Should we be all-in when Steph Curry says he wants to win two Play-in games?
[interviews/transcripts/commentary]
One Wardell Stephen Curry from the podium just before his return (April 3rd, to be exact) when asked what is still possible this season:
Hopefully, winning two Play-in games and then we have another conversation…
There is a difficult problem of either going all-in with Curry’s competitive desire or taking a moment to wonder if, with the latest serious injury to Moses Moody, it might be better to temper that and start thinking about how the 11th pick could help the injured roster for next season, assuming that player would perform better than would the 15th pick, especially from a strong Draft.
That is to say, barring Lottery miracles as well as a Curry-led run through the Play-in Tournament, Golden State right now is locked in with the 11th pick of the 2026 NBA Draft. Milwaukee is locked in for the 10th pick. If you look at the standings — in this case, Tankathon.com does a good job of turning everything upside-down for the Lottery view — the Warriors cannot lose enough games to “catch” the Bucks, who cannot win enough games, either. It is mathematically impossible.
But should the Dubs win two straight games and ascend to a seven-game playoff series as the 8th seed, to face what appears likely to be OKC, they would in essence and per NBA Lottery rules, “forfeit” their position with the 11th pick and drop to the 15th pick as the playoff team with the worst regular season record.
It’s basically straight math.
So the next question is, is having the 11th pick some kind of quantum leap better than the 15th pick?
By now, most people have heard that this is one of the deepest Drafts in recent memory. I’ve been told that the top seven or eight picks are virtual locks. In any typical Draft, the top five picks are usually franchise-altering. You could think of it as picks that have a legitimate chance of turning into a future All-Star, in due time.
That probably means there are seven or eight guys at the top of the 2026 Draft that show some combination of athleticism, skill, and talent that, on paper, have the chance at becoming a future All-Star.
That also means the closer you are to that group, such as 11th, the better chance you have of getting a solid, reliable, rotational non-All-Star piece.
But I also think, hypothetically, there’s also a better chance to move up a few spots via trade when you are at 11 than when you are at 15. Most of the teams in the Lottery are struggling and likely to hold on to their pick, but I could foresee a possibility for the GSW to maybe make a deal with Atlanta at 7th.
This is because they not only have a pretty solid roster as-is with certain positions occupied already and therefore the needs aren’t as glaring, but also their GM Onsi Saleh comes from the Warriors and, obviously, has already partnered up for a deal in the Kristaps Porzingis-for-Jonathan Kuminga trade.
I really do think the injury to Moody changed things. From a purely salary cap sheet and transactional, fiscal management lens, it makes no sense for the Warriors to win two Play-in games and enter the playoffs and thereby move down from 11th to 15th. No team worse than 12th has ever moved into the Top Four via the Draft Lottery.
Of course, we can’t automatically expect Steph — or Steve Kerr or Gary Payton II, see transcripts below — to think this way. In fact, a non-Top-Four Lottery team has snuck into the Top Four of the Draft six out of the seven times since the current rules have been in place (2019). The only time when no team leapfrogged into the Top Four was 2023. And only two times, a team in the 11th or 12th spot moved into the Top Four.
This year, if the 12th or worse team leapfrogs into the Top Four, that means the Warriors can even move down from 11th.
So to recap:
Win both Play-in games, start the Lottery at no better than 15th, knowing that no team worse than 12th has ever secured a Top Four ping pong ball, or
Lose either Play-in game, enter the Lottery at 11th, knowing that two times out of the seven Drafts with the new Lottery system, has the 11th or 12th team moved up — notably Dallas was 12th last year and the other time it happened was when the Lakers started at 11th in 2019.
I’m not that keen on linking talking heads, so I’ll just say without having to go hunt down the hyperlink that Bill Simmons recently theorized on a podcast that Adam Silver could make sure the Lottery ended up in favor of the Warriors for the simple fact that our beloved franchise has not done any tanking this season.
