Ryan Rollins channels his inner… 2012 Warriors? “Once upon a time,” Steph Curry says

[GSW-MIL interviews/videos/transcripts]

The cure for the common loss? Reminiscing on something in the past. Try it. It works. It’s actually the basis of my Love Your Dubs Summit (relaunch) coming up real soon. Go check it out and register for free — the website will be updated soon with more info!

When you register for free, you get entered into a drawing on Thanksgiving for Shot Ready, the picture book by one Wardell Stephen Curry plus you get access to our curated Discord server (free version).

Steph postgame, at the 11:20 mark of his locker room with media, filmed by Joseph Dycus of BANG/SJ Mercury (full transcripts below) — after Milwaukee’s Ryan Rollins lit up the Warriors for 32 points on 13-for-21 field, 5-for-7 on threes, and 8 assists:

Once upon a time, that was what the Warriors were, back in 2012, pretty much. And there are certain games where it clicks and some games where it’s rough. And tonight we saw the game where it clicks. So it’s, again, there’s just a free kind of spirited energy you see when a team like that, who’s been playing pretty well and then coming in, we played-- obviously, Giannis (Antetokuonmpo) is playing at a high level and then, all of a sudden, he’s out, you got guys step up.

2012, Steph?! 🤔

Let me look: https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/c/curryst01/gamelog/2012/

Ha! You right. Look at those scoring numbers for you — these are lockout- and injury-shortened results:

4, 21, 21, 10, 20, [missed 8 games], 12, 18, THIRTY-TWO, 15, 3, TWENTY-NINE, 11, 16, THIRTY-SIX, 14, 9, 8, 11, THIRTY-SIX, 11, 9, [injured again for four games], 12, 15, 10, 0, [shut down for rest of season, missing games 39 through 66].

😂 I get you now, Steph.

And yeah, no disrespect to Rollins. I mean, who are we to actually judge if Ryan is gonna have an up-and-down season the rest of the way? And who’s to say, he could very well end up an All-Star just like Curry did. But he’s just about as young as Steph was back then and, let’s face it, the 2025-26 Bucks >>> 2012 Warriors. It’s likely Steph saw a little bit of himself in Rollins last night, that’s all.

In fact, the second game in which Steph hit 36 that season, he and Monta Ellis both had over 30, but Tony Allen got a tip-in with five seconds left to give the eventual strong 38-28 Grizzlies, in their odd throwback green jerseys, the win.

Guess who the guy guarding Steph in the above photo is?

Wait, hold up. I was with GoldenStateOfMind.com back in the day! Did I write a recap? Doesn’t look like it: https://www.goldenstateofmind.com/archives/2012/2/1

I think we at GSoM messed up and no one wrote a recap for that one. I did a lazy post on the All-Star Break in Orlando, which I somehow attended. I don’t remember much from that weekend other than Christopher Chen of NBA Entertainment (I met him when I premiered his film Year of the Yao at the Palace of Fine Arts as a crossover with Dream League), walking by a stack of Rising Stars tickets in his NBA Conference room, asking me how many I needed.

I took, like, four and invited agent Ara Vartanian and his client at the time, Daniel Orton. Then we went to DO’s house in the suburbs and it was the last time I ever got drunk lol.

Oops, I went on a tangent.

Eight games later, the 2012 Memphis Grizzlies would crush Golden State, 110-92. Steph went back to modest ways with 15 points. Rudy Gay torched us for 26-and-12 and Marc Gasol 17-and-12. The Grizz were back feeling normal again and, well, same with the 2012 Dubs. No late game-saving tip-in by Allen needed.

Mike Conley with 12 assists. Sheesh, that guy can reminisce with Steph after all these years.

Don’t worry, DubNation, we’ll have our get-back on Rollins and the Bucks.

The only way we can laugh at a loss like the one to the Bucks last night is to draw from experiences and reminisce, remind ourselves that life ain’t that bad.

