Golden State Warriors

[Guiness]

Which Warrior will become Golden State's version of Chris Bosh?

LAS VEGAS -- Adding Kevin Durant to the Warriors will reduce the roles of Golden State's incumbent stars. Naturally, the question becomes who bears the brunt of that -- who must make the most difficult sacrifice on a team that's sure to score so easily?

Put another way: Who will be Golden State's Chris Bosh?

 

Back in 2010, when Bosh and LeBron James joined Dwyane Wade to form the Miami Heat juggernaut, it was Bosh -- a superstar in his own right -- who saw a transition from franchise player to supporting actor. It was a journey that proved tougher than he imagined.

In 2014, Bosh caused a stir with his words of warning for Kevin Love after the former Minnesota Timberwolves star became the final piece of the Cleveland Cavaliers' Big Three:

 

"It's going to be very difficult for [Love]. Even if I was in his corner and I was able to tell him what to expect and what to do, it still doesn't make any difference. It's extremely difficult and extremely frustrating. He's going to have to deal with it."

 

Bosh received criticism for that warning but was validated when Love struggled to grapple with rarely grasping the rock. It's not a natural thing for an All-Star to subsist on the periphery of a championship-level offense.

 

Among Golden State's new Big Four, Klay Thompson's name keeps coming up when you pose this question to people around the league and inside the Warriors organization. He's the one who already mostly plays off the ball. He already largely makes do with whatever shots come his way within the flow of the offense.

 

The emergence of Draymond Green as a facilitator pushed Thompson away from the action, reducing his unassisted opportunities. Thompson received praise for accepting that role when other All-Stars might chafe at being underused. What's great about Klay Thompson is that he's good with being Klay Thompson.

 

What happens to Thompson when former MVP and four-time scoring champ Kevin Durant is the guy acting as Thompson?

 

What's interesting in this new superteam construction is how Thompson has initially welcomed -- even lobbied for -- this change. Amusingly, in his Hamptons pitch to Durant, Thompson mentioned how many open shots he'd get from Durant's presence before sheepishly shifting to how Durant would also benefit from the arrangement. Everyone, including Durant, had a good laugh at the quick pivot to getting back on message.

 

With Durant's arrival, Thompson is anticipating a positive trade-off: He will get fewer shots, but those shots will be blissfully unguarded. When asked if he'd rather have more shots or get fewer shots that all happened to be wide open, Thompson replied: "Definitely open shots, you know? It's one thing to get shots, but it's easier to be more efficient when you're getting open looks. So I definitely go with the latter."

 

At Team USA practice, on the subject of sacrificing his role on the Warriors, Thompson said: "I know how good I am in this league. I'm not going to judge my performance off numbers or anything. If we get wins, it really doesn't matter, man. It's all good."

On whether he might get less attention for his exploits, Thompson said: "I feel like I get enough attention, man, [by] showing people how good I am. [Getting less attention] doesn't matter to me."

 

Thompson has clearly demonstrated that he cares not for attention. He's the rare NBA player who tries to quickly escape interviews after his biggest scoring performances. As Golden State's PR czar Raymond Ridder frequently says of Thompson, "If he never did another interview again, he'd be happy."

 

Though there are certain trappings of NBA life Thompson enjoys, fame itself rankles. He finds it annoying when, say, TMZ breathlessly covers him leaving a scene with multiple women.

 

"One of those girls was my cousin, man," Thompson said before a game in Atlanta, with typical shrugging exasperation.

If this new situation further obscures his impact to prying eyes, so much the better. Thompson prefers his universe reduced to some combination of "basketball, dog and occasional fun."

 

He might actually mean it when stating the hoary NBA cliché that his primary motivation is, "Just to get rings, man."

When asked in Vegas of the memories that fuel him, Thompson said, "I felt that feeling of winning before and I was so close again. The pain of losing is way worse than that of winning. So I just want to keep winning, man. And we're set up hopefully not just for this year but for years after to do it, and that's what really motivates me."

 

That isn't to say that Thompson is averse to leaving a legacy. He just feels he's accomplished enough individually to prioritize collective accomplishments.