I know that the ping pong ball system is audited by Ernst & Young, LLP, and maybe I should do a video essay on this, but I would think that leader of a multi-billion-dollar organization such as the NBA will pull the levers as necessary, when necessary. Too many a Lottery have turned out coincidentally in favor of rewarding certain struggling franchises that needed that bone thrown to them: Patrick Ewing to New York, LeBron James to Cleveland and Victor Wembanyama to San Antonio, plus Joe Smith, at the time, felt like a favor for the Chris Webber debacle, and those are just off the top of my head!
Maybe Steph or Joe Lacob or Mike Dunleavy, Jr. are banking on that? 🤔 Of course, this whole issue might be a problem that takes care of itself. No reporters are gonna seek out Lacob or Dunleavy for a quote if the team can’t even win the first Play-in game.
My heart is telling me to just root for Steph’s desires and take down Portland or LA, then probably Phoenix after that. Still feels like that episode where Cosmo Kramer and the car dealership salesman go on a test drive and see how far they can go on “E”.
I’ll let Dean Chambers explain what my brain is telling me, though, if we pretend we are Lacob and need to have a sit-down with Wardell the day before the Phoenix game, to tell him that we are ruling him out with a sudden flare up of runner’s knee:
“I cannot risk one more injury for next season. Your job is to hate me for preventing you from your delusional belief that you can still win this year. I love that you are crazy enough to want that chance, like Michael Jordan in 1986 versys one of the greatest teams ever. But that’s also why he was a consistently bad decision maker as an owner. The fact we get a shot at a Top 4 pick in what looks like one of the deepest drafts this century is only right for a team that has lost its two best wings to devastating knee injuries. You just saw how much vitriol the Lakers got for keeping Luka Doncic in down, what, 40 points to that Thunder team? What if we force you at 38 years old, with what seems to be chronic knee problems, into that scenario, and God forbid, you get hurt? It’s not your job to think about that. It’s mine. And I have made my decision.”
Mr. Chambers has spoken! Now, I’m nitpicking, but my personal hopes for a Top-4 pick are probably much more tempered than everyone else’s, but I really do see a valuable rotation piece with the 11th pick. Granted, we will still need to do the homework at some point, but we will be interviewing Eric Guilleminault of NBADraft.net in due time to check out all the possibilities in that range of 11-15.
By the way, I did a video essay on this:
Below are the transcripts from April 3rd at practice with Steph and fellow “all-in” team members Steve and Gary:
00:00 Steph, just how’s the knee feel?
00:04 STEPH CURRY, PRACTICE, DAY BEFORE HOU-GSW: Feels great. It’s been a long long process, longer than I thought, but I’m just happy to have a little clarity and a little window to get back out there and try to get to the level I was playing at and finish the year strong, so I’m excited.
00:23 There was a lot of talk about maybe shut down, why play the rest of the season for you. Why is it important for you to come back and play these last two games and into the playoffs?
00:33 I mean, I love playing basketball. That’s what I get paid to do, so if I’m healthy to play it and it’s safe to go out there and test it in live action and all the work that I’ve put in will hopefully pay off. So our season’s been different than we expected, but the fact that there is something to still play for gives all of us a lot of confidence down the stretch to try to make something out of it, and I wanna be a part of that.
01:11 What have you, what do you, what have you learned about this injury and this process and — I don’t know what kind of information you can give us on like, why you feel fine to come back — and if you think this is something that you have to monitor the rest of your career or what do you know about this injury?
