The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Draymond Green Show - Steph Curry

Episode Date: April 14, 2022

Steph Curry joins the show to discuss his draft story (2:00), a "welcome to the NBA" player on his team (10:00), how he found out he wasn't included in the Monta Ellis/Andrew Bogut trade (17:00), why Mark Jackson is under-appreciated (20:00), his famous discount contract and how it influenced his decision to join Under Armour (31:00), LeBron saying he'd like to play with Steph (44:00), what differentiates the modern era of NBA players from previous ones (49:00), whether or not he would trade the 2017/2018 championships with Kevin Durant for the 2016 one to complete the best season ever (1:04:00), how important Ayesha is to him (1:09:00), and more. #Herd Produced by: Jackson SafonSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Welcome back to the Draymond Green Show. We are actually live here at Chase Center. Well, not live, but we're live. Here at Chase Center in the Bridge Club, as you can see with the three championship trophies in the back. And I personally wanted the... this location for this shoot because of today's guest, which I am thrilled and excited as hell to have. I've been, they've told me to stop cursing.

I'm excited as fuck about having Steph Curry today. But let me introduce him the right way because I can't just come on here and act like, you know, this is my man's. I don't have to do the proper introduction. So, here goes the laundry list. Three-time NBA champ. Well, let's rewind a little bit because this is actually going to be a topic. Seventh overall pick in the 2009 draft.

Drafted right after Minnesota picked Ricky Rubio and Johnny Flynn. Note that. We'll talk about that later. Three-time NBA champ, two-time MVP, eight-time All-Star, four-time, first-team all-NBA, two-time, second-team all-NBA, one-time, third-team all-NBA, two-time NBA scoring champ. Most made threes all time.

3,117 threes in counting. Most threes in the season, 402. Probably most than I've had in my career, but we'll talk about that another time. And then the last one is irrelevant. We're not going to even talk about that one. Steph, what's up, my brother?

Welcome to the show. It's so weird hearing that from you. I appreciate it. Absolutely. I mean, in starters, since we are discussing that, you're drafted with the seven pick by the Golden State Warriors. Rumor has it that you never wanted to play for the Golden State Warriors. Can you help me understand that?

Yes. Taking me back. So, like, the draft is always weird just because you have a plan or you think you know where the best fit is, and especially when, you know, in the lottery kind of situation, you kind of know you're kind of slide against from other your counterparts at the same position

I always want to go to New York that was it like I was trying to find my way there Mike Dantone was there Danonell Golanari our future or past but future at the time teammate David Lee like it was supposed to be like the running gun

type Phoenix 2.0 offense and I was supposed to be a point guard there and they kind of sold me on that dream but they had the eighth pick So I wanted to go there. I didn't work out for Golden State. I didn't come out here before the draft. I talked to Larry Riley, the then-GM in Chicago at the pre-draft compound for dinner once.

I talked to Don Nelson once. And that was really it. Same Minnesota, like, they had the five and six fix. So I was like, all right, if I could just get past five and six, cool, I'm going to be in New York. And it's going to be dope. And everything that I imagined, the NBA to be in the fit was going to be there. And then Larry Riley and Don Nelson had other plans. Seven Fit came around.

Called my name. I had mixed emotions because, like, you know, it's a dream come true to your draft. It don't matter where it is. But I was like, that was not on my radar. Always that careful what you wish for. And, you know, I got a plan. So 13 years later, I'm still out here.

Still here. You know, what's crazy about that is, when I was going through the draft process I'm as you know I'm a very deep thing I spent my pre-draft in the East Lansing so driving to the airport when I'm headed off for a workout which I know y'all caught the little lot of reflex in there I don't act like don't I'm about saying

when I got the envelope to go to the green room type don't not for one second think that wasn't a low-key shot that was definitely a shot but I'll take that one on the chin But I'm driving back and forth to the airport From East Lansing to Detroit airport Yes, and I had 20 workouts So it wasn't like I made this drive twice I made this drive probably 13 times

And I'm riding and I'm thinking about the whole process And as I'm riding, I'm thinking to myself Like, where are all the places I would go And like I've told the story before I had a promise from Indiana I had a promise like if I was still there Memphis would take me, Miami would take me all these teams that told me,

if I was still there, they would take me. None of them did. But I'm driving and I'm thinking to myself, like, where am I going to end up? And I kid you not, I thought to myself one day,

like, I don't know where I'm going to end up, but I do know, and I literally had this thought, but I do know I just won't end up in the state of California. Okay. And I'm not sure why I had that thought. It wasn't even about the pick number.

It was just there was, It wasn't the pick number. It wasn't the Lakers, the Kings, the Warriors, the Clippers. It wasn't, it was just, I don't think I'm going to end up in the state of California. And for me, that was a big deal. I had never lived outside of the state of Michigan. So that was a big deal for me, but I just never thought I'd end up here. So to hear that you didn't want to come here, I can't say that I didn't necessarily want to come here.

I didn't have a choice. I had an option or wherever I was going to go. I needed to go. Straight up. But I had no idea that I would end up out here. And like you said, 13 years later, 10 years later, I'm still sitting here. For real. And like, you grew up in Michigan, North Carolina.

Like, I came to L.A. once or twice and never been to the Bay up until my junior year of college. I played my last game here at St. Mary's. It's Patty Mills and the St. Mary Gales. That was the first time I had ever been here. We stayed at the Walnut Creek Marriott. I used to die, like, live, like, eight minutes from there. It's so weird just thinking. about how where some place becomes your home just out of nowhere.

I kind of unexpected and start to build an identity out here. So it's pretty dope. What did you make of Ricky Rubio and Johnny Flynn getting drafted right before you? Did you think there was any chance that Minnesota would draft them before you? No. Or was there any chance that Minnesota would draft you? That's what I was thinking more so. like because I have done my pre-draft workouts with pretty much all the point guards at some point

Rubio he didn't come over so I didn't work out with him but like Johnny Flynn, Tyreek, Tyrike Evans, Todd Lawson, Drew Holiday, Eric Bainer, missing one and it's going to kill me. Oh, Brandon Jennings. So like I've worked out with all of them and I was like I know know, you know, from shooting perspective, obviously I got it, but I have a lot to offer. And, you know, I should be at the top of that PG list. Obviously, James went three, Tyreek went four. And at that point, I'm like, okay, Washington had just traded their pick to D.C., or sorry, Washington had traded their pick to Minnesota.