 

On when his priorities shifted, Thompson said, "It was last year in the Finals. I had a game where I had five points and we still won. No one ever talks about that to me at least. They just talk about how great a year we had. Steve Kerr helped me a lot with that. He said: 'Klay, it doesn't matter how many points you're going to score. No one's going to remember 20 years down the line what you did in Game 3, 4, 5 unless it was something crazy. But they'll remember that team that brought that Bay Area championship back for the first time in 40 years."

 

On this new venture, Thompson isn't thinking about Bosh, but instead at someone who played the same position.

"I look at a guy like Manu Ginobili who came off the bench almost his entire career," Thompson said. "Never averaged more than 20 points a game, but he's a four-time champion, you know? He could have easily been on another team and averaged 25 a game, but he sacrificed to win, and that's what I expect to do next year. I don't care about averaging 25 or even 20. I just want to finish it out and get back to the Finals and enjoy that ride."

[*kalel*]

no one... because there is strength in numbers

[Mr.TwoTimerss]

warior

[John Puruntong]

go warriors

[lonelyhobo]

Hands down favorites for 2017.

[banana888]

Sure favorites to win, draymond though daming kalokohan )

[Guiness]

Draymond Green apologizes for penis picture, says he pushed wrong button

HOUSTON -- Golden State Warriors and U.S. Olympic team forward Draymond Green apologized for posting a picture of his penis on social media.

 

The picture was posted for about 10 minutes Sunday afternoon on Snapchat, then was taken down.

"I apologize for the situation. It's clearly not what I was trying to do," he said.

 

"I kinda hit the wrong button and it sucks. It was meant to be private. We're all one click away from placing something in the wrong place and I suffered from that this morning."

- Draymond Green

 

Green said he knew instantly he made a mistake and took the photo down.

 

"It was a situation where it was meant to be a private message," Green said. "I kinda hit the wrong button and it sucks. It was meant to be private. We're all one click away from placing something in the wrong place, and I suffered from that this morning."

 

Green made his comments prior to Team USA's practice at the Toyota Center.

Immediately after the picture was removed, Green had tweeted:

 

 

Earlier in July, Green reached a plea agreement that will allow him to avoid jail time and reduced the charges he faced for allegedly slapping a Michigan State University football player and for a noise violation.

 

Green will pay a $500 fine and a $60 restitution fee for the incident. He was arrested July 10 in East Lansing, Michigan, after police saw him slap MSU player Jermaine Edmondson, who has since been released from MSU's team to play elsewhere. Edmondson's release was not related to the incident with Green, MSU officials said.

 

In June, Green was suspended for a game during the NBA Finals for hitting LeBron James in the groin.

"I'm in a great position in my life," Green said Sunday. "There's so many things going on in my world for me to sit and complain, 'I can't catch a break.' I'm living my dream.

 

"To say I can't catch a break I think that's disrespectful for everybody," he added. "How many people get to live their dreams? I'm not going to sit here and throw myself a pity party and say I can't catch a break. I'm fine. I get to joke around with these guys all day and get to do what I love for my country. I'm fine. I'm fine."

Edited August 1, 2016 by hahnz

[CirocBoy]

I guess Draymond has a new nickname, "Lil D"

[Guiness]

Klay Thompson: 'My game isn't changing' because of Kevin Durant

 

Klay Thompson doesn't believe that the Golden State Warriors will have to "sacrifice" after the addition of Kevin Durant during free agency this summer. In fact, that type of talk just motivates him even more.

 

"I feel kind of disrespected that people keep using the term 'sacrifice' to describe me and describe us," Thompson told The Vertical on Tuesday. "We all want to see each other do well. But I'm not sacrificing [expletive], because my game isn't changing. I'm still going to try to get buckets, hit shots, come off screens. I want to win and have a fun time every game we play.

 

"The NBA season can get mundane; 82 games are so long and there can be some boredom. Now, we can embrace being the hated team and getting everyone's best, and adding some tension every night. It'll be a fun experience going into arenas on the road, with opposing fans hating what we've built."

 

Golden State set an NBA regular-season record with 73 wins and led the league in scoring last season, but the Warriors fell just short of a repeat NBA title and lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers in seven games.

