was pretty young, Dallas team
that was pretty young.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
So we felt like man was supposed to win these games,
and uh know.
Speaker 11 (26:40):
And whenever we did, Spider a little bit stuff putting
on the cap and carriers. So I think it all
worked out, and I think each series with that confidence,
and it all came together in perfect time and in
the final when we felt like the ultimate confidence for
our team.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
Waiting for the Warriors in the finals this time was
the Boston Celtics, who had just taken out the top
seeded Miami Heat in seven games and appeared poised to
win a championship. The Warriors had the home court edge,
but lost Game one in San Francisco. Golden State ratcheted
up the defense for Game two, holding the Celtics to
thirty eight percent shooting to even the series at one
(27:15):
game apiece.
Speaker 11 (27:21):
Colts of.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
Game three would be a series changer. The Celtics would
win to take another lead in the series, but a
couple of late game occurrences seemed to trigger Kurry. First,
he injured his footing the same foot he injured against
the Celtics earlier in the season, and he also heard
the constant berating of Draymond Green by the Boston craft.
Speaker 23 (27:47):
You've heard over the years, fans getting on Draymond for
various things. What did you think of the chance tonight
and the frequency of the chance.
Speaker 20 (28:01):
Par for the course, every arena you kind of get
a little something. It's been like that the old playoffs
and every run we've made over the course that he
expects it, so no different tonight.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
The signs were evident early on in Game four. Curry
wasn't just chasing shots. He was animated the entire time.
Whether it was a flex or a shout toward the crowd,
it was clear Steph was on a particular mission. Curry's
not a long distance shot. That's good, Steph.
Speaker 22 (28:37):
Curry back to that long distance three and a five
point lead for the Warriors.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
Here's Burke.
Speaker 8 (28:43):
So Steph Curry got angry Game four of that one
where where he took the attention from Draymond because Draymond
admitted he was a little rattled with how much vitriol
the Boston fans were giving them and that his family
heard that and that bothered him. So yeah, it started.
(29:04):
Steph had to be that guy, and he loves being
that guy. But usually Draymond is the one who takes
that sort of attention.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
Curry had everyone's attention. He put up nineteen first half
points and was vocal about it. Then he put up
twenty four in the second half, taking the heart out
of the Celtics and the vitriol out of their craft.
Speaker 21 (29:26):
Back to Curry.
Speaker 22 (29:27):
Step back, three pointer, Steph Curry, throw the prey. That's
a six point Warriors way.
Speaker 21 (29:33):
Tied off, lost him.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
Mike Green called the game and was certainly not surprised
at Curry carrying his team.
Speaker 15 (29:41):
There's that expression that we use a lot of time,
he will not let them lose. And that was Steph
Curry in those finals. He was not going to let
the Warriors fall short. Whatever he needed to be able
to do on any of those games, he was going
to get it done. That was one of those those
moments swear he plans himself and says, all right, we
(30:03):
will not was this series.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
Curry only needed sixteen points in Game five as the
Warriors won at home. He'd save his best for Boston's
floor once again, and in Game six, Curry capped off
the magical championship run with thirty four points, seven assists,
seven rebounds, and the season ending Night Night celebration that
(30:25):
signaled STEP's fourth championship. It would also be Curry's first
Finals MVP, completing the trophy collection with the one that
had been missing and.
Speaker 14 (30:35):
More magic here. In Game six, Currie catch it fakes,
fires free pointer Steph Curry from downtown a fifteen point lead.
Another thirty point Finals game for Steph Curry.
Speaker 5 (30:52):
Steph Curry gets opened wide open the side, out of
bounds out off a fly by sire rely in the
building realizing that Chef Curry with the shot has just
put you to sleep.
Speaker 22 (31:06):
It's over the Golden State. Oria's returned to a familiar place.
They're on top of the NBA world, the fourth title
of eight years, but Dug's dynasty is still very much alive.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
It was also Steve Kerrzforth title all with Steph. He
acknowledged that a lot of things fell their way that postseason,
but having Curry was the most important detail.
Speaker 17 (31:39):
To me.
Speaker 24 (31:39):
That championship was just karma. That was Steph. Karma with
that guy has brought to the game, to the NBA,
to the world. I think the basketball gods just decided,
you know what, We're going to give him his moment.
Speaker 10 (31:55):
You know, he hasn't been Finals MVP. We no longer
had Kevin.
Speaker 18 (31:59):
We were a good team, not a great team, but
we had great.