01:31 I mean, more — it was more of a mental thing at first, meaning I didn’t know, to your point, I didn’t know enough about it and I thought I was gonna be out for like a week, 10 days max, let it calm down and every time I got on the court or tried to push it, then that first month, there was always — I call it a reaction or you knew it just wasn’t healing as fast as you thought, so the patience then was tough, just because it’s one of those injuries that you really just have to let rest. There’s nothing you can kind of push through or be on the court while it’s healing and it’s just a different experience than most injuries that I’ve had that have a very defined timeline and a very defined process of do this, then you’re gonna feel this, and then this is gonna heal, and then you’re gonna be able to do this, all those checkpoints. This is — every day I wake up, first thing you think about is how does it feel, so that unpredictability was definitely a struggle throughout the whole process. And then even still now, because as good as I do feel now, I hope it stays that way. It’s just a matter of getting out there and seeing.
02:52 Is it, I mean, have you been given a level of assurance or confidence that this isn’t something you’ll be worrying about next October, something?
03:00 Yes and no. There’s nothing structurally wrong with my knee, so it’s not like I’m compromised out there. It is a new normal though, if that makes sense, so just, it’s just a matter of understanding what I need to do off the court to make sure everything around my knee is strong and firing the right way. I will take full advantage of the off-season, whenever it is, to have a full reset. And then you just kind of figure out what it looks like going in the next year, but right now I kind of understand what the new normal is and it’s good enough to play.
03:42 You mentioned the off-season, but what do you think is still possible for this team this season?
03:50 Hopefully, winning two Play-in games and then we have another conversation. It’s the only thing that’s in front of us right now, so four, five games left to build momentum. It is weird that you could lose all five, win all five, it doesn’t necessarily matter, but the idea of what we’re trying to do, to be the best team come that first Play-in game and whoever we play, whether it’s Portland or the Clippers, be able to find and embrace that challenge, win one game and then have to go do it again. That’s pretty straightforward and then see what happens after that.
04:37 We know how much it means to you to be out on the court and having fun playing basketball, so how hard were these past two months for you being away from the game?
04:48 It was tough. Back to that earlier question, just because that first, that Detroit game, I knew something was wrong and when I left the court, I didn’t think I’d be gone longer than a week or so, from everything I was told. And then slowly as it started to reveal or show itself that it was gonna be a lot longer than that or — it was kind of take one step forward, two steps back kind of vibe and then watching your team kind of, I say, struggle, but with Jimmy going down and Mo going down, KP and the trade and not being available that early and wanting to get out there to play with him, seeing Draymond show up every night and give us what he has, the young guys step up, I just want to be a part of that. And that’s the most frustrating part of not being able to help, but thankfully, like I said, I’ve been working my butt off to get back out there with a little bit of time left to try to find the rhythm that I had early in the year and see where it takes us. I don’t ever — I feel like I can do anything out there and be Superman, but I understand it’s gonna take a minute to get back into the flow of things. But hopefully there’s enough reps to get ready for, that NCAA tournament kind of atmosphere where one-and-done, gotta win games.
06:12 Steph, you mentioned the new normal aspect of this. Is there any trepidation about tomorrow? I mean, are you feeling good enough where you’re past the point where you wake up tomorrow and there still could be some soreness or something like that?
06:27 It’s in the back of your mind, but even if that is the case, I know I’ve given, I’ve done everything I can to get back out there, so I don’t, I try to stay positive and optimistic, stay in the moment, and embrace the blessing to be able to play. So however it goes tomorrow, that is part of the reason I wanna come back, just to feel those, that adrenaline and the nerves and the competition. Again, after yeah, this long break and then however it plays out, I, like I said, I know I’ve done everything I can to give myself a shot and that’s all I can ask for.
07:07 To that point, how much of a relief are you feeling now that you have poured everything you can into it and now whatever happens, happens?
07:16 Yeah there was a moment in Atlanta where I thought I was gonna be a lot further along than it actually ended up being. And then you start looking at the schedule and you start counting games and the milestones that I had to get through to get back to playing and you start to panic a little bit just because there’s a point, and I’m sure it was talked about, like, I wasn’t gonna come back with one game left or just for the Play-in, so there was always like a sense of urgency on having enough of a slate of the schedule in front of me to make it make sense to come back. So there’s a little bit of angst in that moment, but working with Rick (Celebrini) and the team has been great, to have a goal of tomorrow and actually meet it and again, that’s all I can ask for.
