A year after breaking the NBA’s regular season wins record with 73 victories, the Warriors are on track to finish with no more than 68 this season, and Stephen Curry is glad that the team hasn’t spent the year making a run at 74.
As he explains in an interview with Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report, Curry isn’t second-guessing Golden State’s decision to go all out in 2015/16 for 73 wins, but he has a different perspective now on the effect that regular-season stress had on the team’s ability to stay fresh for the postseason. In the long run, Curry says, it’s “not worth it” to chase that sort of record.
The two-time Most Valuable Player also weighed in on a few other topics of note, so let’s round up some of his more interesting comments. Be sure to check out Ding’s piece for more from Curry.
On being asked to rest for a game when he’s healthy:
“It’s an uncomfortable conversation, because as a player, you never think about just taking a day off. But when you actually are in the position that we are in, you understand how important it is. It’s not just playing a game. Waking up after a long stretch of games or a road trip or whatever, waking up and not having to mentally prepare for that 7:30 tipoff is invaluable. Physically, it’s nice to get fresh or stay off your legs. But the mental preparation it takes for us to get ready for a game, it’s taxing. You undervalue that whole 24 hours, just how important that is.”
On the NBA-wide discussion about the resting issue:
“For Adam (Silver), he’s running the league and obviously he might think it’s an issue. I don’t think it is. We’ve done it one time this year. Last year we did it one time. We’re talking about one out of 82 games. I don’t think it’s something to worry about. … Obviously you hate to miss Saturday ABC prime-time games, but hey, that’s just how the schedule fell (at San Antonio). So hopefully we can smarten up about how to schedule it so we don’t have to be put in that position.”
On the idea that he’s having a “down” year after back-to-back MVP seasons:
“I think it’s comical that people were saying I’m having a down year. To go black and white and say I’m not having as good a season as I was having last year based on just five points a game or shooting percentage or whatnot… there are other things that you try to do other than just the eye test to try and help your team win. This year has taught me that, for sure. The accolades and the attention and all that stuff, the hype is cool. But it’s really how you feel about your own game.”
On how prepared he and the Warriors are for the playoffs:
“This year I feel like we’ll have a lot in the tank going forward to achieving goals we want to down the stretch and in the playoffs. Last year was a little different. We had to sprint to the finish line and try to, by any means necessary, catch that 73. And then three days later, refocus to the playoff mindset. I like where we are now.”
I love he fired back about the schedule
You are a Bucks fan dude lmao, who watches the Bucks.
Why is that relevant?
Giannis is one of the most exciting players in the league to watch Dionis
Steph and Russ the best players in the league and if you argue otherwise its because you don’t actually watch the games. Lebron was the best in Miami but he’s got to lead Cleveland to a title without needing a shot from Kyrie to prove that he is still the very best. Steph is on an 11 game win streak without Kevin Durant and a questionable bench beyond Iguodala and Livingston and just outdueled John Wall and dropped 42. Russ I don’t even have to get into, he has made triple doubles look like lightwork and has a Kobe mentality, get him Rudy Gay this summer and sign a shooter like Redick and watch Russ go to the Finals.
Gay and Reddick? It’s hard to make the finals if you can’t play D. Westbrook has a unique talent of getting a lot of assists and still being a black hole. If he played on a team with other good players and therefore had a normal usage rate, he wouldn’t look so good. He didn’t make Durant better, which forced Durant to make his own offense, which reduced Durant defensively, as we now see on Durant’s well above-average defense with the Warriors. Westbrook is a unique talent and a great player, but he is not the best player in the NBA. (I’d still give him the MVP, though, because averaging a triple-double on even a mediocre team rates you MVP in my view.)
Westbrook is the best in the league, Lebron needs 2 superstars(Irving,Love) and a crazy amount of shooters to win, Westbrook has that Jordan in him. Lebron is no longer the best, Towns,Durant,Westbrook, and Harden are all better.
Still hard to believe that Harden, Westbrook, and Durant were all on the same team. Crazy amount of talent
Westbrook is not the best by any stretch. Curry is better, KD is better because of his defense and his efficiency. Kawhi Leonard deserves the MVP over Harden and Westbrook easily. Stop under rating defense here. LeBron still does more on both sides of the ball. These are players that help their team win and compete for championships.
Harden and Westbrook both hog the ball and have usage rates beyond that of Kobe at his highest. The turnovers are atrocious and Westbrook can’t even get wins and he’s the reason why. These players do not carry “value” like the true MVPs I previously mentioned.
Westbrook isn’t the best anything. He doesn’t play to win, he plays for his own stats. As long as Westbrook gets his triple double, he could Care less about winning. Also, how immature can you possibly be? You think your opinions are so valuable that “nobody can argue otherwise” l. Get over yourself. It’s pretty obvious you might watch basketball, but dont understand it.
Westbrook is the best player in the league, you get over yourself lol
Word the 3 of them are like top 3 along with Curry in the league.
Dionis seriously you need a job/honby or something. You’re on here everyday spewing nonsense and complaining about different guys. Go back to the ESPN with that “can’t argue otherwise” crap. These boards are meant for debate and insights
you need a girlfriend lol, why you worried about me?
Immaturity and entitlement plague the millennial youth.