Speaker 24 (32:03):
Chemistry all year, great energy in the locker room, and
we had continuity. We had no how so once we
got to the playoffs, we felt like, hey, we got
a shot.
Speaker 10 (32:14):
And then I think everything.
Speaker 24 (32:16):
Really fell our way. Matchups fell our way. We had
to get by Memphis, which was a hard one. They've
always been a difficult matchup for us. Once we got
past them in the second round, our guys knew like
we got a real shot here. And Dallas upsets Phoenix
at it that was a better matchup for us.
Speaker 18 (32:38):
And then I think with the Celtics, you know, they maybe.
Speaker 24 (32:42):
Weren't quite ready just from an experience standpoint, and I
thought our playoff experience was a.
Speaker 10 (32:50):
Huge factor in that series.
Speaker 24 (32:52):
But in the end, I just remember sitting there watching
the Staph get his Finals MVP and win his four championship,
and I'm thinking, this is the most fit thing I've
ever seen in basketball, because nobody, nobody on Earth deserves us.
Speaker 10 (33:07):
More than Steph Curry for what he's brought to the world.
Speaker 24 (33:11):
It goes so far beyond the.
Speaker 10 (33:14):
The the joy of watching him play.
Speaker 24 (33:18):
You know, he's so mesmerizing, and but when I watch him,
I just I just I feel like he's one of
the few people in sports who really transformed culture and community.
It's the way he goes about his business.
Speaker 10 (33:35):
It's the.
Speaker 24 (33:38):
How comfortable he is in his own skin without any pretense,
with an authentic perspective.
Speaker 18 (33:45):
On the world, and how lucky he is. There's this
wonderful sort of combination and his personality of the arrogance
that comes with making these shots that he makes, even
taking them alone, is so much audacity to that, and
the night night celebrations and the shimmys, and then the
(34:08):
genuine humility. It's an incredible combination. It doesn't really exist,
and I think people are mesmerized by that. And then
when you think about how many people he has impacted
across the country, across the world, and not only with
his play and his personality, but literally in his charitable
work and some of the programs he has started.
Speaker 10 (34:31):
And some of the unique ways he.
Speaker 24 (34:33):
Has impacted people in his life, it's just stunning.
Speaker 25 (34:38):
When you reach amounts out of I mean, you get injuries,
very breaks, all that stuff. The goal is see so
far away when you just focus on the present work,
get around the right eyes still keep that paid.
Speaker 9 (34:54):
Three years later, almost of the week.
Speaker 25 (34:59):
Seven years ago to the day he got a first.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
One, not Yes, what that surprising twenty twenty two title
did was elevate Curry to an even higher stratosphere. No
longer were there questions about his ability to carry a team.
Now the conversations were more about his place in history.
Is he a top five player of all time? Is
(35:23):
he the best point guard of all time? Is he
even a point guard? Because of his scoring prowess? Kevin
Love faced Steph in multiple finals. He says he can't
compare Steph with Magic Johnson personally because he's never seen
Magic play in person. But he's not afraid to place
Curry in very elite company.
Speaker 19 (35:42):
In our generation. He is certainly the greatest point guard,
greatest shooter. But I think there's no doubt he's a
top ten player. Is he the best point guard of
all time? You have to ask that question, You absolutely
have to. I grew up watching all the VHS tapes. Yes,
I'm dating myself as an eighty eight baby. But I
watched Magic, but I never got to see him live,
(36:05):
so I can't compare the two. Like obviously, Lebron is
more of that comparison in terms of style of play.
And then you have to compare Lebron and Jordan with
greatest player ever. But again for what Steph has done
for the game, you know, and revolutionize the game, He's
certainly on that like Mount Rushmore for guys that.
Speaker 26 (36:24):
Have changed it. Four championships, unanimous MVP couple MVPs, greatest
shooter of all time, and a record that'll never be broken,
consistent and consummate winner.
Speaker 10 (36:40):
I mean, he's very very high on my list.
Speaker 19 (36:43):
And it's another guy that, like again I just talk about,
like you know, complimenting and giving people their flowers. I
can't say enough good things about him. And also with
how he's done it too. He's it's just been amazing
year after year to watch him. And obviously it was
on the wrong side of a lot of what I
(37:04):
just mentioned, but again, that respect level is, you know,
there's no ceiling for that when it comes to stuff.
