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As the Golden State Warriors were battling the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers and ultimate feel in their famed 3-1 series lost they knew they could one of two things. Run it back with the same team or decide to take it up another level.
Ultimately, that’s what they did with the addition of now Brooklyn Net Kevin Durant to their team and it led to more championships for the franchise. Yet, with the original big 3 the Warriors compiled, everyone had to take a step back when Durant joined to accommodate their new superstar teammate.
One former Warriors champion elaborated on just how much their two-time MVP Steph Curry had to step back his game in order to make the lineup work.
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Curry Changed His Mindset Per Bogut
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GettyKevin Durant and Steph Curry take the court together in a game for the Golden State Warriors.
Former Warriors starting center, champion, and #1 overall pick of the 2005 NBA Draft Andrew Bogut has made waves several times with his comments this season. Aside from breaking the news of an unnamed Warriors player confronting Warriors swingman Kelly Oubre Jr., he recently made headlines for discussing how Curry had to adjust his game to accommodate Kevin Durant.
“The biggest thing that I respect about Steph is, he has had to modify his game a little bit after those MVP runs,” Bogut said on the Dubs Talk Podcast via NBC Sports. “I mean, two-time MVP and then lets in a guy who is essentially one of the best basketball players in the world and then would share the spotlight of being one of the best guys on the team.”
“He rolled with it. He took on a lesser role to an extent. He knew he would take less shots, he wouldn’t have the ball in his hands as much, and to go from that to back to where he is now, to flip that switch of I’m the guy again, I need to be a 30-point plus scorer, that’s hard to do.”
“I wasn’t at that level when I played,” Bogut said.
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Is Curry Bogut’s MVP Pick?
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That wasn’t all that Bogut spoke on. Going from being the #1 option to #2 or three is something he can attest to.
In Milwaukee, he was the #1 option for years until injuries derailed his play. Having been through that experience and seeing Curry do so, and then come back to arguably being in the MVP race is remarkable according to him.
“The fact that Steph has been able to still play at an elite level within different roles, it’s a credit to him not only as a player but as a person,” Bogut said. “I can say that no matter how much guys in the NBA talk about ‘We want to win a championship’ and all that stuff, all of the sudden if it’s not you on the billboard all of the time when you’re supposed to be the franchise guy, 99 percent of the guys don’t like that. As much as they’ll lie to the media, they don’t. He genuinely was one guy that was like ‘Hey, it’s going to win us more games.'”
“I think Steph is one of the most valuable players every year,” Bogut said. “Numbers-wise, he’s still one of the most valuable guys, even when he’s not scoring the ball he demands so much attention that it’s opening up spacing for other guys.”
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