00:00I'm not here to bore you on what we already know of Steph Curry's greatness.
00:04Forget his impressive NCAA tournament run where he willed his small college Davison
00:09to the Elite 8.
00:10Or how his playstyle transcended the game, landing him multiple championships, back-to-back
00:15MVP honors, and earning the greatest shooter of all time label.
00:19That's all readily available info.
00:21I'm here to put you on a game of a time where Golden State's most significant player
00:26in franchise history almost wasn't even a warrior.
00:29Cast aside to a sidekick role.
00:32A massive risk, injury-prone dude who teams would be foolish to build their franchise
00:37around.
00:38Let's meet those versions of Steph Curry in The Prism.
00:44Steph could have landed in several places.
00:46He was one of the headline prospects in a 2009 draft class filled with talent.
00:51Oklahoma forward Blake Griffin was top dog, but experts were torn on how the rest of the
00:55picks would fall.
00:57Some mock drafts had the baby-faced sharpshooter going as high as 4th overall, but most projections
01:03expected him to slide to the New York Knicks at the 8th spot.
01:06On paper, the selection made a ton of sense.
01:09Lincoln Curry's fast-paced playstyle with Knicks head coach Mike D'Antoni's innovative
01:13offense would have been the perfect coupling.
01:16D'Antoni looked his chops at the thought of drafting Steph.
01:20Regarding transitioning to the NBA, Steph also envisioned the Big Apple as the ideal place
01:25to launch his career.
01:26They openly flirted with each other, but come draft time, that ain't how things went down.
01:32Warriors brass had their eyes set on Steph, snagging him just a pick ahead of the Knicks,
01:36but selecting Steph seemed weird for a few reasons.
01:41Internally, Golden State went against Steph's dad and former NBA hooper Dale Curry's wishes
01:46when he straight-up told the Bay Area squad not to draft his son.
01:51Steph didn't even view the Warriors as a viable option.
01:54It wouldn't be wise for an organization to base its decisions solely on the thoughts
01:58of a player's parents, but the Warriors drafting Steph left some experts befuddled
02:02simply based on fit.
02:05Golden State already had a franchise guard in Monte Ellis who mirrored Steph both in
02:09size and playstyle.
02:12This may have made sense as to why they immediately tried to shop Steph in a trade package to
02:17Landon Mare Stoudemire.
02:19They later backtracked with Warriors head coach Dunn Nelson picturing an elite backcourt
02:24where Steph handled point guard duties allowing Monte to remain a potent scorer.
02:29Nelly had yet to run the idea by Ellis who spent the offseason working on his PG skills
02:34but figured Ellis would be pleased to have a quality running mate.
02:38Except Ellis wasn't having it.
02:41During a media day training session before training camp began, Ellis firmly told reporters
02:46he couldn't see a world in which a backcourt with him and Steph could be successful.
02:50When pushed by reporters for a reason behind his thoughts, Ellis refused to offer any real
02:55analysis simply saying they couldn't do it.
02:58I've heard the warmest way to welcome a teammate is completely telling them off before
03:02even spending a full week of practice together.
03:05So they were off to a strong start.
03:08Throughout the season, Ellis' statements kind of rang true.
03:11On the floor, a clear pecking order started to emerge with Monte being the leader of the
03:16squad.
03:17At times, Ellis played so well that journalists didn't even acknowledge Steph as a sidekick.
03:22It was a one man show.
03:24Steph ultimately did flash his potential at times with Ellis sidelined because of injury
03:28but when Ellis returned to the lineup, Steph knew his place.
03:32Media members believed the two couldn't coexist on the floor, were too undersized
03:36and things visibly looked out of whack between them.
03:40Despite Steph finishing second place in rookie of the year voting, Golden State found themselves
03:44in the draft lottery which further clouded his future yet again as they hit the offseason.
03:50With University of Kentucky's star point guard John Wall set to hit the upcoming draft,
03:55media members speculated if Golden State should strike while the iron was hot and deal curry.
04:00The ping pong balls didn't fall in Golden State's favor as they landed the 6th pick
04:04eventually drafting big man F.A. Udo.
04:08Either way, after a full season of nearly confirming Ellis' beliefs, many experts
04:12were convinced the Warriors had to do something, which didn't happen on the player personnel
04:18side.
04:19Nelson resigned and as new head coach Keith Smart fully took over, Curry saw his role
04:24diminish even more, being sent to the bench in high pressure situations.
04:29Ellis still reigned supreme as the team's leader but as Steph's sophomore season came
04:33to an end, he had much bigger problems on his hands, technically speaking, his feet.
04:40Steph wasn't an injury prone guy, he only missed a single game in his 3 collegiate seasons
04:46but was forced to sit out 8 games due to ankle sprains during his second year in the bay.
04:51The issue appeared more serious when reports circulated that he had to undergo surgery
04:56in the offseason.
04:57The operation appeared to be a success but seemingly wasn't the case as Steph rode
05:02the pine for 40 games in the following lockout shortened 2012 season.
05:07The frequency at which Steph kept hurting his ankles was extremely concerning.
05:12Less than a month into the campaign, the dude had already sprained his ankles on three separate
05:16occasions.
05:18Steph couldn't hide his emotions, tossing his mouth guard or shielding his face in his
05:22jersey with each rolled ankle.
05:24In search of some sort of answer, Steph visited Nike headquarters during the season to have
05:30his shoes analyzed for fit, learning that his ankle naturally rolled to the outside.