So they had five and six. I'm like, it's a good chance. Like, they're going to pick me. But if I get past that, New York had already made that promise, just going state waiting on the radar. But definitely when they took two point guards, you're sitting in the green room, like, all right, that's weird. Like, what's the plan there?

And why am I still sitting here? But obviously, I only had about eight minutes to think about that. And then I was next. So it was just different. I always laughed, too, because there was, like, this article that came out about David Khan, who was the GM at the time. And, like, obviously, it's revisionist history. It's like my fourth to fifth year in the league.

He was like, oh, why didn't Minnesota pick me over those two guys when they took two point guards? And the line was like, oh, he knew how much I like golf. And Minnesota is too cold. So I wouldn't have been happy there as a basketball player knowing I couldn't play golf throughout the year. I said, ooh, that's a reach right there. That's a certified reach. And next one of this episode, we should play the game that Chuck plays on TNT. Where is he now?

because wherever he is now, that's where he belongs. It's not an NBA. Wherever he is now, that's exactly where he belongs. But so the whole draft process happens. And so for all the listeners out there, what you have to understand is every guy, two things here, every guy in the league has a guy that destroys you every time you play him, and he's not like one of those guys. And then I think everyone also has like a guy who at some point in your career or another,

that guy was in front of you and you look, then you, we all looked at it as like, even during that moment, you're looking at it like, this dude isn't better than me. Like, I'm not sure why this guy's playing with me. The world then gets to see that as time plays out. And there's one guy that was in front of you, had an incredible college career, not so much NBA career. But there was one guy that was in front of you that you did not play for in front of your rookie year. And you talked to us about who that guy is and how that drove you to want to destroy him and ultimately probably moved him out of the NBA.

But that's a whole other story. Who you're talking about? Oh, you know exactly who I'm talking about. Wait, who you're talking about? A.C. Law. I'm about to say, okay. AC law. So, like, there's a thing between college,

basketball in the league. Like, we all know. Like you said, it's just fit timing, it's just opportunity, is matchups, it's all that type of stuff. My second in the league, like, A.C. Law was, the point guard, I was in practice, was going against him. Like, he was nice, and he had his, like, such a unique game that I could never really figure out. But I was trying to come into my own as a player, and, you know, he was getting all the minutes. He was closing out fourth quarters. And I always say like, the league is funny just because confidence is everything, opportunity is everything.

And what you do when you get that opportunity can dictate your future. And it's also about patience. And that's sometimes hard to really go through that process. And you don't ever want to hear it when you're right in the middle of it. But I went through

my second year. Like I was getting benched in the fourth quarter. A.C. Law was playing. Key Smart was our coach. And like, honestly, I learned a lot, but it was tough to feel to swallow. But it also motivated me and drove me. And then when I did get that opportunity to be like, I am that guy that can compete at the highest level in this league and close out games can be a dude you can trust in those moments

and all that type of stuff. Yeah. AC is definitely the name that kind of embodies that moment for good or for worse. And that's part of like the process, like you said, It's not disrespect to him. It's just like that dude that was in front of you in terms of your opportunity. And to his credit, he was a great vet in terms of he was helping me throughout that process. But he knew like I was kind of in my place.

So it's kind of like a little bit of sweet. Only a matter of time. And by the way, he answered that probably as nice as he could for y'all and stuff. So it's, you know, it's fine. But so you go through. also smarty I'm gonna let you live and I'm not gonna hit you with the David Con line for not

for not playing stuff I'm gonna let you live because we got love for you smart put your shoe on the bar big fella A lot of love for you so we're gonna let you live and we won't hit you with that album so you then go through that and that's your first couple years you also dealt with

quite a few ankle injuries uh walk me through that process and how what I mean I remember when I first got here. That was the narrative. Like, the narrative was the ankles. Do, does the warriors offer you an extension?

Do they not? I remember my first time ever meeting you was you're on the court and the entire front office staff, the entire ownership group, everybody sitting there watching you do an individual workout as if he was about to get drafted in a couple of days. I couldn't believe it. But they're literally debating on this workout whether they're going to give you an extension. Now, walk me through that process or going through the ankle, injuries having to bounce back from that, not knowing what's next if they're going to resign

you. If not, just walk me through that process. I never played with injuries my entire basketball career from middle school, high school, college. Like, I had a pretty clean track record on that front. So even my rookie year, I played 70 or 80 games in my rookie year and played, like, a lot of men's especially the last three or four months and never had real nagging injuries, especially my ankle.

So when it started to happen my second year, like, it's frustrating because, I mean, obviously you're in pain, your rehab, you're in and out the lineup. And then it just kept happening. And then it just kept happening. Then it was like, oh, I don't even have to step on nobody's foot or being a, I could just be changing direction on the court and running in transition. I joined a flip. So it was scary because I didn't have any control of the situation. It was like, no matter how much I prepared my body for like how I knew how to prepare my body at the time, nothing was working. But I also knew like I was getting better on the court when I had an opportunity to play. And all I wanted to do was give myself a chance to prove myself. And you have to be available and healthy to be able to do that.

So that lasted for two years. Like off and on, I had two surgeries, extensive rehabs, missed like 30 games during my third year, a lockout year. And to your point, like, your future is kind of hanging in the balance of your health because you got surgeries on your resume. Nobody liked that. You got chronic, like, injuries that aren't really freak accidents. It's like, I could be just doing normal basketball moves and my ankle will flip. Then you got the mental exhaustion of, like, just going through that process over and over and over again. So, thankfully, I think I was so just focused on getting healthy. I didn't really put too much pressure on myself on like what the implications of the injuries really could mean in the long term,

which I think helped me to stay motivated in the rehab. Because you know, like anytime you go through rehab, the mind, you know, or the body response to the mind, if you can't stay positive and you can't stay motivated and you start to get in your feelings and all that, like, it's a, it's a lonely, miserable feeling. And thankfully, like, I was either young, naive or whatever, I just couldn't stay out of, I didn't have anything else to worry about, but just get healthy and let everything kind of take care of yourself. And thankfully after the second surgery, started to get a little bit more progress, started

to learn about my body a lot more, started to learn what it took to, you know, play at this level and the preparation that you needed to do that. And then signed the most favorable contract in possibly NBA history in terms of everything that it allowed us to do, you know, those next four years. So it was a blessing in a in disguise, if you will, that I'm forever, I guess, grateful and thankful for it. Well, before we talk about the contract, because that's definitely something that I would love to talk about. Rumor has it, I'm not sure if you've ever confirmed this or if anyone ever's confirmed it, But rumor has it that we trade the Warriors.

