When Steph Was Found
The story of when Steve Kerr unleashed the Chef.
Believe it or not, but Steph Curry’s unique style (or brand of basketball) was not always celebrated.
Critics early in his career believed he took too many long-range (often contested) shots. They also criticized him for being a score-first point guard in an era where point guards were supposed to play a traditional game, like how Steve Nash, Jason Kidd, Chris Paul and Deron Williams were playing.
His coaches, during this time, also didn’t know which position he fit into because of this.
Additionally, the guy was taking shots like these en masse:
I remember hearing a broadcaster one game (early in the 2010s) say that the Golden State Warriors need to figure out what position Curry is going to play (point guard or shooting guard) so that he could develop into that role.
Not a lot of people expected Steph Curry to become, well, Steph Curry.
But during practice one day, then-new head coach, Steve Kerr, “found” Curry.
On the Backyard Podcast with D’Angelo Russell, Russell told a story about a time he asked Kerr when and why Curry was unleashed.
“I got to Golden State and Steve Kerr, and was mentioning Steph Curry… I was like, ‘When did you know Steph was Steph,’” Russell said. “Kerr said, ‘In practice, he used to shoot these crazy shots, go down the lane and he’d just shoot as high as he could, he’d go the opposite way and shoot it all the way and it was like I pulled my hair out watching him do it. But then I realized he’s different. I have to let him fly or he won’t be who he wants to be and who he can be and he was the first player I ever really saw be that.’”
When Kerr joined the Warriors, Curry had already been an All-Star and an All-NBA Player. But when he let Curry run free, Curry leveled up.
In 2014-15, Kerr’s first season as Golden State’s head coach, Curry led his team to a 67-15 record. He also won the MVP award. And the NBA championship.
The following season (2015-16), Curry led the NBA in scoring with 30.1 points per game, steals with 2.1 per game, and free-throw percentage, with 90.8 percent.
He was also deemed the MVP again.
Additionally, if the leash wasn’t unclipped, Curry would have never been able to lead the league in points with 32.0 per game at 32 years old in 2020-21, or win the Clutch Player of the Year Award in 2024 at the age of 35.
He would’ve never become Steph… the Baby-Faced Assassin…Chef Curry.
He wouldn’t have revolutionized the game of basketball and, as Shaquille O’Neal says, be part of the GOAT conversation.
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Now, back to the story…
Random Thought
Coaches’ jobs really be unsafe nowadays, huh?
As you’ve probably learned, Denver Nuggets’ head coach Michael Malone was let go recently.
He was a long-tenured coach (10 seasons with them) and a good one as well.
He recently led the Nuggets to a championship title in 2023 and guided Nikola Jokic to three MVP awards (Jokic is still putting up MVP numbers, by the way).
And this is why his firing is so puzzling.
The Nuggets haven’t been playing the best this season, but they were by no means playing poorly. They currently have 48 wins with two games left, are fourth in the West and will make the playoffs.
So, why fire him now? Why not wait until the postseason (which would also be ridiculous to me)?
This is why I love the San Antonio Spurs organization -they’re principled.
Through thick and thin, they kept Gregg Popovich around.
During the 2000s, the Spurs pretty much won a title every other season. But they hit a slump in the late 2000s and early 2010s and didn’t do well in the playoffs. They were losing in the first round some seasons and in the semifinals in others. They were even swept in one of the series.
But the Spurs’ brass gave Popovich the time and patience to figure it out.
As a result, they won another championship title -7 seasons after their most recent one- and have been one of the greatest franchises in NBA history.
And If the Nuggets had kept Malone and let him figure it out, I think they would have had a chance to win a title this season and a handful more in the future.
What do you think?
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