Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets are about to enter the most anticipated series of this year’s playoffs and clash in the NBA Western Conference Finals. Although there is no love lost between these two teams, with each one looking to take the other one down, Warriors’ Stephen Curry decided to skip the trash talk during the Friday’s practice. Instead, the two times NBA MVP reflected on his relationship with Rockets’ Chris Paul.
The two point guards worked out together in 2009, shortly after Curry was drafted into the league. It turns out the workout with Paul had a big influence on Curry.
“He was a great mentor when it came to understanding how a guy on his level prepared over the summer for an NBA season,” – said Curry about Paul per ESPN’s Chris Haynes. “How disciplined he was, his work ethic, and I got to see that firsthand after summer league through the beginning of the season. And obviously, we got a Carolina connection.“
Curry and Paul are not as close as they once were, but they still respect each other.
“He demonstrated firsthand what it takes to be great in this league, and it was a nice little eye-opener for me that summer,” – Curry added. “Work out with him, compete against him and take that confidence I had into my rookie year [to] get off on a good foot.“
Stephen Curry averaged 26.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.2 steals per game in the regular season while Chris Paul had 18.6, 5.4 rebounds, 7.9 assists and 1.7 steals. Kevin Durant and James Harden matchup in the Warriors vs Rockets series will definitely be the most intriguing from an offensive standpoint, but the clash between Curry and Paul as second best players on their respective teams might determine the outcome of the series.