I can't say we because I was not here yet. But the Warriors trade for Andrew Bogot. And they trade Monta Ellis to the Milwaukee Bucks. Andrew Bogot comes back. Rumor has it that the trade initially was for you to go to Milwaukee and Monte Ellis to still be here, Bogut coming in. The Milwaukee doctors who probably should be fired. We fired everybody.

Listen, I'm on this whole notion of accountability. Everybody want to hold us accountable. I'm holding everybody accountable. You did it. Milwaukee doctor, I hope they're still not the same doctor there. But Milwaukee doctors, they didn't approve your ankles, said your ankles would be no good. And so they stopped the trade and then ultimately Monta gets traded.

Do you know that to be 100% true? And at that time, were you expecting to be traded or was when that news finally came out, was that news to you? The doctor part, like, I can't put a name to it, but I know that was a part of the conversation because it all happened at once for me. I know exactly where we were. We were in Sacramento. There's the lockout year.

This is right at the trade deadline. We get to the arena and walk in the locker room. I was on the first bus. Monti usually comes on the second bus. We were kind of, we were outside of playoff seating, but we were. We were trying to make a little push. Like we were like 10th, like maybe four or five, six games out of it. But we thought we had enough time to, you know, make a run.

And we get in the locker room, it's kind of a different energy. You know, around trade deadlines. It's always like that. But this was different. It was like, it's a little quiet in here. Like, what's going on? Mark Jackson's a coach at the time. It was his first year.

Getting in the locker room. And I'm getting taped, getting ready to play in the game. And you see across the ticker on the TV in the locker room, like, breaking news NBA trade, Warriors trade, Monta Ellis, Epe Udo, and somebody else for Andrew Bogot. And that's how we found out. Wow. We got on the lock, I'm like, what the hell?

What? What? What's going on? So Monti shows up. He just got out of the phone with his age and his agent. He just called him, and this is maybe an hour and a half for the game, two hours for the game. So then, you know, he's kind of like emotional, but, you know, kind of resolute.

like this is happening like forget y'all they're like not not the team but forget the organization in terms of like he he was the true ultimate warrior like he was a fan favorite deservedly so we believe the last one from the we believe team had grown into a veteran you know presence and leader um in that respect so it's a tough tough blow for like all of the donation it wasn't really received well so uh that's how it went down everybody kind of said that goodby's amante epa they left And then Coach Jackson pulled me out at the locker room. He was like, yo, I said, I'll let you know. Like, they wanted you in the trade.

But for whatever reason, like that's part of the doctorate. Oh, that didn't go down like that. He's like I kind of stepped into and said, I'm going to give you the keys. I felt like I really believe in you. We just got to get you healthy. And that's what the rest of the season is going to be about. So, you know, his line don't make me a liar. Don't make me a liar.

And so that was when it was like, Trey happened and like, oh, by the way, that could have been you type vibe all at the same time. Crazy, crazy day. I'll never forget that moment. Because it definitely set the tone for what, you know, the next chapter was about to be about. Actually, before we go into the $44 million deal.

Speak on Mark Jackson a little bit. One thing I always say to people, and I would love to get your perspective. I don't think people, it's just not something that we talk about. But I felt like Mark Jackson, coach Jackson to be. But I feel like one thing that he was great at

is he gave, like he breathed confidence in the guys. Like he's just spewing confidence in the guys. And I think that was, huge in our growth and who we eventually became is the confidence that he gave guys. I know people, like, I was actually watching earlier today the clip when he said, I got the best shooting back court in history at basketball. He sounded crazy. He sounded crazy.

I thought he was crazy and out of his mind. Everybody in the world thought he was crazy and out of his mind. But he said, I got the best shooting back court in basketball history. what did Coach Jackson do for you in your career and helping you understand like, no, you are one of them dudes. What was that for you?

Because I know for me, like he breathed confidence into me and made me felt like I belonged in this league. Yeah. It's the balance of like, as a player, like, people who say they don't hear or read anything, they line.

Like, you hear everything. They have people's, like, like, media, analysts, coaches, other players, like, it's a small fraternity and group and a family in this NBA and then also within these organizations. So you hear everything about you. And it's just a matter of like that awareness mixed with, like you said, your confidence in who you are, your identity. And then obviously what you go do out on the floor. To have somebody that's a decision maker that's, you know, in that head coach and position that goes out of his way to either defend,

up, like breathe life into, like you say, to your players. Like that meant so much, especially as a first time head coach because he was going out on these, you know, on these limbs that, like you said, some people thought he was like out of his mind, you know, you know, just kind of just a ride or die with no kind of thought. Like he, he was very strategic and intentional about everything that he said. And that meant so much as a young team trying to just find an edge and find an identity. and it was contagious, man. Like, you know, he'd come into every pregame locker,

pregame, you know, speech and give us a, like a sermon almost. And it would just be like something like you want to run through the wall or laugh or feel some type of emotion. And we go out and hope. And he was so consistent in that front. So at that time in my career and our career as a team and journey that we were trying to, you know, come into, he was perfect for that because he was an extreme motivator, you know, an ultimate defender.

He would hype you up. He buried confidence in you. And that's how we went out and played. And I think to his credit, sometimes you think about how everything ended after that third year, he almost would use different motivations that weren't even real. Like you kind of have to manifest something, like almost like the Kobe mentality or like MJ back in the day, like, I might make something up in terms of there's, you know, some enemy that doesn't even exist, but I'm going to make sure everybody's on the same page against whatever

that is. Absolutely. That's just how he rolled. And it was great for us in terms of, you know, giving us that edge. Has it been shocking for you that he hasn't been able to get a job? I understand the drama around when he left because it was a front office coach disagreement. And he would probably admit that there were a couple interviews he did right after he left, that he probably didn't need to do.