 

The 27-year-old Durant, who had spent his nine NBA seasons with the Thunder, announced his decision to join the Warriors on July 4. He won the MVP in 2014, has been named first-team All-NBA five times and has made seven All-Star teams. He has appeared in four Western Conference finals and one NBA Finals, in which he lost in five games to the Heat in 2012.

 

He joins a Warriors lineup that -- in addition to Thompson -- features two-time defending league MVP Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Zaza Pachulia and Andre Iguodala.

 

"We want Klay to stay Klay," Durant told The Vertical. "We don't want him to change. The games dictate where the shots come from. I may shoot 12 shots one night, Klay may shoot eight or nine shots one night, and Steph may shoot 25 shots one night. And it could be a different flow another night."

[iggy112]

My partner and I were having a discussion on who my favorite team is. Because she said, it seemed like I changed teams all the time and I liked multiple teams.

 

It made me think, and I figured out. I follow coaches. Not teams.

So I followed Phil from Chicago to LA (and sort of NY because he's there, but I'm only half invested there because he's not the coach).

I still follow Pop in San Antonio

Regardless of what critics say, I really think well of Spo in Miami (aside from the fact that he's half Pinoy)

 

And not so recently... Steve Kerr in GS. I remember saying, I think he'd make a good coach, all the way back since his Phoenix days.

And actually everytime you hear his interviews, you could see he was a smart, thoughtful guy who knew the game.

Plus, if you remember his championship parade interview after making the final shot for one of Chicago's championship --- that was really witty.

 

Having said that, I think the great coaches find ways to make the talent and more importantly, egos fit in one team, and then align them towards the goal of winning championships.

 

Really excited to see how he'll make GS fit together this year.

Edited August 15, 2016 by iggy112

[numina]

agree KT

[Hari ng Spakol]

BLOGTABLE: DO WARRIORS HAVE A SHORT WINDOW TO CONTEND?

 

http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2016/08/24/blogtable-do-warriors-have-a-short-window-to-contend/?ls=iref:nbahpt3a

[Guiness]

Curry doesn't make rookies' list of favorite NBA players

 

By Rob Perez

 

Aug 30, 2016 at 7:00p ET

 

On Tuesday, NBA.com's John Schuhmann released the results of a survey which polled 38 NBA rookies on eight topics.

 

One question: who is their favorite player in the league? The answers came back with eye-popping results:

 

"Who is your favorite player in the league?

 

1. Kevin Durant, Golden State — 29.7%

 

T-2. Carmelo Anthony, New York — 9.4%

 

LeBron James, Cleveland — 9.4%

 

Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City — 9.4%

 

T-5. LaMarcus Aldridge, San Antonio — 6.3%

 

Kobe Bryant (retired) — 6.3%

 

Paul George, Indiana — 6.3%

 

Chris Paul, L.A. Clippers — 6.3%

 

T-9. Kevin Garnett, Minnesota — 4.7%

 

Others receiving votes: Vince Carter, Memphis; Stephen Curry, Golden State; Marc Gasol, Memphis; Kyrie Irving, Cleveland

 

That's right: Steph Curry, the league's first unanimous MVP, received less than 4.7% of the total vote — suggesting that his proverbial "heel turn" is a sentiment shared not just by fans cheering against the Golden State Warriors, but, incoming rookies as well.

 

Durant, on the other hand, has now won this poll three years in a row with his percentage increasing each season. While some NBA fans and a large chunk of the Oklahoma City metropolis might feel differently, among his peers, Durant isn't the villain of the NBA — rather, he is the role model.

 

My, how the tables have turned...

[Guiness]

Report: The Golden State Warriors are seen as an arrogant organization

• by Kyle Hancox
• Senior Writer

Published

 

an hour ago

 

The Golden State Warriors franchise has been hugely successful over the past two seasons and has built the foundations for a lot of joy further down the line.

 

They won their first championship for 40 years in 2015 as they beat the Cleveland Cavaliers before making it back-to-back Western Conference titles this year by beating the Oklahoma City Thunder.

 

After adding Kevin Durant to their team in free agency, creating a family feel in the franchise and starting on plans to build a new arena, things are looking really good for the franchise who occupied the lower reaches of the league for so many years.

