Getty Steph Curry celebrates with his daughters after the Golden State Warriors win the 2017 NBA Finals.
The Steph Curry era in Golden State almost came to an end before it even started.
The Warriors star opened up this week about the time the team came within a whisker of trading him early in his career, pulling him out of the deal at the last minute thanks in part due to the intervention of his coach. Instead of shipping Curry out in a trade that included a very popular teammate, the Warriors decided to hand him the keys to the franchise.
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Curry Shares Details of Almost-Trade
Curry sat down with teammate Draymond Green this week on the newest episode of the Draymond Green Show, talking about his history with the franchise. Curry revealed that the team nearly included him in the 2012 deal that sent teammate Monta Ellis to the Milwaukee Bucks. For Curry, the saving grace turned out to be the injury trouble that plagued him early on in his career — along with some intervention from then-head coach Mark Jackson.
Curry said there were some tense moments as he and his teammates were unsure who was included in the deal.
“I get in the locker room, I’m getting tape, getting ready to play and you see across the ticker on the TV in the locker room like breaking news ‘NBA trade: Warriors trade Monta Ellis, Ekpe Udoh and somebody else for Andrew Bogut.’ That’s how we found out, we were in the locker room like ‘what? what’s going on?'” Curry said.
Instead of leaving the franchise, Curry became the face of it. He revealed that Jackson lobbied for him to stay in Golden State and become a foundational piece for the team that would reach the NBA Finals five straight times, winning three titles. Curry has won the league MVP twice during that time, and earlier this season set the all-time three-point record.
Steph Curry’s 2,974 career regular-season three, breaking Ray Allen’s record and becoming the all-time three-point god.
“So that’s how it went down, everybody kind of said their goodbyes to Monta, Ekpe and they left,” Curry said. “Then coach Jackson pulled me out of the locker room and he’s like ‘yo, I just have to let you know, they wanted you in the trade’ but for whatever reason, it didn’t go down like that. He said ‘I kind of stepped in too … I’m going to give you the keys. We really believe in you, we just have to get you healthy and that’s what the rest of the season is going to be about.’ His line was ‘don’t make me a liar.’ ”
Curry Still Future of the Franchise
Even though he’s at an age when most players hit a sharp decline — or have long left the NBA — Curry is still a major part of Golden State’s future. Speaking to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports back in January, Warriors owner Joe Lacob said he can envision Curry playing for years to come.
“Well, Tom Brady’s 44 now,” Lacob said. “I tell Steph all the time, ‘Do whatever he does. Whatever he does, you do.’ I told him that. But who knows? The world is changing a lot and maybe I’m just being my usual optimist self. But I feel like Steph can play at a high level, and maybe Klay, too, for longer than most people would have done in the past.”
Steph Curry has the Most Threes in NBA history (3,117)
He also has the most 3PTS in
A single season (402)
The playoffs (470)
The Finals (121)
A Finals game (9)
A calendar month (96)
& 22 games with 10+ 3PTS (no other player has more than 5)
The Warriors could be primed to make another run this season, with Curry listed as probable when Golden State hosts the Denver Nuggets in the playoff opener on April 16.
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