He spoke his mind and he spoke as truth, but he probably, you know, I don't say regret, but you think about, like, you know, doing a different way on the back end. But when you talk about like somebody that knows the game, somebody knows how to relate to players, somebody that is the ultimate competitor and play at the highest level,

play with amazing great, play for some great coaches and with other amazing, you know, players throughout his career, like all that wrapped into one part person and just his vantage point as an analyst and all that. Like, I'm extremely surprised. I know his name floats up a lot. He definitely, he deserves another opportunity,

whoever I want to take our opinion. 100%. 100%. Definitely surprised, and hopefully it won't remain too long. I think when I'm looking around NBA, I hope he gets an opportunity that he does not have to build a team the way he had to build us. But the reality,

is there's 10 to 15 teams a year in that same position that he's proven right here that he can handle that job for sure. Now, if you want to say, oh, well, he hadn't coached superstars because when he coached us, you weren't a superstar yet. Clay wasn't a superstar yet. You know, like none of us had grown into who we became. So if you want to say, all right, well, he hasn't proven he can coached superstars. What he has proven is at least. least that he can do that. No doubt. And so that part has been a bit shocking to me, I must say.

And I hope to see, you know, his, obviously his name just came up in the Lakers job. And I hope to see him get an opportunity because I think he did an incredible job. Everyone has their differences. I don't think any head coach or general manager or ownership group is on the same page at all times, I don't believe that. And after being in this league for 10 years, I can almost say that's for certain.

And if you have one that's always on the same time, I'm always on the same page, then they're an outlier, they're a unicorn, because it just doesn't happen. This is a very, like... It's a dynamic situation. Things change

so fast in this league. And the fact that we can, you're always going to have to recalibrate and reassess and like you say, find some middle ground even almost because there are somebody, you know, especially when you have a lot of cooks in the kitchen, like, I mean, what the Lakers are going through and what's coming out now.

Yeah, everything coming out of there now. Like, it's crazy. Just evolutions of all this stuff. And it's what we do and what everybody, it's not easy. No, for sure. And I think, like you said, some interviews that he maybe want to take back now. But I also think he caught something,

things that came his way that were a little unfair. And here's one of them. Steph Curry ruined the game of basketball. When he said that, everybody was on air. It's like, wow, did he really come out and go ask stuff like that? He better. He better. He got fire.

Now he's coming out. Absolutely. You look at the game of basketball today. I understand exactly what he was talking about. Absolutely. You watch an elementary school play. You watch the NBA. I know exactly what he was talking about.

But at that time, I think that also fueled the narrative of him being bitter, right? It fueled the narrative of, oh, man, it wasn't all working there. And look, now he's shooting that step. And it was actually more of a compliment than anything. He's had to let the dust settle and figure out exactly with the context. He had been in gyms with his sons, they were hooping. He was watching middle school games every week. And he was like, yo, what is it?

They're literally watching this dude and thinking they can skip a bunch of steps and be like him. So it's hard to get that in on a broadcast. especially that was one of the worst things that next year when he got after he got let go and Coach Kerr's in we're on a run they put him in like 20 of our games every game why you set him up for success

for sure every game he was on I mean that's another story that's good TV no no it's not y'all y'all are really making him look like like he can't he can't even speak the way he want to speak for instance and step Kurt ruined the game of basketball and everybody's just piling on everything.

He said the moment he criticized anything, the Warriors is doing, like any analyst that's, they're going to go at both teams. That's what you do as an analyst. You're going to pick the game apart. And he'd say something about us, and it's, I mean, it's the headline of the game. And so I think that was a rough. But, you know, and getting back to the $44 million deal, you signed a $44.

And I think what most people don't understand is, at that time, that was the going rate. You signed that deal, Ty Lawson signed that deal, and give or take, two, three, four million dollars each way. DeMarge Rosen signed the same deal. Drew Holiday signed the same deal.

I think I said Ty Lawson already. Brandon, Jenny signed the same. Like, everyone was kind of signing that same deal. Now, a year later, it was the worst deal in pro-sports history. one year later was the absolute worst deal in professional sports on your behalf, on the Warriors' behalf, the best deal. Absolutely.

How did you go through that knowing you're making $11 million a year? You probably should be making $25 million a year. But in the same token, if you don't sign a $44 million deal, the Warriors have to decide on whether they're going to keep me or clay. the Warriors are never able to sign Andre and then in hindsight fast forward a couple more years later also not able to sign Katie as well

so how are you able to go through that and see the bigger picture and know I'm gonna ultimately make my money but right now I mean there was a time where I think yeah there was a time where I was making more money than you on like you were the fifth or six highest pay player on our team it's it's all intentionality and it sounds so

freaking cheesy and cliche because I'm talking about it right now but like this is exactly how I thought and it's like I talked to my wife about it right before I signed I was flying into Phoenix the day before opening up in the night which by the way was probably one of the worst games signed after sign a contract NBA history too

we're on the road to open up in Phoenix and at the time Larry Riley Bob was there my agent and they're like I'm trying to figure out coming to a deal

and like it was that one thing I had to just tell myself like one let's look let's keep perspective here like 44 million dollars for four years more money

and my pops ever made in the league because I've been around the league for 16 years watching my dad play like I know how far the league is grown from when he played

and like that's good money support my family got a lot of security I just want to be healthy. Like, let's just focus on that. Not what you're leaving on the table, what you could have made. And then don't count anybody else's money. Like, at the end of the day, when you sign, like, that's your decision.

You're going to rock with it. You hopefully have a lot more years to play this game. And I try to set that foundation from my mindset right then and there and never negotiate with myself afterwards. Never, like, second guess, never come back to that moment. Like, oh, I should have, could or would it, because that's not how life works. So I had to be really intentional about it.

I hate like it sounds so simple and fairy tale because it did work out. But I do give myself credit that that was the perspective that I made sure I had and didn't want to let anything distract me from what could have been or what I left on the table, what other situation that could have been out there. And thankfully, you know, like you said, you listed all five things that were kind of consequences of that. And I was still taking care of. I was still good. So that meant a lot in that moment.