 

However, according to ESPN's Brian Windhorst on a recent episode of the Truehoop podcast, there is a sense around the league that the Warriors organization believe they are better than the rest.

 

He said: "Within the NBA, there's a belief that the Warriors are a bit arrogant.

 

 

"I can't tell you how many times in the last four or five months, when I'm talking with other people in the league, whether it's agents or executives or whomever, coaches ... there's the reference, 'Well, they are light years ahead so they'll be fine'."

 

That reference comes from a previous interview in March where owner Joe Lacob sang the praises of his organisation by telling the New York Times they were 'light years ahead' of the competition.

 

 

The Warriors have had some luck along the way, but they are a powerhouse that is here to stay.

Edited September 2, 2016 by hahnz

[numina]

Curry doesn't make rookies' list of favorite NBA players

 

By Rob Perez

 

 

Aug 30, 2016 at 7:00p ET

 

 

On Tuesday, NBA.com's John Schuhmann released the results of a survey which polled 38 NBA rookies on eight topics.

 

One question: who is their favorite player in the league? The answers came back with eye-popping results:

 

 

"Who is your favorite player in the league?

 

 

1. Kevin Durant, Golden State — 29.7%

T-2. Carmelo Anthony, New York — 9.4%

LeBron James, Cleveland — 9.4%

Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City — 9.4%

T-5. LaMarcus Aldridge, San Antonio — 6.3%

Kobe Bryant (retired) — 6.3%

Paul George, Indiana — 6.3%

Chris Paul, L.A. Clippers — 6.3%

T-9. Kevin Garnett, Minnesota — 4.7%

Others receiving votes: Vince Carter, Memphis; Stephen Curry, Golden State; Marc Gasol, Memphis; Kyrie Irving, Cleveland

That's right: Steph Curry, the league's first unanimous MVP, received less than 4.7% of the total vote — suggesting that his proverbial "heel turn" is a sentiment shared not just by fans cheering against the Golden State Warriors, but, incoming rookies as well.

 

Durant, on the other hand, has now won this poll three years in a row with his percentage increasing each season. While some NBA fans and a large chunk of the Oklahoma City metropolis might feel differently, among his peers, Durant isn't the villain of the NBA — rather, he is the role model.

 

My, how the tables have turned...

Maybe because shooting is really hard to aspire for? It is a unique talent to shoot the way steph shoots...

[Guiness]

Maybe because shooting is really hard to aspire for? It is a unique talent to shoot the way steph shoots...

 

i don't think it has anything to do with talent. shooting requires repetition. to be a great shooter. you have to practice shooting the ball from all angles. there is this shooting drill called 15, 17, 19 reggie explains the drill on this vid on the 11:23 mark of the clip. once you are able to be comfortable with your form and your shot. you can extend away from the basket until you are comfortable in that range.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlKmY7QWZzE

 

If you watch Curry, he regularly practices shooting the ball that's why he got good shooting it because he kept practicing and once his range extended to at least 30 feet. he got stronger by doing shooting drills. He probably shoots 1000 shots a day. But being a good shooter doesn't show his total skills. He had to learn how to create separation from the player guarding him. He has a lot of vids showing him doing his dribbling drills. Anyone who works hard at these will get to be good.

 

The reason why the majority of rookies don't have him as favorites is because he doesn't have the total package to be a complete basketball player. He isn't a great defender, he's not that athletic like the other guards like Westbrook. During each of the Finals the past 2 years if you look at players who guard him they try to be physical with him and that throws him off his game a bit because he isn't as physically strong

 

He makes up for it by working on what he can be better at and that is to shoot the ball and have a great dribble. These 2 skills enabled him to create that space to get his shot off.

 

But other than that, the rookies are looking at him and don't see him as a complete package. If you look at their top 3 picks. KD, Lebron, Melo, Westbrook. These players are physically strong, athletically gifted. Their not just 1 or 2 dimensional players like Curry is.

 

That's how im looking at how they gauge a players skills. and Curry doesn't seem to fit those skills they are looking for in a player.

 

It's not hating on the guy but they just think that other players are better than him in terms of overall skill sets.