I’d take 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25, and 2025-26 over the 2012 Warriors, any day. Come on, now!

Oh and nah, I don’t think a basketball team can avoid letdowns like that. I tried thinking back to my time playing Asian leagues and tourneys.

We had a Rollins-like experience at the Mofufus Tournament in LA one time. We even got a favorable first-round draw. But their main guy went crazy. I can’t remember his name. Kelvin Bryant, maybe? Half-Japanese, half-white guy with a suspect jumper that always went in against us that day. I threw a clipboard a corner of it chipped off. Our point of attack, like Draymond Green would say last night, was pathetic. The tournament director said that was the one time out of ten that that team and that guy could beat my Bay Area All-Star squad.

I blamed it on the awesome uniforms I’d gotten the team just for that tournament. I had inadvertently placed a bullseye on my guys’ backs by having the best threads in the invitational.

So, sometimes basketball circumstances are basketball circumstances.

But if you’re “0-12” the past few years when a main guy like Giannis sits out last minute, as Steve Kerr joked on the podium, maybe it’s time to get nuts.

“Let’s get nuts!” — Michael Keaton Batman voice

The one thing I suggested on the livestream last night was maybe the coaching staff should just trash the rotation spreadsheet and treat it like a pickup game: whoever’s playing well gets to keep playing until he’s tired. That way, Will Richard — played great, again! — takes the floor and he never leaves until he needs a sub.

But… let’s be real. Have we really thought about what that would do to a NBA team on an 82-game schedule. You have to go back to normal rotations the next game. We’d probably have had 40 turnovers with different guys playing with each other, instead of 19.

Still, maybe a defensive assignment can change things. Maybe a hard, legal foul on Rollins does it. Maybe sic Gary Payton II on him 94 feet — which, by the way, they tried right before the half, but GP2 walked right into a screen before they were even at halfcourt and Rollins scored at the cup again.

However, it’s not the playoffs where you can just ratchet up a defense with physicality. There’s no time to game plan past a guy like Giannis, It’s just one of those weird regular season environments.

Last thing: coincidentally, Brian Scalabrine of NBA Radio brought up 2012-ish Curry in his latest Frank Isola podcast with Warriors assistant Chris DeMarco as a guest.

The conversation got to VJ Edgecombe, whom DeMarco coached on Team Bahamas, then Scalabrine brought up the competitive edge as he saw from a young Steph:

DEMARCO: It could be jumping on the floor. It could be getting a big time steal. It could be challenging somebody at the rim, just an elite finish with body control, whatever it is. Like, I’m winning this game, or I’m winning this competition, I’m winning this drill. I think it’s gotta be the compete level and I mean, I don’t know how you feel, Scal.

SCALABRINE: Yeah, I agree with that. That transitions into another question. When I first laid eyes on Steph in the pickup games, I was blown away by his compete level. I don’t know if I maybe saw Steph Curry like that before I worked for the Warriors. And then when you see him, you’re just blown, like you’re blown away by how the game could be 8-3 and he finds a way to win that game to 11. And it’s like, that’s like a special quality. And this is before he won MVPs and championships, all that stuff. But when you’re looking at Steph and he is, grown in that, is he more like that now? Is he doubled down on, like, his preparation and everything? Is he somewhat, how much has he changed over the last 10 years?

DEMARCO: Yeah, it’s like he just penalizes you for any mistake you make. Like, you’re right, yeah, other team’s up 8-3, mistake defensively, finds a way to get open, hits a three. You come down, don’t execute right back, all of a sudden he hits another one, it’s six points right there. And, obviously, players get better and there’s experience involved and all that, but I do think that compete level certainly doesn’t change from when you’re a young player and now.

ISOLA: And it’s interesting because when you watch him play, the guy’s accomplished everything you need to accomplish in an NBA career, but just early on, like you watch him making shots and he still has that joy and that competitive fight to him. Isn’t that like the key? Like you mentioned, you guys have a lot of veteran players. Isn’t it still, as long as they love playing and they want to compete, that’s what’s still gonna keep them going, right Chris?