Did signing a $44 million deal, which like you said, is a lot of money, but then ultimately you realize, like, I'm not even making half of what I should. Did that play any role into you ultimately leaving Nike and saying I'm going to go sign with Under Armour? That is a great question. And yes, that is actually a fantastic. Nobody's ever really put that two and two together. It was an opportunity to, I guess, there's always that theme in the league

when somebody's coming up with a contract extension or free agency or whatever. Like, do you bet on yourself? Like, what does that, do you bet on yourself? What does that mean, right? Everybody is, you know, like a Nerlin's Noel type situation. You know, you have somebody like DeAndre Aiton right now. You got guys that had good money,

on the table. How it works out, we'll see, right? With that piece, like knowing I had, you know, four years on the court and got to survey the shoe free agency situation to just see where I was at on that side of the, in that part of my career, like building something from scratch, taking a chance to put my fingerprint on a brand from the ground up and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, have a company that was going to kind of invest behind me, that was a huge opportunity. And it was kind of going against the grain a little bit in terms of at that time,

the stable that Nike had. You know, everybody can talk about all they do it the best and this and that. That's, you know, matter of opinion. But the fact that I got to go and, you know, getting the signature shoe game, build a brand, be able to inspire and storytell around things that are important to me. like we're now eight, what, nine years removed from that? And I got this freaking logo on my hat. And we have hopefully something that will continue to be part of the legacy for years and years and years and years to come.

That was me betting on myself. And it was a fun, it's been a fun process from day one. And I don't know if I'd have made that decision had, you know, things gone differently with the contracts. And speaking of decisions that you've made, you win unanimous MVP, which hadn't been done in the history. You then take that unanimous and you spin off and you start an entire couple different sectors of business that you go into under the name unanimous. One is your production company. Another is you start a fun. talk to talk to me about building that production company because it's actually a phase that I'm in right now

in my life and you know just not necessarily building a production company but you know the podcast TNT deal throwing bones sessions and so and moving into that direction how has that been for you because the time that it takes doing all of this stuff brothers, y'all ain't warned me about this all the time that it takes in building this, but how has that gone?

Y'all signed the first look deal with Sony. How has that gone on that side for you, the things that you've learned and how that transition into that side of the business? It's been a whirlwind, and you just said, like, it's about making sure you can prioritize, like, what keeps the lights on,

what makes all this possible? Obviously, that's basketball. And I don't know what kind of feedback you've gotten, but that has never, ever changed. Like, whatever you see us doing outside of court, like, we know how to make sure we keep balance. And it's not saying it's easy, but you always prioritize and make sure, one, you know who you're doing it with and people in your team, because that's the most important piece. Sometimes you get that right. Sometimes you get that wrong. The quicker you can realize when you get it wrong and make the necessary changes, that's important. And that's

a hard thing to do in our position too because you do you know got to delegate and make sure people are positioned for success but at the end of the day it all comes back to you and some people like that responsibility some people don't but i found that it's been amazing to try stuff like it's been amazing to just experiment you know you know try your skill set of different things get into you know projects that move you like you you talk about with my media company with unanimous. Like we found pillars within faith, family, and sports that we want to continue to tell amazing stories through a bunch of different mediums.

But making sure that it is authentic to to who I am, my personality, things that are important to me. And then allow my team to push me a little bit into different areas that I didn't even know were possibilities. And so that's going to be a long journey that will continue to, you know, to assess our goals. and measure up how we're doing and keep building and scaling up. But I think obviously it comes down to the team. That's something that is a comparison to basketball and off the court that are so important.

Who you rock with and who you do that business with and who you trust to be a part of that fold is the key to everything. And this has allowed me to create some amazing relationships, some amazing opportunities, set some amazingly talented people up for success. and do it with things that are, you know, authentic to me. Speaking of authentic to you and setting people up for success, you have holy moly, which is very authentic to you for those that don't know it's a golf show. Goofy and fun and golf.

Checked, check. It checks all the boxes for stuff that I know. I've had the honor of going on once, which was great. But I think one thing that you've done that I really enjoy to keep tab on, because I feel like I would have been there. I had it been around when I was coming up, is your underrated tour

and how you essentially channeled who you were, or, I mean, you're not, yeah, who you were because you're not underrated anymore, but who you were coming up and said, okay, just like me, there's a million other kids outside that doesn't get those looks, that doesn't get to go to the good camps.

And if they go to a camp, They get a reversible jersey that says a number on it and then they go home. It's not a good thing. They don't look good. They're not treated well. It's just like, oh, we're giving you an opportunity to go play basketball. You've changed that narrative and you've put together essentially an all-American camp for underrated kids. Can you talk to me more about the underrated camp?

And also, like, is there anything else that's going to come with the underrated camp? Like, are y'all going to continue to grow that? What's the plans with? So, like you, it was an amazing setup because that's exactly what the goal of the underrated tour was at Jump. I started my Under Armour All-American Camp, so you're inviting the top 30 high school guys to the first two. Then we got to expand to the most talented girls in high school sports. And like the fourth year, I was sitting in one of our little sessions, and I was looking around. Mind you, like, I don't know what these high school did.

dudes are eating these days. They all like 6, 7, 2.20. I'm like, yo, first, I'm probably the smallest one in here. Two, I damn sure I know I wouldn't have been invited to this camp. I wouldn't have invited to my own camp. So I thought, like, this is an amazing experience to give them a piece of my skill set and my understanding of basketball and hopefully pass something back down to them. But what about the three-star recruit that, I was a two-star recruit for a while,

like three-star recruit that I was in high school, like you said, looking for an opportunity, looking to get on a platform to, you know, showcase who they are and their abilities. And obviously in the pursuit of a college scholarship. So we started underrated tour. Rackington's been a huge part of it. They, you know, propped it up year one. And we've gone to four different reasons around the country. It's free.

It's an open invite to three-star recruits who love the game of basketball. I want to come out and work hard and compete. But we're giving them the opportunity. And like you said, a first-class experience. Like, it's not just, you know, let's just bring you to a gym and roll the balls out. Like, you know, trying to put them in the right gear, make them look fresh, give them more of a understanding of what it takes to be a college athlete in terms of, you know, you know, being eligible academically, different classes and understandings for their parents

to know what recruiting is like, how to go through that process. And then obviously, the on-court. skills and expertise that I can provide through the programming that we do. So we take four regions. We take the top talent from each region. We bring them out to the national championship stop out here in the base. They get to come out here. We just had it a couple weeks ago.