[The Cunning Linguist]

Curry doesn't make rookies' list of favorite NBA players

 

By Rob Perez

 

Aug 30, 2016 at 7:00p ET

 

On Tuesday, NBA.com's John Schuhmann released the results of a survey which polled 38 NBA rookies on eight topics.

 

One question: who is their favorite player in the league? The answers came back with eye-popping results:

 

"Who is your favorite player in the league?

 

1. Kevin Durant, Golden State — 29.7%

 

T-2. Carmelo Anthony, New York — 9.4%

 

LeBron James, Cleveland — 9.4%

 

Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City — 9.4%

 

T-5. LaMarcus Aldridge, San Antonio — 6.3%

 

Kobe Bryant (retired) — 6.3%

 

Paul George, Indiana — 6.3%

 

Chris Paul, L.A. Clippers — 6.3%

 

T-9. Kevin Garnett, Minnesota — 4.7%

 

Others receiving votes: Vince Carter, Memphis; Stephen Curry, Golden State; Marc Gasol, Memphis; Kyrie Irving, Cleveland

 

That's right: Steph Curry, the league's first unanimous MVP, received less than 4.7% of the total vote — suggesting that his proverbial "heel turn" is a sentiment shared not just by fans cheering against the Golden State Warriors, but, incoming rookies as well.

 

Durant, on the other hand, has now won this poll three years in a row with his percentage increasing each season. While some NBA fans and a large chunk of the Oklahoma City metropolis might feel differently, among his peers, Durant isn't the villain of the NBA — rather, he is the role model.

 

My, how the tables have turned...

 

 

What is the specific instance that is being described as his heel turn? I'm quite curious...is it because he teamed up with KD? then makes KD a heel as well, but clearly the number of Rookies who idolize him doesn't see it that way or it just isn't a factor in them not choosing Curry.

[atsuko]

Good Morning atsuko hir SPA AICHI

[MrRoboboto21]

Spurs parin

[Guiness]

 

What is the specific instance that is being described as his heel turn? I'm quite curious...is it because he teamed up with KD? then makes KD a heel as well, but clearly the number of Rookies who idolize him doesn't see it that way or it just isn't a factor in them not choosing Curry.

 

i think the author just added the heel turn comment to the column. But i don't think it was a determining factor for the rookies when they were asked the question. They look at the overall skill set of the player they like and this is what they use to determine the player they like.

 

The heel turn question should be directed more to the fans, and media. Even before Durant decided to sign with the Warriors. There was already a growing resentment of fans towards Curry and his clean cut image. They are thinking that its fake and pretentious because in their mind no one is that nice.

[The Cunning Linguist]

With the way the majority of society thinks nowadays, they are just hating the Warriors just to have someone to hate and because they are the team to beat. They hated the Heat back then too during their LBJ era. That's just the way it goes.

[Guiness]

There is some truth to people hating just to hate. But not all the people had that excuse to hate. There was a lot of fans who had good reasons to hate the Warriors even before Durant joined . I noticed this during last season when they were going on this run to get to 73 wins. The year they won in 2015. People loved them and not just in Oakland. Fans outside of Oakland liked them because they were portrayed as a team who empitomized great team play and had the best backcourt in the modern NBA. This in turn had people glued on them and had the media put them in a microscope coming into this season.

 

Add to that the pressure mounted considerably when they were on this run towards 70+ wins. And all of this was used to turn against them. The Draymond Green kicks to the nuts of Steven Adams, and Lebron, to his halftime tirade against Steve Kerr. Curry was also getting resentment by showboating too much before his shot went in he was already celebrating and shimmying even before the ball went it. This got fans to turn on them because now they're not really good guys but a bunch of dirty and coc.ky brash players. Not the goody good players they were being portrayed as.

 

Not to mention they were the heavy favorites coming into the Finals.

 

I'm one of those guys who love the underdog team winning against a heavily favored team. David vs Goliath type of result.

 

Now they're more hated because Durant decided to join them. Durant is being hated because of his decision to join the Warriors where he had choices of teams he can join and he joined the team they almost beat last season. It just heightened the hate level more because its the Warriors. Plus people hate it when they look at a season and they see no reason to watch the games because all they will see is the Warriors winning all the time and no other team legitimitely challenging to knock them off.