DEMARCO: Yeah, absolutely. And it’s contagious. So you know whether or not you’re going through a tough stretch of the year, there’s injuries, losing streak, and your best player and this guy who’s won four championships is showing up and still having the right energy at practice and at film sessions, it changes everything for your team.

ISOLA: Is it the same now that Jimmy Butler’s there? You got Al Horford there, Draymond Green’s the vocal guy. Like, how do you, how is the leadership and, like, is there leader leadership by committee there with these veteran guys who have been to the finals and won championships?

DEMARCO: Yeah, no, absolutely. And it’s part of the reason we made the run last year in the playoffs where we almost got to the Conference Finals. And there’s just a calm and confidence that comes with this group. And now adding Al in here and, again, like, we’re really excited to see where we can be a few months from now.

You see the power of having experiences and reminiscing? Don’t have experiences, well then, let me share them with you with the Love Your Dubs Summit!

And that, my friends, is your reward for harkening back with Wardell to 2012 in the context of Ryan Rollins on October 30, 2025. Small price to pay! Basketball is much bigger than any one loss.

The full audio of the DeMarco-Scal exchange can be heard below the paywall, where I’ve placed the transcripts of Steph, Draymond, Jimmy, Brandin Podziemski and Steve from Milwaukee, too.

The paywall will be lifted some time next week…

NBA Radio podcast with Isola, Scalabrine and DeMarco:

POSTGAME 10/30/2025 GSW-MIL:

00:00 What was Ryan Rollins doing to give you guys problems?

00:03 STEVE KERR, POSTGAME GSW-MIL: His speed gave us a lot of trouble. He got past us, penetration, either scored at the rim Or, kicked it to shooters. He was fantastic tonight, just played a great game.

00:14 What do you think was the biggest issues?

00:16 I’m sorry?

00:16 Biggest issues for y’all tonight?

00:20 It looked to me like fatigue, mental, physical fatigue. It did not look like our team out there. Our spacing was bad. It just, it didn’t feel like we had our usual pop and I thought Milwaukee was brilliant. They made 19 threes. They made one tough one after another down the stretch, but we let them hang around for too long and that was the problem. And it’s what we talked about before the game. Anytime a team plays without its star, a team is gonna be out there with nothing to lose, firing shots, a lot of guys getting extra minutes, feeling good. And I thought they did a fantastic job of creating offensive rhythm and playing without fear and knocking down big shots. And then, and we didn’t handle our switching very well. Our defense struggled tonight. When we got, they were small, so we went to an all switching coverage and lineup and we’ll have to watch the tape, but I didn’t feel like we did a great job there.

01:29 Steve, speaking to your point and you mentioned the mental fatigue, but how much of what happened, do you think, was Giannis wasn’t out there and mentally you guys were just like, “Ah, this is--”?

01:42 It shouldn’t be that way ‘cause we’re, like, 0-12 the last couple of years when the stars don’t play. I just told our coaches, if I was an opposing coach, I would just sit the star every time. It’s, these are games that, as a coach, as a staff, as soon as you hear that the star is out, you’re terrified ‘cause we’ve just seen it a million times. Every NBA team is loaded with talent. You saw those guys out there, firing threes and all. Everybody can play in this league and when the star sits, everybody gets excited. This game did not surprise me, frankly.

02:23 Do you think the fatigue played a part in the turnovers tonight?

02:26 Yeah. Yeah, I think, like I said, I think, our sixth game in 10 days to start the year, a lot of travel. And I’m not using as an excuse, I’m just stating as a fact. I didn’t think we looked like the team that I just watched the last couple games. It looked a little bit more like the team in Portland, so it, there’s gonna be these games for everybody. Every team in the league is in an 82 game season where everybody’s playing at such a high pace and playing so hard. There’s gonna be games where the mental focus isn’t quite there and tonight was one of those games for us, so we’ve gotta regroup and bounce back in Indianapolis.

