Stephen Curry throws some serious shade at Keith Smart and Acie Law

James Wiseman hasn’t been on the court in close games. Stephen Curry let him know exactly why he shouldn’t be worried about it.

It’s been an up-and-down season for Golden State Warriors‘ rookie James Wiseman. The highs have been incredibly high — 18 points on 13 shots against MVP frontrunner Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets, per-36 minute averages of 18.7 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.7 blocks. But the lows have been discouraging as well — Wiseman has more turnovers (23) than assists and made free throws combined (22), and averaging 7.7 fouls per 100 possessions has made it hard for him to stay on the floor.

Wiseman has started all 13 games for the Warriors this season but just 30 of the 268 minutes he’s played this season have come in the fourth quarter. That was the pattern in Golden State’s Monday night win over the Los Angeles Lakers when a huge fourth-quarter comeback came with Wiseman on the bench because of foul trouble.

What did Stephen Curry say to cheer up James Wiseman?

Luckily Stephen Curry was there to remind him that struggles happen to every young player:

Curry in his second season was somewhat famously behind Acie Law in the late game rotation. Curry started all 74 games he played in that year, averaging 18.6 points, 5.8 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game, shooting 44.2 percent from beyond the arc. Head coach Keith Smart, however, occasionally favored the largely illusory defensive upside and experience of Law who averaged nearly as many fourth-quarter minutes (6.1) as Curry did (7.7) that year. It’s worth noting that Law only averaged 15.8 minutes per game for the season, so nearly 40 percent of his minutes were played in that final period.

That was Law’s last season in the NBA despite the fact that he was still just 26. Smart was fired at the end of that season. He spent two years as the head coach of the Sacramento Kings after that, piling up a .340 win percentage there. Curry, of course, went on to become the first unanimous MVP in NBA history, win three championships and build a Hall-of-Fame career.

So, keep your chin up, James?