The Golden State Warriors are used to getting called out, it simply comes with the territory of nearly a decade as dynastic champions. But where it doesn’t usually come from is out of the mouths rookies who have yet to play even one regular season NBA game.
The Houston Rockets selected Jabari Smith Jr. with the third overall pick in the 2022 draft. To this point, the versatile forward has only taken the floor during the NBA’s Summer League in Las Vegas. Still, the intrepid youngster had plenty to say about what he’s looking forward to in the regular season during a conversation with Taylor Rooks of Bleacher Report on Tuesday, July 12.
Among Smith’s goals: talk trash to Dubs’ forward Draymond Green and do his best to lockdown reigning NBA Finals MVP Steph Curry.
.@jabarismithjr is looking forward to talking trash to Draymond and Ja this season 👀🍿
“Yeah, I’m not the type to just go at you first, but if you go at me I’m going to be in your ear the rest of the game,” Smith said.
Rooks then asked him if there was anyone he was excited to talk trash to.
“There’s a lot of trash talkers in the league,” Smith replied. “I would probably say like Draymond Green.”
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Rockets Rookie Says He Wants Curry, LeBron James on The Court
GettyStephen Curry (left) of the Golden State Warriors drives against LeBron James (right) of the Los Angeles Lakers during a preseason game at T-Mobile Arena on October 10, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Later in the interview, Smith made a bold declaration when he said he is most amped to matchup with Curry and LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers — arguably the two greatest players of this NBA generation and two of the top 10 names to ever pick up a basketball.
“I would say most excited to defend LeBron, and most excited would probably be Steph,” Smith said. “LeBron and Steph.”
“He’s going to get my best shot, and I’m going to go get his best shot,” Smith continued in reference to guarding Curry in a head-to-head matchup. “So we’re going to see how it goes.”
NBA Insider Calls Curry Second-Best NBA Player Ever Behind Jordan
GettyStephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors looks on during the fourth quarter against the Boston Celtics in Game 5 of the 2022 NBA Finals at Chase Center on June 13, 2022 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
The 19-year-old Smith, fresh off his freshman season with the Auburn Tigers, is perhaps being a bit brazen for a man without a single number in a single NBA stat column. But Smith’s fire and his confidence are traits to be admired. And who knows? Perhaps someday Smith will hear his name uttered among the all-time greats.
Curry and James, however, have already earned their places atop that mountain while still amid their playing careers, as each has won four NBA titles and multiple regular season MVP Awards — James with four, and Curry with two.
It has been more commonly argued that James is the second-best player in basketball history and/or the closest active player in talent and accomplishments to the near-unanimous No. 1 — Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls. But former NBA front office executive and current NBA insider Bobby Marks said Tuesday that, in his opinion, it is Curry, not James, whose name should be slotted behind Jordan’s on that list.
Marks made the comment while on a panel that aired as part of the afternoon television program “This Just In” on ESPN.
“[Steph Curry] is the 2nd-best player of all-time”
“I’m going to stun you with this take here,” Marks said as a preface. “I actually think Steph Curry is the second-best player of all time, right behind Michael Jordan. I would put Curry ahead of LeBron James right now.”
“Curry has this instinct, what I saw with Jordan, where any time he has the ball, you think it’s going to go in,” Marks added. “He is a threat offensively. We’ve got three or four more years of Curry in his prime right now.”
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Warriors Steph Curry, Draymond Green Challenged by Top NBA Rookie