08:14 Steph, you’ve watched, I think, 27 games. With sort of a coach’s eye and you see your team, what have you seen, the ups and downs that they’ve gone through? What are the things that encourage you, maybe some things you wanna see improve or whatever? What are the things you, I guess, taken away from what you’ve watched for your teammates?
08:35 First and foremost is the fight. We lost a lot of tough games, but I don’t think any of them have been because of a lack of effort, a will to win, guys just playing hard and playing competitive. We’ve had some tough finishes, lost some big leads, stuff that’s been really frustrating. And I know for the guys that have been out there, they want to have a lot more to show for, the spirit that they’ve been playing with, but considering all the injuries and how many games we’ve lost from guys at the top of the food chain, you have to be proud of that, being professional, showing up every day. X’s-and-O’s-wise, it’s hard to say because every game has been a different combination of guys, so it’s not like I can pinpoint anything to say this five-man unit is great, let’s do more of that or this the style of play is our identity, none of — like, it’s been kind of just trying to figure it out on a nightly basis, so I’m proud of guys for fighting through all of that. And with the Play-in situation now, like, whatever, five, six years, whatever, before the Play-in started, we would’ve had nothing really to play for, so it is kind of an interesting dynamic of no matter what our record is, we’re all looking forward to what happens in 10 days.
10:08 When you allow yourself to visualize playing with KP, what do you see?
10:14 I mean, there’s a lot of talent out there. He’s so unique and his ability to demand a double-team, at times, stretch the floor as a shooting big, be a guy that you can throw the ball to in the post or in isolation, and you have to kind of pick and choose whether you wanna leave him on an island and give him the advantage or you send a double. And I was telling him, I don’t know how people are gonna guard our pick-and-roll, so it’ll be interesting to be out there and kind of react to what defenses are gonna do, but anytime you have a talent like that and two guys that can demand attention, it’s always a good thing to create good offense and help elevate whoever we’re out there with. I’m sure it’s gonna be a kind of a feeling-out process like it always is, but I’m excited about it.
11:10 Steph, when you said you had a — would have a reaction each time you kind of pushed the knee, was that swelling, just pain, was it a certain way you stepped, you knew, okay, this thing isn’t right? Was there something that told you?
11:26 It was pain. This is a pain tolerance and if you feel pain, does that interfere with the function of what you’re trying to do? So there’s always a point where I wouldn’t — you do all these tests off the court and you do stuff to make sure it makes sense to get out on the floor and I’d feel great. And then you start running and you do your normal workout and towards the end of whatever the, however long the session was, you start to feel that pain creep back in and then the next day it would be awful. And you play that song and dance so many times over the last two months, so that was the most frustrating part. I’m sure anybody who’s had stuff bothering them or something that’s been chronic, it’s like, oh, some days I wake up and it feels great, can’t really explain why, and then you trying to make sure that feeling lasts for as long as possible. And then I, again, one step forward, two steps back a little bit, so that whole process was the unpredictability of the whole thing.
12:27 And how was that for you emotionally? Because you said, I thought I was gonna be out a week or 10 days and now, it’s two-plus months. What, how did you sort of get through that day-to-day?
12:41 It was tough. I think there was that moment after All-Star Break when I thought I was coming back after the East Coast road trip. I thought I was coming back. Most of the times long conversations about what’s going on and trying to assess where we’re at. Like I said, working with Rick has been amazing this whole process because there’s a lot of trust that we’re building towards getting me back as fast as possible, but doing it in a way that is taking care of the short-term and the long-term to the question of, will I be able to — is this something I’ll have to manage the rest of my career and all that. But I got great teammates, too. They’re always encouraging me. It is some long, dark days in the facility rehabbing and a lot of hours go into it, so it’s just a matter of reminding yourself, you’re working towards getting back as much as you can.
