Way back before the MVP award and the championship and the 24-game winning streak, Steph Curry was a naive 21-year-old NBA rookie. And during one Warriors home game against the Lakers, he made a terrible mistake. He tried messing with the Kobe Bryant.
Steph recounted the incident to Clay Skipper at GQ.
Skippers asks, “This being Kobe’s last All-Star game, do you have a favorite Kobe memory?”
Steph tells his story:
Our rookie year we were playing at Oracle and they had a 3-point lead down the stretch. He got fouled, going to the free throw line to ice the game with two free throws. As he’s walking from one end of the court to the other, I’m this rookie that’s just kind of living in the moment and I walk up to him as he’s walking to the free throw line: “Hey, man, you nervous about these free throws?”
Brave move for a rook — basically asking for a death sentence.
The look he gave me was so just mean and cold. Just like, “What are you talking about? Get out of my face, you dumb rookie.” He obviously made the two free throws and they won. I’ll remember that look he gave me forever.
That sounds about right. And Kobe won a ring that season. Perhaps that snarky comment by a young Steph Curry motivated him (but probably not, he doesn’t need any extra motivation).
Fast forward several years and the two have a deep mutual respect for each other.
Photo: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