05:34Maybe it was the kicks all along, or just maybe his ankle was truly screwed when he
05:40had to be shut down for the remainder of the year after attempting to make a comeback.
05:44Golden State wouldn't publicly admit it but they figured it was the latter as well.
05:49With Steph out, the Warriors front office reportedly tried to include their down bag
05:53guard in a trade package to acquire Milwaukee Bucs center Andrew Volkin.
05:58The deal ultimately got nixed because Milwaukee viewed Steph as damaged goods.
06:03Instead, Golden State shipped off Monte Alice in a trade that appeared to rattle fans.
06:09A week later, during a game that was meant to honor Golden State icon Chris Mullin, Warriors
06:13fans rained down boos on co-owner Joe Lacob to the point where the dude could barely speak.
06:19Golden State supporters were fed up with the direction of their team, but the trade
06:34indicated the franchise was ready to turn the keys over to Steph when he came back healthy.
06:39Which by season's end seemed to be a bigger if than expected.
06:43A day before the final game of the year, Steph underwent a second surgery on his right ankle.
06:49Steph vowed he would do everything possible to avoid repeating going under the knife,
06:53but after multiple consultations, he had no other options.
06:58Even scarier, as Steph hit the operation table, doctors initially didn't know how severe
07:03the surgery would be.
07:05The worst case scenario surgery required Steph to get total re-reconstruction, essentially
07:10meaning a complete redo of his first operation, but this time with tendons from a dead dude.
07:16However, a procedure of that nature wouldn't guarantee how the ghost ankle would hold
07:21up on the floor.
07:22Luckily, a set of x-rays found no structural damage to the ligaments and Steph could go
07:27under the least intrusive option in his eyes.
07:30An operation was still needed, but it allowed for a much quicker recovery time.
07:34While a less invasive surgery presented promising news, it didn't fully calm Warriors' management.
07:41Steph had looney-tune-ass types of injuries where he often got hurt without anyone around
07:46On one instance, he rolled his ankle during a preseason game by jumping into a passing
07:50lane.
07:51In another situation, he dribbled up court in a matchup against the Spurs with hardly
07:56anyone near him before his right ankle gave out underneath him as if he slipped on an
08:01invisible banana peel.
08:03Whispers circulated in the league that Steph had glass ankles.
08:07His own GM, Bob Myers, admitted to never seeing anything like it before.
08:12A bum ankle is one thing, but with Steph's rookie contract set to expire the following
08:17season, his future with Golden State became much more complicated.
08:22Both sides engaged in early negotiations, with talks starting at nearly $9 million per
08:27year.
08:28Then, a major off-season domino fell.
08:31Major for Steph and Golden State's second lease.
08:33The Denver Nuggets extended fellow 0-9 draftee Ty Lawson to a four-year, $48 million deal.
08:40Steph and Ty both ran the point for their respective teams, but the major difference
08:44between the two lay in their responsibilities.
08:47For Denver, Ty was a piece of a puzzle that made the Nuggets more at home.
08:52For Golden State, especially not with Montague on, Steph was the puzzle.
08:58The following day after Lawson got his bread, Golden State dropped Steph his bag, but his
09:02price point said it all.
09:04With a vast difference in their expected rolls, Steph should have cleared Lawson's figure
09:09by a large margin.
09:11And while Steph was pleased to finally have a secure future with the Warriors, he understood
09:15the lower tag in his eyes came at the expense of Golden State looking out for themselves.
09:20Journalists, on the other hand, saw the deal in a much different light.
09:24They believed the Warriors giving an injury-prone guard an extension before his deal was up,
09:29especially at that price, was a huge risk.
09:33Maybe under market value, but anything near the max seemed absurd.
09:38The contract not only signified Golden State entrusting their franchise to Steph, but it
09:42presented a turning point in his career.
09:45Would he ever turn into the true sharpshooter that the league envisioned, able to sauce
09:49defenders with spectacular lateral quickness?
09:52Or would he go down as an overpriced guy, leaving fans with the image of him in pain,
09:57wondering what could have been?
09:59We all know how that turned out, but the quickness with which it happened was remarkable.
10:04That very season, Steph played a reassuring 78 games with a superb breakout year.
10:10Two seasons later, he was an NBA champion and MVP of the league.
10:16Journalists marveled at his transformation from a hooper with shattered ankles to one
10:20of the NBA's best players, all within the same contract window that was viewed as a
10:24massive gamble.
10:26The ankle surgery wasn't some miracle cure.
10:29Steph worked hard to get to that point.
10:31He teamed up with trainers gaining knowledge on the importance of his body, learning to
10:35get shifty with power from his hips, relieving the pressure on his ankles.
10:40Steph played hesitant at first, not fully trusting in the movements he'd often attempted
10:44in the past, but after a while, he grew comfortable and gained the confidence to barrel into driving
10:50lanes and finish at the cup against much larger defenders.
10:55Steph had his scares, but at each turn shook him off and seemed to come back more lethal.
11:00It was a long journey, and if you had asked Steph two months after his second surgery,
11:05he thought he would never play again.
11:07It's easy to get lost in his long-range threes and see him make defenders touch earth
11:12with killer crossovers on a nightly basis, but that wasn't who Steph was always destined
11:17to be.
11:18He could have just as easily been a sidekick, almost shipped off to another squad, or even
11:24worse, robbed of his career completely because of injuries.
11:28But those all just seemed like distant memories in the rearview mirror of the greatest shooter
11:33of all time.
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