13:36 Steph, during this time with you out, Jimmy out, how did you see Gui Santos stepping up his game, especially offensively? And how do you think the fit’s gonna be for him now that you’re coming back?
13:50 Yeah. Gui’s taken a tremendous step forward. I think with the increased role of knowing he’s gonna be out there every night and his confidence being able to grow because he’s seeing the game the right way, he understands how he can be effective, multifaceted scorer and his unorthodox ways, great footwork, touch, shoot the ball really well. So he does a lot of things to help connect the game and it’s just good basketball, at the end of the day. It’s nothing — not say special, it is special. There’s nothing crazy other than just play, make the right pass, make the right cut. If you have an advantage, put the ball on floor. If you’re wide open, make a shot. He’s just seeing the game really well, so it’s helped us and I hope I can create more space for him and vice-versa where he’s finishing plays if teams are sending a crowd to me. So I’m excited to see the newer version of Gui I haven’t seen since I’ve been out.
15:08 Draymond was — Steve’s talked about how this has kind of been a tough year for Draymond, kind of being this last veteran standing while amid all these injuries. I’m just wondering, what have your conversations kind of been like while you’ve been injured and through this whole process?
15:24 Yeah, just maintaining the spirit of we still can make something out of this, even though, to your point, it’s been rough, him walking into the locker room not knowing who’s gonna be available. He’s been pretty durable all year and I see behind-the-scenes what he does to get his body and his mind ready to play every night. And he’s been very measured throughout this whole process, which has been great to see. And I told him, our conversations are more just don’t let go of the rope. Don’t let the situation kind of influence how you come into the arena every night because we all know as quickly as this went downhill for us, it can turn around in a way that could surprise a lot of people and give us, again, opportunity to do something special and make something out of a very tough situation. He’s obviously gotta be a huge part of that, so I’m excited to get back out there with him.
00:00 GARY PAYTON II, PRACTICE, DAY BEFORE HOU-GSW: ...like 30. That’s the only way he comes back and he’s practicing. He looks like himself, so I trust and believe he’s himself.
00:10 What do you think this team can still do this season?
00:15 Whatever we put our mind to, now that Superman’s back, so we’ll figure it out with that.
00:22 How difficult a, I guess, a path does it look like for y’all, in your mind?
00:31 Never too difficult when you got 30 with you, so you got 30 together, we got KP, we got Dray, we got Al, we got a lot of good pieces. So let’s just get there and we’ll figure it out from there.
00:43 Was there ever a time in the last month or so that you thought maybe it was better for Steph to shut it down? I don’t know. I mean, you know him so well. I don’t know what your conversation’s been like.
00:55 It’s way above my pay grade. If he says he’s coming back, then he’s coming back. If they say he’s not, I find out just like you guys.
01:05 Draymond was talking about how he likes watching Steph in those like return-to-play scrimmages and he likes rooting for the G League players and all those young guys. What is your experience watching those kind of games, those kind of situations with Steph trying to come back?
01:19 Yeah I probably, like Draymond too, just like to see the coaching staff and the G League guys get after it and play against them because I know they’re just excited to play against him, as if it’s like a regular game, so they get their shot at him. So, those games are exciting to watch.
01:41 With how good Brandin and Gui have looked without Steph, how excited are you to see them sort of play with Steph again and sort of add those skills back?
01:50 Yeah, it’s gonna be adjustment for everybody, so we’ll see how that adjustment is for everybody, how that looks for each individual, but I know everybody’s thrilled to have him back on the floor and adjust on the go. Oh, you guys are great.
02:06 Gary.
02:07 Oh.
02:07 Come on now, not that —
02:08 Gotta snuck outta that.
02:09 Not so fast, my friend. How does Steph make you better?