Speaker 1 (37:11):
To David Lee, a teammate of Curry's, for the first championship,
the league today is effectively a reflection of that twenty
fifteen Warriors team, and that in itself shows how much
of an impact Curry has had.
Speaker 9 (37:25):
I think that the NBA is really a copycat league,
and I think that Golden State twenty fourteen twenty fifteen
was the first one of the first teams to play
that small ball, but to really optimize. Shooting a ton
of threes was small ball, and you had groups that
tried it in the past. The problem with the copycat
league is you need guys like Step that don't miss shots.
(37:46):
Otherwise you just have a bunch of guys bricking threes
and it doesn't work. But I think it really introduced
a new style of play. I think maybe right now
it might be headed a little bit overboard with everybody
shooting so many threes, But I mean it's lasted in
Golden State for a long time. It's been a decade
still making threes and they're still winning games. So it's
(38:07):
been really special to see.
Speaker 3 (38:09):
That change in the game.
Speaker 9 (38:11):
And there's very few players or teams that can say
that they kind of shifted the way a sport has played.
And I think that the team ten years ago that
won the first championship for the Warriors in the modern
era can make that claim.
Speaker 1 (38:37):
Since that twenty fifteen championship, the Warriors have effectively won
titles with three different iterations of their team. The initial
championship that Lee claims really changed the game behind movement,
shooting and the tricky part, a stellar defense.
Speaker 3 (38:53):
And it's over.
Speaker 6 (38:54):
The championship is back in the Bay for the first
time in forty years.
Speaker 1 (39:00):
Then there were the Durant era championships. They added an
unstoppable offensive force to an equation that had already worked.
Then there was the twenty twenty two title, which will
likely go down as one of the greatest anomaly championships
in the history of the sport. And they won that
behind the power of Steph Curry and a collective winning
(39:20):
experience that no other team could match.
Speaker 6 (39:23):
With four titles of the last eight years, the run
is not done. The Golden State Warriors once again are
NBA champions.
Speaker 1 (39:35):
The real question following the twenty twenty two title was
similar to the end of the twenty nineteen season. Will
this franchise be able to extend this run atop the
league or have we seen the last of Curry's championship celebrations.
Is there a Michael Jordan like last dance for Curry,
(39:56):
Green Cerr and those core Warriors. Hey Kerr was on
those final Bulls Championship teams. He can effectively recreate the
mood if he wanted to. The two seasons following Golden
State's fourth title in eight years, however, didn't have much
sign of hope. The championship vibes didn't last very long.
(40:17):
During training camp, video leaked of a Warrior's practice in
which Draymond Green punched teammate Jordan Poole. The video shows
Green and Pool jawing at each other during a portion
of practice they weren't involved in. After Green approached Pool
and got in his face, Poole pushed Green, to which
Green responded with a lunging punch. Draymond was fined and
(40:40):
spent some time away from the team, but was not suspended.
The regular season was uneven and frustrating, as the Warriors
couldn't figure out how to win on the road. They
easily had the worst road record among the playoff teams,
but still managed to upset the Kings in the first
round with a Game seven win on the road that
(41:02):
included a fifth point outburst from Curry that had folks
believing another title run was very possible.
Speaker 14 (41:10):
Just how ironic one of the worst road teams in
the NBA during the regular season, we'll have the biggest
road win of the playoffs as Curry lays it up
on a fifty point Game seven for Steph Curry.
Speaker 27 (41:21):
And focus on the details of how you're trying to execute.
We trust each other, everybody that's out there on the floor.
We had great energy off our bench. You know, everybody
who played came in with the right intentions. There's a
lot of conversation and communication and togetherness on the bench,
which is huge for us. And everything was connected. So
when that happens and then you're on the court and
(41:42):
you have clarity of a well, what you're trying to do,
you know.
Speaker 3 (41:45):
Good things usually happen.
Speaker 27 (41:46):
And it was a great time to kind of put
it all together on the road in Game seven.
Speaker 1 (41:54):
But the Warriors would lose to the Lakers in the
second round in six games, ending hope of a second
back to back run for Steph and the Warriors. The
twenty twenty three to twenty four season wouldn't get any better.
The Warriors traded Pool to Washington in exchange for former
rival Chris Paul Draymond Green spent the season crossing lines.
(42:18):
He was suspended for five games after putting Rudy Gobert
in a headlock during a November fourteenth game against the Timberwolves,
and on December twelfth, he struck use of Nurkic in
the face, which got him suspended indefinitely, a suspension that
lasted sixteen games, and during it Green said he even
considered retirement. The Warriors would lose in the play into
(42:40):
the Kings as a temp see and never see the actual.