We had a tournament, so each region plays against each other. And then we have a champion. And we have the most underrated girl and boy in the country. and we celebrate them. We help them tell their stories in terms of where they are, where they're trying to go and how they're going to get there.

So it's been an amazing, successful far. We're in year three. I'm going to continue to expand that out and continue to reach as many kids as possible. And hopefully we've created over 30 scholarships through this tour in basketball on the boys and girls side.

So it's amazing. To your point, this is something that exists in a bunch of different youth sports. And obviously for me, basketball and golf are the first two that I wanted to touch. And so soon this summer will be the first underrated golf tour. Wow. And the cool part about it is like golf is such a, we're called an elitist kind of history in sport, but there's an understanding of opportunity that the game can provide,

not just as in pursuit of playing professionally and making money, but the world of golf and the business of golf and even just the different connections and doors that golf opens. We need more representation. We need more equity, access, and opportunity to the game. And so golf is the vehicle to reach these kids. And hopefully we have some PGA professionals, and that's the goal to get more representation

on all these different professional tours. But golf will also be the vehicle to give these kids an understanding of skill development, business acumen, an understanding of whatever. passion that you have in this world, like, it's possible for you to get into these right industries and do it where you're prepared and equipped to become, you know, our future leader. And that's the goal. So coming soon, it's going to be a lot more way we talk about with that tour.

But to be able to have that impact on these kids through basketball and golf, especially to me because they're, that's what I love. That's amazing. Excuse my ignorance, but how much the hell do you find a three-star golf? So pretty much anybody who's a minority in golf, you're already three-star in general because there's so many different barriers to

pursuing golf at the highest level. But the three-star in golf is more the equity in terms of reaching the same amount of boys as girls that we do in each of the different tour stops that we have. The access in terms of breaking down those barriers, whether it's cost-related, whether it's

transportation related, whether it's equipment related, coaching, like all of those things that are part of skill development within golf. And then the opportunity is like, again, using golf as the vehicle to introduce these kids to future, you know, success in a lot of different areas. So that's what the three stars are in golf. But like I said, getting representation within the game across the board, that's first and foremost. And moving back to basketball, I know everyone's going to be watching this. How are you feeling? How is your health?

I'll probably get fooled in Chase Center if I'm asking this question. How is your health? Like, are you expecting to be ready for game one? Are you not expecting to be ready for game? I also need to know this for my personal sanity as well. So how are you feeling as far as, you know, being ready to play this weekend? The goal has always been game one. And this is a weird thing.

injury because it's such a slow healer. Like, you know, I've had a bunch of different injuries over time. But, like, sometimes, like, every day you feel, like, dramatically better. And you're, like, oh, I got a little pep in my step. I can keep, I can do this, I can do this. This one, I feel like, I felt like the same for two weeks, but I could do a little bit more and a little bit more. But it's all, like, just dealing with the pain that comes with, you know, the injury

that I had in my foot. So, and, you know, the, uh, the wear and tear that comes with, an injury like that. But the goal has always been game one. The goal still remains game one. Very optimistic that it will be game one. And whatever that means, like you said, I just want to be available. And we know what time of year it is. We ain't been in the playoffs for two years. It is kind of weird to think about that. I'm so freaking juice because I know how much I love that environment first time in this building, which would be interesting. So I don't want to miss none of it. So that's the goal.

and I would it would be hard pressed for anything to kind of keep me out of that but we'll see It's definitely exciting I mean you haven't You weren't with the team

on this last trip but I probably cussed out seven people just leading up to this man I'm just antsy and excited I think I mean obviously for me what was it first seven years in my career

yeah first seven years and not making a playoff and then spending two years outside of the playoffs I'm like what the hell Like, this is weird. Yeah, welcome to my world for the first three years. I mean, it's ridiculous.

Well, that's the reason. First year you made the players because y'all, you're in Claibbe in here. But yeah, those first three years, I already had the car on the back of the truck headed back to North Carolina. I had a tea time. I had my- 17th was vacation. I had my car on a truck two years ago in 2020, ready to go everywhere.

And then, I mean, the one, off-season I do, all right, we missed the playoffs, which I was not happy about. Then the one-off season I do get COVID-cassos. And then the next off-season I get the NBA season, even though he don't make it, it runs into July. We made the playoffs play until June 20. It's like, it made a playoffs, but I mean, been stuck at home or had a month to go do this thing and get your mind right.

Exactly. And then turn right back around. And, and, I mean, for me, we finished June 20 if I had to be in Vegas, July 4th, I forgot about, yeah. For USA, which then span from July 4th to August 8th, training camps start mid-September. You just can't get away from the game, that's all. At least I'm in the playoffs this time. I'll take that one.

I take that one. But speaking of playoffs, Lakers had a rough year, as we all know. No surprise there. But LeBron says the other day, last week or something, whenever it was, that. he has one guy in the NBA right now that a current NBA player that he wants to play with. That player happens to be you. And I know I saw the other day

where you said, you laughed about it and you was like, oh, I'm good. But like, take me deeper into that. Number one, I mean, you're on that level, but, like, LeBron is up there in a goat conversation. So for him to come out and say, like, no, I want to play with Steph Curry. Regardless to how the world may feel about that or how anyone may feel, in my opinion, that is like, that's one, number one, that's one of ultimate signs of respect. That has to feel good.

But then number two, like, don't give me to laugh, I'm good. Like, take me deeper into what you were really thinking when you first heard that. But so what you just say is definitely, and like we talk about all the time with Brian, especially knowing our history and the finals runs and all that and playing against him. There is no denying, like, his greatness in terms of what he can do on the court. And like sometimes you're in,

even when you're playing against him, you're in awe because it's like the way he can control the tempo of the game, the way he can dominate scoring, passing, you know, just his overall, just presence and his IQ, like, all that stuff. Like, we all talk about it. you have to appreciate your competition if you want to beat him because there's got to be that

you know as coach would call it the appropriate fear but um like you said in terms of like him picking out one player that he would want him besides a son that he would want to play with and my name comes up it is definitely it's surreal because I

I will never be so far removed from this time like I was in Detroit playing in the sweet 16 game and this dude is maybe it's four to 50 the year in the league and he's coming to my game like supporting and cheering and doing all stuff even at the place he was at in his career as uh you know the future superstar and like you said hall of famer potentially greatest of all time like the fact that we're 13 years removed and he's saying that it's still crazy i had a i don't know how people knew this he gave me a jersey

when i was in high school i was in college my dad davison and i still have it on the wall at my parents that was back in Charlotte. Wow. And he wrote it like to the King of Basketball in, uh, in North Carolina, uh, and signed it and all that. So like, I'll never be too far removed from like where I came from in terms of this, this journey. Uh, so that's dope and that's, that's, that's a surreal part.