02:18 I get layups, wide-open layups. Easy. Hit his guy, they’ll probably blitz him and then I’m by myself, so get to play-make from there. It just depends on if the defense is gonna step over to me or not, so he makes everybody’s life easier on the court, especially me just because I know how to understand, how to get him open. If I get him open, essentially it’ll lead to me being open later, so as many open looks he gets, makes the defense adjust and then I get my looks.
02:50 And how does he change the overall energy, locker room floor, plane, whatever? How does he change the energy with you guys?
02:59 It’s like a gravity pull. Whatever he does in our locker room on the court, off the court, it’s some type of pull, force pull, so just see him available. I’m sure he gives life to players and coaches and front office. You guys —
03:22 Sorry.
03:22 Not done.
03:26 Payton, Draymond said, know how to play the game and know how to win the game is totally different. Like, what do you think about this expression?
03:35 What do you mean? With?
03:37 Like, Draymond always said, like, know how to play the game and know how to win the game. It’s totally different. Like, what do you think about that?
03:44 Oh, absolutely. Situation, in the season, where you are, knowing how to play the game definitely comes into play and knowing how to win certain games at certain points of the season with certain teams. It depends on how your team looks. Knowing how to play and when, how to — winning the game is two very different things, but you gotta take into consideration where you are in the season and how your team looks and what’s going on around you, so he is correct on knowing how to play the game and knowing how to win the game, is very two different things, but they can tie into each other.
04:25 And Coach said, Stephen is the — have the, like, quality can bring the joys back. You think why he have this, like, quality, like, can change the games by?
04:38 Because Wardell does a lot of fun, exciting things and he makes the game very fun and exciting to watch and to also be on the court with him and get him to be able to do those things, everybody has to play their part, so once he comes back, it’s just an energy because if he gets 1, 2, 3 going, maybe that fourth and fifth one is probably gonna go up and that’s how you get started and that’s how he gets started and get the crowd into it. And then from that point on, it’s just, you’re at his will and that’s where the real fun comes.
05:12 Will he bring Nick (Friedell) joy?
05:16 Will he bring Nick Joy? I don’t know, Nick?
05:19 (Inaudible)
05:20 Really? We’ll see how that first Stephen-o-flurry goes and if you can see Nick, let me know what he looks like. Yeah, send a pic. Somebody takes a picture of Nick’s — somebody take a pic of Nick’s face. You got it? Thanks guys. You guys are great.
—
05:39 Is Steph coming back?
05:42 STEVE KERR: We hope so. He is officially listed as questionable. The plan is for him to play. He’s got a feel it tomorrow, but yeah, we’ll keep him as questionable.
05:56 How is he doing right now, the last couple days?
06:00 Good. Yeah. Yeah, last couple days have gone well, fully practiced today. He’s getting his individual shooting in now. And so things have gone well.
06:12 About what has Rick (Celebrini) suggested as kind of a guideline for minutes?
06:18 Less than 48, Raymond (Ridder) told me to say, so less than 48.
06:24 In the past, when guys have come back from a long absence and maybe been limited around 20 minutes, you’ve taken them off the bench to start. Could that be a possibility for Steph?
06:35 Everything is possible, yeah. Anything. Anything is possible, I think.
06:41 That was Zaza’s line, anything is possible.
06:45 No.
06:46 Anything’s possible —
06:46 Game seven.
06:47 Game seven. Nothing’s easy.
06:49 Nothing’s easy.
06:50 Nothing is easy. Nothing is easy, but —
06:52 If it’s not easy, it’s complicated and it’s possible.
06:55 How different do you expect the team to play with Steph back?
07:00 Well, the concepts remain the same, space the floor, share the ball. The execution seems to get better. The defense has to bend his way, which opens up things for other people. The game tends to get a lot easier for everybody when Steph is out there, so we’re — we’ll still be playing our style of basketball, but yeah, it’ll be nice to have him back, assuming he’s back.