Speaker 22 (42:43):
Playoffs, and they can't like the beam here in Sacramento,
and they're gonna do just that. Two great friends Mike
Brown and Steve hurr Ill embrace.
Speaker 1 (43:01):
That meant the Warriors would face a very difficult decision
that offseason. Would Clay Thompson, the franchise fixture and four
time champion, be re signed as he entered unrestricted free agency.
With the Warriors in a difficult financial situation and believing
Clay's best days were well behind him following two devastating
(43:21):
leg injuries, it appeared the writing was on the wall
for a Thompson departure. He spoke about the idea of
leading the Warriors following the twenty four season.
Speaker 13 (43:30):
Oh Man on twenty nineteen, Well, could you imagine if
they didn't pay me after I got hurt?
Speaker 3 (43:35):
That would have been really bad?
Speaker 13 (43:37):
Oh With the five straight finals.
Speaker 3 (43:40):
You blew your knee out.
Speaker 10 (43:41):
Yeah, sorry, So.
Speaker 13 (43:44):
No, I mean that was very nice in them.
Speaker 3 (43:48):
I mean I try.
Speaker 13 (43:51):
I mean every year I give my best effort, and
ownership group has been great. I have nothing but positive
things to say about them. They treat us like I
treat us with great respect and do all the little
things for us to do our jobs at the highest level.
(44:13):
So it's been I mean, I don't really know how
to answer that.
Speaker 3 (44:18):
I mean, it's up to them.
Speaker 13 (44:20):
But at the end of the day, whatever happens' small gravy,
it's been such a freaking special run.
Speaker 1 (44:29):
On July sixth, twenty twenty four, Thompson officially joined the
Dallas Mavericks as a part of a sign in trade.
The Warriors got back Kyle Anderson and Buddy Healed in
the move, looking to create a winner post Clay, but
it wasn't until another in season trade was made that
dynasty rejuvenation talk started. The Warriors traded Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson,
(44:52):
and a first round pick to the Miami Heat for
Jimmy Butler as part of a five team trade. The
addition reminded Draymond Green of what a championship Warriors team
felt like to the point where Green guaranteed a championship
while appearing on T n T during the All Star weekend.
Speaker 12 (45:09):
Jimmy Butler, Okay, how has it been so far? It's
been incredible. He's bought a purpose back to this this organization.
I think, you know, we were kind of headed in
the wrong direction thinking we're figuring it out and never
figuring it out this year. Throughout the course of this
year and since he's been here, we walked into every
game thinking and believing that we're going to win that game,
(45:31):
and that goes a long way in this league. But
you walk in the game like, ah, man, we're probably.
Speaker 3 (45:35):
Going to lose this game.
Speaker 12 (45:37):
It's not good. And so he's brought back that belief
and I think we're going to win the championship.
Speaker 1 (45:44):
Say that one more time so than everybody here say that.
Speaker 22 (45:47):
I didn't hear you my ear piece because they added
Jimmy Butler the third.
Speaker 3 (45:51):
So I'm sorry.
Speaker 12 (45:53):
I said, I think we're going to win a championship,
but I lie, we are going to win the champions
wing tray.
Speaker 1 (46:06):
Even former Golden State great Chris Mullen was believing the
Warriors could make a run after he watched Butler's addition
enhance the team's defense and their ability to control the
game from the free throw line.
Speaker 3 (46:19):
I mentioned little earlier.
Speaker 4 (46:21):
You know, we talked about, you know, analytics, the free throw,
how important free throws are too, offensive basketball and defensive basketball.
Back when I was a kid, we were always taught
the biggest weapon was drawing fouls.
Speaker 1 (46:35):
Yep, you get so much positive things.
Speaker 4 (46:39):
From a foul. Obviously, you get points, you get to
set your defense, you get to rest, you get to
communicate with your teammates, all for drawing a foul. And
during his time of analytics, where you said, you know,
open two point shots should be layups, the free throw
is kind of taking a back seat to the three
point shot. Now, nothing wrong with wide open threes, I
(47:02):
love them. But when you have a balanced attack of freeze,
fast break points, points off turnovers, nice layups pull up
all of a sudden. The ultimate offensive weapon as a
team and as a player is the element of surprise
and the balance of attack, and that's what the free
(47:24):
throw does. So with Jimmy Butler, like I said that
this team in four games has gone from thirtieth to second.