The other quick part is like, okay, if you take a fantasy draft and you're like building a team out and you got what Bron can do and the way that I can shoot the ball, like obviously there's like a curiosity. Like, what would that look like? But also there's a realism of like, that's why I said, I'm good right now. It's just you can never let your mind go from what you know is your situation, what is your moment, your time, and who I've been rocking with from day one. So that's my best answer at it because it's fantasy is wild,

but there's a respect and appreciation. There's a surrealness because of where I came from and how we first interacted back when I was in college. But if this is 2K, that'd be pretty lethal. I appreciate that answer, though, because the reality is, one thing that pitses me off in this entire realm of NBA players, which is, let's face it, dominated by African America, is how they try to pit us against each other. You know, it's like everything, him against him, compare, like, how is he compared to this guy? No, they just did that to, uh, I was walking up here and somebody, I was on TV in one of the talking head shows and it was like, who has more pressure, Kyrie or Katie?

I said, what? What? Right, now they walk in the locker room. That's 15 minutes on TV? Like, we talk about that. Exactly. Before the playing game even started? I think it's ridiculous how they try to, like,

And so when LeBron comes out and say, like, I want to play with Steph Curry. And the reality is all the talking heads and all of these people, they want to try to find a way to make that controversial. And that's not a controversial statement at all. That is saying, I admire someone. With my knowledge of the game, because LeBron has some of the highest knowledge when it comes to basketball, with my knowledge of the game and me understand what wins in this league, I want to play with him.

Because if I can take my skill set and partner my skill set with this guy's skill set, I think it'll be unstoppable. But it goes way further than that when it comes to us. You know, it doesn't go way further than that when you're dealing in all other realms of business. But when it comes to us,

it goes way further than, you know, actually from a, basketball standpoint, that makes all the sense in the world. He would almost be dumb not to say that. Like, are you out of your mind? If you gave him a clean slate, it was like, right, number one pick in the NBA draft, fantasy, whatever. Like, like you said, what you bring to the table,

who would compliment that? Hello? It makes all the sense in the world. That's a great point, though. So, I mean, and I've kind of been going on this thing lately of, like just the disrespect amongst us and how, like I actually spoke about it. I actually, I need to get your thoughts on this too.

Before you ask, people always compare errors too, right? And they always say we're more buddy-buddy than errors are past because there ain't no fights on the court. Like, we all work out with each other. You got business crossover, friendships, like all that stuff off the court. And they always talk about it. That's ruining the game, no pun intended. Sorry, Mark, that's ruining the competition on the court in terms of like we all have, you know, these backgrounds outside of that 94 feet.

Do you describe to that? Like, our era is less competitive because we're more friendly? I think we're just way smarter than the eras before us. If you look at that from the way the game is like, if you look at the past era basketball, they were beating each other. Like, don't get me wrong, guys were skilled. and all due respect to the guys that came before. But they were out there literally, like, outside of fighting, like playing the game of basketball.

They were beating each other. There wasn't, like, much skill to that. There were guys that were skilled. But if you look around the NBA now, there's no one in the NBA that can't hit a three-point shot. Now, whether they shoot a bunch of them or not, but there's no one in the NBA today that can't hit the three-point shot.

When you look at the level of the skill that we have today, it's totally different from the league when it was or from what the league used to be. But I also say, you know, we're smarter than them. We, like, you look at all the things we're doing from a business perspective off the court. Not saying none of them didn't do business, but it's way more now actually taking advantage

in doing these things. My question to you, I made a statement about three weeks ago that if LeBron's breaking up, the scoring record. You play 81 games next year. I'm not going to the game. I'm going to see LeBron break the scoring record.

Now, I want to ask you as a teammate, and I have not asked stuff this at all. Again, we have not discussed it at all so y'all can get the same answer I get. I actually didn't think anything of it. I didn't think anything of it until we're in Memphis last week on the day of that game.

And Bob calls me earlier in the day, and we're just talking. And he's like, hey, so help me understand. When you say something like that, or when you say that in particular, like, do you just not care what people think? Do you not care what your teammates think? Like, and he, like, laid out all these other things that it possibly could be.

Right. And I said, Bob, I'm sorry, but if people in the world are dumb enough to believe that I'm going to miss my job to go watch someone else do theirs and feed their family, and this is how I feed my family, which means if I miss my job to go watch him feed this family, I could possibly lose how I feed mine. If someone's that dumb Bob to think, wow, he's actually going to miss his game, if someone's that dumb, that's not my fault. Like, that's not my problem.

I want to know what you think when you see me make that statement. One, I knew if that situation happened next year, there's no way in hell you would walk to me, Clay, Andre, Coach Kerr, and be like, yo, I'm doing this. So that's why I didn't hit you about it. I knew there was, it was a way of expressing how amazing that accomplishment of feet was and your respect for Brian. Two, I understand one piece of what Bob is saying in terms of if it's a way. somebody within your family that might be, and your family is all different contexts in the family of our team.

If somebody is gonna be, gonna have to directly answer to that for whatever reason, like there's a certain level of respect of, hey, you know what I meant by that or whatever. Like, no, we can, that could be a quick conversation, cool. But it's also an unfortunate piece of lumping it into every other sound bite that comes out of your mouth. Like, which be the polarizing.

We all know who you are and like that piece, I know that'll never change because that's who you are. But it's also like if there was ever, it highlights if there's ever any little insecurity or question of where your loyalty lies, which, okay, if you're going to that point, then you've got a whole other conversation to have. And like, cool, we're going to have that conversation.

But that's the one thing I get is like, if it's somebody within your family that you know, whatever you say, even if you still mean what you say and you're not going to step off of it And you kind of, I don't regret how it came out. If they're going to have to answer to it, yeah, you got to take another step to, you know, say your part. But I didn't hit you because I knew there was no way in hell game 67 next year.