 

People are looking for the Warriors to lose again this season which would give them more ammunition to deride Durant if they end up losing

[Guiness]

Kerr tempers expectations as team expects growing pains

Durant's arrival will spark lineup experiments in search for right mix

POSTED: Sep 21, 2016 9:03 PM ET

BY Scott Howard-Cooper

NBA.com

OAKLAND — Steve Kerr kept using phrases Wednesday like "experimental" and "The fans should not be focused on how many wins we get" and "We've got a lot of growing ahead," until finally confirmation was necessary.

Yes, he is still the coach of the Warriors, the team that won a record 73 games last regular season followed by a second consecutive Western Conference title.

 

Yes, All-Stars Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson are back.

And, yes, his team is the one that led the league in scoring and then added Kevin Durant.

Point taken, though. There is possibly, if not likely, an adjustment period ahead with the arrival of two new starters, one of those newcomers will necessitate reconstructive surgery for the offense and the calendar is the 30th opponent. These are different times around the Warriors.

 

They are the ultimate in the NBA version of first-world concerns, but they are real concerns as Golden State prepares to open training camp Tuesday in a much different place than a year ago. The 2015 version was coming off a title and the roster was mostly filled with carryovers stepping back into the gym with a champion's certainty, as relaxing a way to return no matter how great the expectations.

This isn't that.

 

The September 2016 Warriors, in stark contrast, have a lot to prove. Durant has to fit into an offense already bursting with scorers. Thompson and Green have to power nap their way through the season after playing into June two seasons in a row and losing a large chunk of the most-recent offseason to be in the Olympics.

 

Zaza Pachulia has to prove to be a reliable replacement at center for Andrew Bogut, traded to Dallas in a salary dump to clear cap space for Durant. The carryovers this time can look back at the Finals and feel the memories not off a champagne shower but the historic implosion as the first team to blow a 3-1 lead in the championship series.

 

These Warriors will possibly use the start of the regular season to test lineups before settling into a set rotation and may even ration minutes early, beyond the fourth-quarter rest that may come, as it has in the past, with comfortable leads. This is the season, because of the marathons of the previous two seasons, because of the Olympics, because Kerr cares not at all about taking a shot at 74-8, because of the veteran roster, that will start with the coach refusing to dismiss the possibility of his stars sitting out games long before March and April.

 

"It could be," Kerr said at the practice facility when asked about the possibility of rationing minutes the opening months. "Those are things we have to read. It'll start out in training camp -- we're not going twice a day. We'll go just once a day in camp. We'll ease into things pretty well. We'll try to get some of the younger guys a lot of minutes in the preseason. I don't feel compelled to play Steph and KD and Klay a ton of minutes. And Draymond. They don't need to play a ton of minutes. Same with Andre (Iguodala) and Shaun (Livingston) right away. We can try to pace ourselves. But it's always a feel thing. You can't do it at the expense of your team growing and learning to play together. That's the challenge as a coaching staff. We've got to figure all this out.

 

".... In my mind this is a very different season and a different approach to the season. Much more experimental. I think our fans should really look forward to watching the growth of the team, whereas last year we were kind of a finished product on opening night. We really were. We were the same team that won the title. This is a different team. We've got a lot of growing ahead. The fans should not be focused on how many wins we get. They should be focused on how different we look from one month to the next. Good luck with that."

 

The Warriors could look a lot different as the calendar pages turn, in other words.

"We have to pace our team really well this year," Kerr said. "That's a key component to the season. Going to the Finals three years in a row is not something that happens very often, I think for a reason. In Chicago with the Bulls, we did it. They did it twice, I was on one of those teams and I remember the third year. Even with Michael (Jordan) and Scottie (Pippen) and Dennis (Rodman) it was a hard year and we were running on fumes. It's difficult to do. The emotion of it. The exertion that is spent. You go through a lot and don't get as much time off as everybody else, so we've got to pace our team. I think it's great that we've got some new guys. We're going to miss some of the old guys for sure, but I think in many ways we're going to be re-energized. KD will absolutely add a different level of energy to our team that will be necessary because of the grind of trying to make it back for a third time."

