Stephen Curry’s meteoric rise has caused a rift with his NBA peers
As Warriors’ Stephen Curry continues an unprecedented run of success, other NBA players have started to change their opinion on the two-time MVP.
Looking back, it seems obvious what head coach Steve Kerr has done. Turn up the pace, increase the number of possessions, move the ball and play tough-nosed defense. Well, what’s the result? The NBA’s darlings, the Golden State Warriors, have finished one of the best three-year stretches the league has ever seen.
The poster child for this miraculous run has been the 6-foot-3, the 190-pound, Stephen Curry. The Warriors’ rise has been paired with the success of their biggest star. Coming out of Davidson, the expectations in the NBA were not that high for Curry. But throw in Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Steve Kerr and now the Warriors were rolling.
An NBA Championship, two MVPs — one being unanimous — later, Curry might not be received the same way as before. Throw in the perceived arrogance that he plays with, peers among the NBA have grown to dislike Curry.
Marcus Thompson, author of Golden: The Miraculous Rise of Stephen Curry, claimed this week that LeBron James, Russell Westbrook and Chris Paul have flipped their opinion of the Warriors’ star over the past few years. In a conversation with Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead, Thompson shared what he’s seen.
"He [LeBron] was a big fan of Steph, went to games at Davison, and even when [Curry] got to the NBA, they had moments where LeBron was looking at him like, ‘wow’ and then Steph kind of challenged LeBron’s status. The part that’s odd for Steph – why does that mean there has to be beef between us? He loves LeBron and respects LeBron, and he’s like, ‘because the outside world is pitting us together, why do you and I have to now have this disdain between us, I thought we were cool? … that’s the question that’s in Curry’s mind and Curry’s camp. Why do you not like me when all I did was basically respect everything you did, and follow the model you carried out? … it’s not just with LeBron … Steph wants to be accepted by all these guys. this is what he worked for. For [them] to say, ‘you’re one of us.’ It seems like they don’t want to give that to him."
It was obvious in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, where LeBron blocked Curry and had something to say to him after or the Halloween tombstone cookies with Curry’s name on it. But it’s not only LeBron, it’s also Westbrook, who laughed off a question in last year’s Western Conference Finals on Curry’s defense. Thompson also adds Paul to the mix, another point guard that Curry has surpassed on his rise to superstar status.
It all makes sense, Curry’s play on the court has a borderline cockiness that drives opponents crazy. Off the court, his jersey sales, TV ratings and constant love from the media has to make NBA peers jealous.
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With the NBA Playoffs around the corner, let’s hope for a Warriors playoff run that includes the Clippers, Thunder and Cavaliers. The story lines featuring Curry and these other stars would make for great games.