03:13 It seemed like they were spending some time targeting Al defensively. Historically he’s been really good about moving his feet on the perimeter, but what have you seen from him in those situations this year?

03:23 I feel good about Al. I think it’s always difficult going to a new team and getting accustomed to your surroundings, to your teammates, to the new style of play, all that stuff. Al, I’m not worried about Al at all. It’s a slow start to the season for him, but he’s Al Horford. He’s still moving really well. He’s a fantastic basketball player and he’s gonna help us win a lot of games this year.

03:52 I was gonna ask, Moses Moody only played 10 minutes. I was wondering, is that anything injury related or--?

03:57 No, we, I, we were just searching for combinations and I played Buddy a little bit more because he had knocked down a shot and kept him out there. We’re looking for combinations that are clicking and it was game just didn’t go Moses’ way tonight, but he’ll be ready for Saturday and we’ll be ready to put him out there.

04:22 Are there any things that you liked tonight?

04:24 I’m sorry?

04:25 Any things that you liked tonight?

04:29 No. It was not our finest hour. We did not, we did not play well at all. And there were some good individual plays, but we didn’t connect as a group and suffered at both ends. Thanks.

—

04:42 BRANDIN PODZIEMSKI: I’m not really sure. I’ll probably watch it again, but probably just a sense of urgency to start the game, knowing Giannis was out, just coming out with the same fire as if he were playing.

04:58 Do you think it’s hard to do that, not even necessarily for you individually, but as a team, to come out with the required fire when a team’s star’s out?

05:05 It shouldn’t be. It’s our job, it’s what we’re paid to do. They got the same thing over there. They’re paid to play basketball too and they got great players, so you just gotta bring it every night, no matter who’s out there.

05:19 Brandin, was that a topic of conversation before you guys went out? Did Steve bring it up and go through it?

05:26 Yeah, he mentioned it and made it a point, that some people let their guard down when other team stars are out, but their role players are licking their chops to get their opportunity. And you saw it tonight, Ryan Rollins played very good basketball for him and so that’s what happened.

05:41 Got your option picked up today for ‘26-’27. Just what does that mean to you?

05:45 Yeah, blessed. I’m filled with gratitude, for sure. Happy to be a part of the organization that feels the same way about it that I do. Obviously, right now soaking the loss, but in total just super blessed that front office, staff, they want me here for another year.

—

06:03 JIMMY BUTLER: They made a lot of shots. We didn’t too much make them miss. A lot of confusion out there. Part of the NBA.

06:14 Six games in 10 days. Do you feel fatigued?

06:16 Nah, nah. Very winnable game. If we go out there and do what we’re supposed to do. It’s a hard one, though, when one of their star players is down. I’m not saying they don’t got nothing to lose, but it makes everybody play at a whole nother level, so you tilt your hat today.

06:33 Jimmy, to that point, how much of an emotional letdown maybe is it when you realize that he’s not in there?

06:40 Not an emotional letdown. Everybody in this league’s an NBA player for a reason, so you gotta go out there, pay respect to everybody, guard ‘em the way they’re supposed to be guarded, do what you’re supposed to do on both sides of the ball. We did not do that, came up short.

06:55 What was Ryan Rollins doing to give you trouble?

06:57 Making shots.

06:58 Making shots?

06:59 Steve mentioned you guys are at the point still very much figuring out combinations and lineups and whatnot. Based on your experience, how long does that usually, when do, what point of the season do you start to feel comfortable with rotation?

07:08 We’ll be aight. If we guard a little bit better, make more, a little bit more shots, don’t turn the ball over, we don’t have these conversations and lineups, we’re fine. That’s just part of the, that’s just part of the game. When you lost, it’s always something, but when you win, it’s not anything. So just get back to winning and it’ll be flowers and daisies in no time.