07:33 Steve, you touched on it a lot the last couple weeks. Like, Steph really wanted to come back. He made a point to come back. He very easily could have just shut down or something. Why do you think this was so important for him to get back to the team?
07:48 I mean, I guess, I guess you have to ask that because of the context of people missing games all the time, but it’s pretty simple. He’s healthy, so if you’re healthy, you play. We have a lot to play for and we’re gonna be in the Play-in, got a chance to get to the playoffs. Why else do we do this?
08:18 Steve, how hard has it been to see so many of your guys both go through all of this, this season? I mean —
08:27 The injuries, you mean?
08:28 Yeah.
08:29 Yeah.
08:29 It. Seems like it’s been one thing after another and I’m sure that that’s sad for you at moments.
08:35 Yeah, well, it’s —
08:36 But they keep going, but —
08:37 Yeah, it’s just one of those years and it’s all part of it. It’s the worst part of it, injuries, particularly the really bad ones like Jimmy’s and Moses’ where it’s a year or close to a year recovery. You just feel so badly for the players themselves because this is a short career, relatively speaking, for all of them. Even the guys who play 15 years, a whole year is, that’s a lot. And obviously you have a lot of hopes and when you get injuries you just have to keep moving forward. And there’s — you don’t really have a choice. And so even though you feel bad for the players, for your team, keep going, keep moving forward, keep trying to be at your best.
09:33 Is it a reminder of how much has to go right and — ?
09:36 For sure.
09:36 Fortunate — ?
09:38 For sure, yeah. Yeah, every championship season is filled with good fortune, good health, the ball going in the basket a couple of times. The story is written afterwards, but so much of what happens in these seasons is based on good health and good fortune. And we’ve had our — plenty of that and we’ve been on the other side like we are this year. And that’s kind of how life goes.
10:13 Hi Coach, continue the last question, from your coach experience, what do you can take from the last two months?
10:22 The last two months, we’ve had guys in and out of the lineup. We’ve tried to maintain a high level of effort and energy and I think the guys have done a really good job of that, playing through the disappointment. The last couple games have been an example of that, playing two really talented teams, Cleveland and San Antonio and you saw great effort. You saw guys scrapping until the last possession and even though we weren’t able to to win those games, the effort mattered because the effort establishes who you are as a team, as an individual. And you tend to be more prepared for when you do get healthy, if you’ve established a set of standards. And that’s why I feel really good about these last five games and the Play-in. I think we have a chance to to get through and get into the playoffs. I’m excited.
11:25 Brandin and Gui both — Brandin and Gui have both shown a lot of growth the last two months playing more expanded roles. How excited are you to see how they’re going to, I guess, fit with Steph, now that they have played a little more of a different role?
11:39 Yeah, I mean, it just makes your team stronger. I mean, I don’t have any doubt that they will fit well with Steph because we’ve seen that already in the last couple of years, but they have more confidence now and they’ll be more powerful in terms of the role that they take on. With Steph coming back, it’ll be less of a usage rate, but a lot of confidence with all the minutes, the big shots they’ve had to take, plays they’ve had to make. So when your role guys have had that kind of experience, it bodes wealth for playoff type action more than Steph’s influence on the floor.
12:24 What does his return do to the locker room, maybe offering — ?
12:28 Great energy, hope. He just brings hope to everybody. And so the sun is shining a little brighter, food tastes a little better. It’s — Steph is Steph. He brings joy to everybody, players, coaches, fans, and so, he’s a special human being.
12:54 Looks like Al got a — was doing some work in practice — it looks like Al was doing some work in practice today. How’s he sort of progressing right now?
13:00 He’s doing better. Yeah, he took part in some of practice today and he’s progressing and so there’s a chance he could play before the end of the regular season, which we’re excited about, but he’s gotta continue to take it day by day. He’s working with Rick, he’s getting on the court more, so we’ll see how it goes this next week or so.