Speaker 1 (47:31):
That's drastic Golden State managed to nab the seventh seed
and upset the second seeded Rockets, but a hamstring injury
to Curry derailed the second round against Minnesota and the
Warriors were knocked out in five games. But it was
Curry's performance late in the regular seat and throughout that
series against Houston that has the Warriors still believing their
(47:53):
dynasty isn't over just yet. For those who've been around Curry,
as long as Mullen has, his presence alone gives the
Warriors real hope. Here's Mulley.
Speaker 4 (48:05):
To me, the way he's handled himself off the floor
is as extraordinary as the way he's performed, and that's
an incredible dynamic. And so for me, you know, I
obviously get to cover their games. I love watching him play,
but I'm always as impressed how he treats his teammates,
(48:25):
how he treats the fans. Just very aware of what's
going on around him, and he cares so for that,
I mean, I've got the utmost respect namiration for Steph
as a player and the way he has himself tremendous
mentor and a role model.
Speaker 1 (48:44):
Curry's global impact is difficult to measure. His influence goes
beyond basketball, whether it's through his philanthropic efforts or entrepreneurial ventures,
but it's on the basketball court where his magnetism is
at its strongest. He showed as much to the world
during the twenty twenty fourth Summer Olympics when he closed
out both Serbia and France with ridiculous shooting efforts, then
(49:08):
celebrating with his signature night Night celebration that everyone was
waiting for. Warrior's assistant coach Bruce Frasier considers even Curry's
celebrations a part of what makes him so easy to embrace.
Speaker 2 (49:22):
That's some beauty of stuff, as he's got a lot
of little kid in him and there's nothing that's like
calculated or unauthentic about him.
Speaker 20 (49:31):
So the celebrations comes from deep within and they just
kind of show up.
Speaker 1 (49:36):
I think sometimes he almost.
Speaker 5 (49:39):
Looks bad and giggles out him and says, I wish
I wouldn't have done that.
Speaker 15 (49:42):
Maybe you know that I'm guessing, but he's pretty humble
at times, but it comes out the.
Speaker 1 (49:48):
Spirit comes out on the floor.
Speaker 2 (49:50):
So you know, those are all authentic celebrations of many
of them, Many of them stuck.
Speaker 1 (49:57):
Will also stick around forever are the stories of just
how great a human Curry has been. Out this entire experience,
you've heard several folks discuss how step has changed the
game while lifting a once down trodden Warriors franchise to
the height of sports success for more than a decade.
But if you keep digging, there are even more stories
(50:19):
along the way that displayed just how that humble superstar
brought joy to others around him just because he could.
Among them comes one from former Warriors general manager Larry Ryan,
the man most responsible for the Warriors drafting Curry. Do
you remember that adorable daughter Curry would bring up to
the podium many years ago during those first few finals
(50:40):
runs from stand.
Speaker 3 (50:46):
Entertaining basketball?
Speaker 20 (50:47):
But it's we're both supposed to do.
Speaker 18 (50:53):
Down.
Speaker 3 (50:54):
I don't want to say quiet.
Speaker 1 (50:59):
That was Ryan Curry. She's twelve now, and I might
have guessed if I now, but she was named after
Larry Riley himself. But first, of course, Steph had to
ask for permission. Here's Larry Riley.
Speaker 28 (51:14):
I was really surprised Steph had no problems to speak of.
Speaker 3 (51:20):
And he came to my office and came in and
sat down and.
Speaker 28 (51:24):
Talked to me and he said, we're going to have
our first child and we're thinking about naming a Riley.
What would you think about Well, I just that moved
me away, and Steph and I had a good relationship
and probably a little closer than with most.
Speaker 10 (51:48):
Corecourse that I was around.
Speaker 28 (51:52):
I enjoyed his dad and his parents were His parents
were really really solid in the upbringing of their children, and.
Speaker 1 (52:01):
I just I had a lot of respect for him.
Speaker 28 (52:04):
And when he came in and mentioned that, it did
blue me what.
Speaker 1 (52:12):
I was honored with that question whether or not this
Dub Dynasty continues with any more championships, Curry's legacy as
the centerpiece of a run that may never be duplicated
has long been cemented, partially because of gestures just like
that one. Thanks for listening to Dub Dynasty. Dub Dynasty
(52:45):
is a production of iHeartMedia and the NBA. For more
podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you get your podcasts.
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