—

07:32 Steve felt like y’all weren’t good in your switching scheme tonight. You’re like the defensive--

07:37 DRAYMOND GREEN: Yeah, we were terrible switching, so they got downhill over and over, especially they led to open shots and then you get a team feeling good and they’re NBA players,

07:48 What specifically is it just like not knowing when or the timing on it?

07:54 I don’t know. If I had an answer, I think we would’ve won, but they just weren’t good. They weren’t clean. Confusion. We should be a good switching team, but tonight we were pathetic.

08:06 What would you just attribute the turnovers to, offensively?

08:11 I think when you let a team get downhill every time and they’re making shots, you’re playing against a set defense every time. And then we were pretty stagnant. We weren’t, we were just standing around watching and their boxes and elbows, there’s no lanes, we’re driving into a crowd every time.

08:30 Steve was saying that you guys are like 0-12 when a team’s star sits out. What do you think the deal is mentally when that keeps happening, when somebody’s sitting and it’s just not there the same way?

08:45 You’re coming to the arena thinking the team’s star gonna be there, that’s what you’re prepared for, but like I said, they’re NBA players whether Giannis is out there or not, so I don’t know.

08:58 What do you think of Rollins?

09:00 He was great, decisive, started off getting downhill, and then the shots were going, You let guys get confidence and get a rhythm -- he was incredible.

09:15 Did you see any signs of that when he was with you guys as rookie here?

09:19 He’s grown a lot, so I’m not gonna point to his rookie year. Like, it’s irrelevant, but I commend, his journey. Wasn’t one straight to where he is right now, but he stuck with it, continued to work and get better and he’s found himself a nice home, so I think his rookie year with us is kinda irrelevant.

09:39 Steve mentioned that there may have been some mental and physical fatigue. Do you feel that at all as a team?

09:45 Ah, I don’t know.

—

09:47 When did you find out Giannis was out? Like, how long before tip?

09:53 STEPH CURRY: Right before our meeting.

09:55 Do you feel like that impacted y’all’s focus?

09:59 Not our focus. No, because we’ve been through this plenty of times where you find out somebody’s out right before and you gotta understand your game plan, your adjustments and all that. But it’s more they had shots and Ryan played an unbelievable game from the start. It’s more about, like, their team being free, guys who don’t get as many shots or sets that run through Giannis aren’t there. You gotta find a way to adjust, so they played a way that even, fourth quarter, hitting some big shots that just turned the tide of the game. We knew. We talked about it ahead of time, try not to have a letdown, but it just didn’t go our way.

10:43 (Steve said) you guys are 0- 12 the last few years when somebody sits. It’s an exaggeration by him, but do you feel, like, can you remember this being a problem for y’all?

10:53 Yeah, enough for us to mention it and him to talk about this as a coach’s worst nightmare. But again, it’s not like they didn’t play a hell of a game. We had a lot of slip ups and turnovers and, but we showed some fight, enough to three or four times claw back in, get a lead and then they hit two threes and then get it to two, and then they hit two threes and, just didn’t do enough to get over.

11:20 Once upon a time, that was what the Warriors were, back in 2012, pretty much. And there are certain games where it clicks and some games where it’s rough. And tonight we saw the game where it clicks. So it’s, again, there’s just a free kind of spirited energy you see when a team like that, who’s been playing pretty well and then coming in, we played-- obviously, Giannis is playing at a high level and then, all of a sudden, he’s out, you got guys step up.

11:56 Indy’s dealing with a lot of injuries, too. Is it different knowing guys are hurt going into the game as opposed to finding out right before, just from a game planning perspective and whatnot?

12:07 Not really. Again, like, you have certain patterns of guys like Giannis. Whether you can stop it or not is another question, but nobody’s really played Ryan when he’s out there, free to just do whatever he feels like. He’s applying pressure. They had a five out spacing, that type of thing. So we have to be able to make adjustments to, I guess, mentally against Indiana, knowing however the game starts we have to impose our will a little bit earlier than we did tonight. That’s about it.

🫶💙💛