13:21 Even with all the injuries this year, you guys lead the league in generating wide-open three-pointers. When I saw that stat, I was like, all right, like, that is a coaching stat. That means you guys are doing something right.
13:32 100%. It’s, I mean, everything starts right here.
13:37 Beyond —
13:37 Which side is my brain on? Sorry.
13:40 Beyond wins and losses, like, what are some data points, some things that you see that measure, hey, like, we’re onto something here as a staff, we’re doing our jobs right?
13:54 Well, we should lead the league in wide-open threes because we take more than anybody, so hopefully some of those are wide-open. We have been hammering home the spacing. That starts in transition, running to the corners. When you have five guys spaced well to start the possession, you’re more likely to have driving lanes. If you have driving lanes, you get downhill, you kick the ball. With five-out spacing, that’s a really good way to get open shots. We’ve done a lot of things over the years that we’ve kept. Our split cuts generate some open threes, but we’ve played a little differently, too. We’re running more ball screens, more guard-to-guard ball screens, so this season our offense has evolved. It’s changed, but the concepts are the same. We’re trying to space the floor. We’re trying to sprint the floor and, based on our personnel, we’re trying to get as many threes up as possible because we’re not a great finishing team, especially without Jimmy. We’re not a team that gets to the rim, gets fouled, finish — creates and finishes on our own. It’s just not how we’re built and so we’re gonna continue to try to do the things we do.
15:18 I guess following up on Danny (Emerman)’s question, Mike D’Antoni was inducted into the Hall of Fame today. You’ve had several battles with him over the years. Wondering what do you think his greatest influence was on the game?
15:31 Well, I worked with Mike in Phoenix. He’s a brilliant coach. I think he was really the person to change the league and the way other coaches went about their business between the pace and the three-point shooting. His Suns teams with Steve Nash, Amare (Stoudemire), who also got in today which I’m excited about, Seven Seconds or Less. The whole league changed. When I, as I look at kind of the big picture, I think Don Nelson was the guy who was really ahead of his time in that regard, going way back, but Mike is the guy who seemed to initiate this shift in small ball. Nellie did it, but it seemed like it didn’t catch on. Mike D’Antoni did it and with the rule changes in the early 2000s with the three-point shooting that Mike was really pushing, and then with the pace that he was pushing, you’ve seen what’s happened over the last 20 years or so. And I think he is really the main guy, when you think about how much the game has changed.
16:49 Coach, you always mentioned that Steph can bring the joys back and Seth Curry also talk about the point is let the fans enjoy the game and have fun.
16:59 Yeah.
16:59 You think where this games adds to come from?
17:04 Where does that come from?
17:04 Where does, like, they can enjoy the game and try to make the fans enjoy it, the game? Where does fans —
17:10 Well, I mean, number one, it’s, I mean, Steph is the most joyful athlete I’ve ever seen. He loves to play. He loves to compete. He loves to work. And that joy is infectious and it’s infectious not only with our — with his teammates, but with our fans. The question earlier about why is Steph coming back? It cuts to the core of what our business is about. We want our fans to be really excited, to come watch beautiful basketball and nobody represents that more than Steph. And so he wouldn’t be coming back if he wasn’t healthy, but he’s healthy, so he’s gonna play. And we wanna bring joy to this building. We want to bring joy to our fans. And that’s what this is about. It’s about winning? Yes, but it’s about people really enjoying to coming to the building and watching our team play and it’s the most important thing and they go hand-in-hand, obviously. This last 12 years has really shown that. We’ve been able to play a really entertaining style and win championships. And frankly, Steph is responsible for more of that than anyone. Just, he was one of the greatest players of all-time, but he’s the greatest face of a franchise in any sport that I’ve ever seen, so you throw all that together, we owe it to our fans to get them the opportunity to watch Steph Curry play basketball this year. And Steph doesn’t even think twice about that. That’s what he wants. That’s what we want. That’s what our fans want. That’s what we’re gonna do.
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