When Warriors superstar Stephen Curry raises his voice, everybody listens at full attention.
Unless you can’t hear him, that is.
Viral video of Curry digging into his teammates during an ugly loss to the Clippers surfaced last week, though it was missing audio. Amateur lip readers had a fun time with it, but what Curry said to his team was a mystery.
In case ya missed it, here’s the clip, which made ESPN’s Not-Top-10 Plays per Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
Those were bad times for Golden State, no doubt. The Clippers game was a disaster, with rookie James Wiseman’s missed practice throwing a wrench in coach Steve Kerr’s new roster rotations that he’d prepared for the season’s second half.
Now we know what Curry said, thanks to good vibes emanating from Golden State’s improbable win against the Jazz and Curry’s longtime teammate, Draymond Green. Here’s a portion of what Green said about Curry’s viral moment, along with video evidence, courtesy of Slater.
“I think his words resonate more than anyone,” Green says at the start of the above clip, referring to Curry. “Obviously with his resume, the leader of this organization. When he speaks, it holds a lot of weight, for several reasons. Like I said, as the leader of everything that we have. We also said before: these guys have grown up watching Steph. And so, when you hear his voice, it carries a lot of weight. I think it showed tonight on the defensive end.
“I’m not sure if the cameras caught what he was saying … but he was saying get in to the ball. A lot more animated than that but … tonight, I think we can see that from the beginning of the game, that we were in to the ball and it changed our entire game.”
Indeed, the Warriors zeroed in on the basketball early and often against the Jazz, forcing at least four steals in the first quarter on their way to 12 thefts for the game.
So while the public couldn’t hear Curry’s message, it go through loud and clear to his teammates. Golden State’s win against the Jazz was easily their best of the season, especially considering the contributions from some of those young players Green referred to such as Wiseman and guards Nico Mannion and Jordan Poole.
We’ll see if the Warriors can keep their eye on the prize against the Lakers, who will be without star forward Anthony Davis on Monday night at Chase Center. If coach Kerr has his way, Curry won’t have to get so animated to kick his team into gear.
(Photo credit Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports)
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