[The Cunning Linguist]

What's funny is that Kevin Durant was the epitome of a "good guy" in the NBA, especially during his MVP acceptance speech, the same goes with Curry, whose viewed or, at the very least, portrayed as a nice guy by the media. But now, the media (specially, social media) are treating them like they murdered a thousand infants. Sorry for my exageration but it's that damn funny lol

[Guiness]

I think the hate on Kevin Durant was prompted by him leaving the Thunder to go join the Warriors. The same team that they almost beat in the West Finals. I don't think KD would have had the same backlash had he joined another team that wasn't the Warriors. The hate wouldn't have been as bad.

 

The Steph Curry hate stems from different reasons not just from fans but from ex NBA Players like Tracy Mcgrady, Stephen Jackson, Raja Bell, Charles Barkley, Oscar Robertson, Kareem Abdul Jabbar etc. giving their negative take on Curry's game to even fellow current NBA players disrespecting Curry from Lebron James talking about what the true meaning of MVP was and Damian Lillard tweeting something about Curry. From the fans' perspective. There are some fans who got tired of hearing Curry and the Warriors being mentioned by the sports media every minute of everyday. And even the way he was being portrayed by the media as this poster boy as a the "perfect package" of a family and his good guy image. People got turned off by that because in their mind its too good to be true.

 

All of these things culminated in a lot of people hating him. Although personally i didn't really care about his good guy image or whatever. I cared more about the analysis of NBA players because they are the ones who play against him and know the pro game. If you really do think about it. Other than his shooting and his handle, what else does he bring to the game?

 

Here is what ESPN's Jemele Hill on why People are hating on Steph.

 

Jemele Hill: ‘Never Seen’ Open Disrespect Other Players Show Steph Curry

May 31, 2016 6:01 PM

 

On the latest episode of Michael Rapaport’s I AM RAPAPORT: STEREO PODCAST on CBS Radio’s Play.it podcast network, Michael spoke with ESPN’s Jemele Hill about all things NBA Finals.

 

In addition to discussing the greatness of the Golden State Warriors’ backcourt of Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry, the two addressed a troubling trend that arose as the Warriors began to falter early in the Western Conference Finals to the Oklahoma City Thunder: the world started to turn against Stephen Curry.

 

“Could you have imagined this Curry backlash?” Rapaport incredulously asked Hill. “Could you have imagined so fast, people turning on Curry so quick? And why do you think that happened? Because, as far a sports guy and like a hero, he’s you’d want. But then he has a couple of bad games and he’s on the ropes and just like, boom. People are laughing at him, giggling at him, talking ‘greazy,’ what’s that all about?”

 

“I knew it would happen eventually, because eventually it happens to everybody,” Hill said. “Because success does breed contempt for a lot of people. But here’s the thing: there’s so many layers to the Steph Curry hatred.”

 

Some of those layers, Hill pointed out, are the older generation of players like Charles Barkley and Oscar Robertson, who aren’t a fan of the way Steph plays. Then there are the people who feel like Steph is a ‘package’ that’s too good to be true and is being forced upon them with his perfect family and stellar image and play.

 

On top of that, Hill added, Curry is “light-skinned” and that’s “exposed this deeper level of insecurity within black people that they have when it comes to skin tone.”

 

Because of all those reasons, Hill said, Steph has been disrespected to a whole new level and even NBA players are taking shots at the league MVP.

 

“You’ve got to understand, it’s not just people on Twitter and social media that hate,” Hill said. “The open disrespect that he’s shown by other players I’ve never seen before. It’s completely crazy. For LeBron, to all of a sudden, unprovoked, go into this conversation about what value is in the NBA, it’s like, he wouldn’t have done that if Russell Westbrook won it. Then you have (Damian) Lillard dropping the tweet ‘no excuses’, like, they didn’t do that with LeBron, they didn’t even do that with Dirk Nowitzki! People are going in on him and his team got sent home in the first round the year he won the MVP. And yet it’s completely acceptable to do it with Steph.”

Edited September 23, 2016 by hahnz