Bron is 27 points away. It might be two games because he might shit the bed one game. I'll be out. Pull a Dennis Robin right quick. I'm going to see y'all. I'm going to see y'all. That's good to know, man. Couple more questions before I let you go.

A couple more basketball questions. And then I also want to ask you a couple family questions. Well, that's important to me. As a father, as a husband, one of the guys that I've looked at since I came into this league and how you handle yourself. So we'll get to that. But a couple more basketball questions. So coming into this season, you know, we come in

and it's kind of like this mix of old guys, if you will, and young guys. Yeah. And I made a comment earlier in the year, and I said, we've never seen this work where you're trying to mix the past, or not the past because we're still all in our prime, but past success, the group that you've had success with, and future of who you think you can have success. And trying to combine those two. historically we had never seen that work and I said that in the press conference

now what takes the cake is me saying historically we never seen that work but no one does acknowledge is the part of me saying that's the challenge for us as leaders of this team that's the challenge for us that's the challenge that you embrace and you want to be the group that can make that work no one talks about that part

they only talk about the first part but and now we've played 82 game and you've seen how it all come together. What are your thoughts on this current team and what needs to happen for this team? Obviously, we know health. You know, we got to stay healthy. I've been out.

Clay missed the first half of the season. I missed essentially half of the season right in the middle. And then you've missed the last few weeks. So obviously, hell. But what has to happen as far as like our young guys coming along? Who do you think is going to be that X factor? what has to happen for us to ultimately do what we set out to do, and that's win the championship. I mean, this year has been interesting because we laughed about it a little bit.

Like, nobody expected us to start out the season the way we do because of the questions coming into the year about the two different timelines, not knowing what, you know, Otto and Belli is, vet minimum guys, and Andre is, you know, where he was in his career. how they would mesh with us and all that. You know, essentially the team that started off hot and the way we started off the season was off the way we ended last year, you know, mixed with a little bit more veteran presence than two young guys that have so much potential, but don't have a defined role or consistent opportunity.

So we've gone through all of that, like you said, injuries and Clay coming back and, you know, JP's ascension and all that. So what it needs to happen is, like you said, but we keep doing what we're doing in terms of understanding how we play. And then defensively, obviously, that is going to take the cake and it's amazing to have you back, you know, feeling good and healthy to help lead that charge. But we know how to playoffs, the rotation gets tight.

Absolutely. But with that tight rotation, you have those three to four guys. And it's going to be J.K. mood, you know, D. Lee, Juan, even GP a little bit, those guys, depending on matchups, depending on how a series go, you have to be prepared and ready and locked into what you're going to be asked to do. And that could be five minutes. That could be a 30-minute run.

That can be starting one game, come out to bench one game, like the flexibility in that because we have so many pieces to go to. Like some teams, they have eight guys, and they're going to play eight guys the whole run, and that's it. We're not that team. So if we play, like, you know, our rotation, we play at the highest level do what we need to do. And we have, you know, our guys ready to step into those roles, you know, on a moment's notice.

That's going to give us our best chance because we know it's going to be tough. We know how hard it is to win a championship, how many things have to go your way. But we can take on that challenge of what you said starting the season, like doing something that hasn't been done historically. And then we'll do with what comes next, you know, when it comes. because that's the nature of the NBA. But I like the fact that we have the ability to throw a bunch of different guys out there. And trust that, you know, they can provide and provide value

and do what they need to do out there. And no brighter stage in the playoffs to show that because it's just a different energy. And when you look back, like, certain guys that have helped us win a series or a championship, some of the names will be, you know, will hop off the page in terms of, some unexpected guys that came into a role and did what they needed to do.

100%. And speaking of a championship, if you could trade the 2017 and 18 championship to complete the 73 win championship, would you trade those two championships to complete the 73? So I'm going to get the resume right. I had, we'd have two chips and a damn near perfect season. Or three chips and then Blamish on a 16th. You see I didn't want to say it?

You see? I blanked out as soon as I had to even acknowledge it. Oh, man. I don't, I ain't even know how to answer that question. I would say no, but I think for the rest of our life, I'll still be able to just laugh at 16, which is fine. It's fine. It's always going to be that just, like, awkward, like,

acknowledgement of an amazing regular season in the finals run. But, yeah, I'd say no, but I'm glad I don't take myself too seriously. Get you a step courage in your life. He got, dang that was hard. You don't have you a Steph Curry in your life. Get you a Steph Curry. Because if he said yes, this interview was over, my heart was broken, get you a Steph Curry.

Because he mean yes. Get you a step. No, I think, honestly, that essentially puts you in a place undoubtedly the best team ever. if we were to complete it. Now, cool to be in a conversation. To be quite frank with you, I still think we had best team ever.

Although we didn't finish it and went to championship, I still think that was the best team ever until 2017. I was about to say, where are we going there? That team was not until 2017. And then I think that team took over as you greatest team ever.

So I think we still accomplished it. Best team ever. But not quite, you know, people take numbers and they want to put the numbers there and say, oh, what, the Bulls had 70s to win. It's a feeling, bro. Like, exactly. We were the best team ever.

I don't care. But no one said, I can't see anyone beating that 2017 team. not even our first 1516 I can't see anyone beating that 2017 they say in the medical field

I concur hands down the best team ever but before we get out of here I've always asked you questions just about marriage about kids how you parent

how you are in your marriage because you've always been a great example for me to watch and I'm appreciative of that. Like I think, you know, people don't realize you, we spend, I spend more time with you than you spend

with your wife. Like, you spend more time with me than I spend with my wife and my kids. Like, that's just the nature and what we do. Like, we spend a ton of time together for half, for half the year, we're on the road, we're all together. And then even when we're not on the road,

we've been here since 9 a.m. 445. Probably 5 p.m. Like, you still spend a ton of time together, but I've been able to watch you for 10 years now in your growth

in parenting your growth as a husband and just how you continue to grow. And I have such a strong appreciation for that. Now, in saying that, the rest of America has also been able to watch your marriage and your growth. And you and Aisha,

are almost like y'all are the golden standard and like the couple goals and like that everyone really look at and say, man, like we want that. Do y'all feel that pressure in your marriage or are you just so grounded in your marriage that like what anyone says from the outside really don't matter?

Or do you feel that pressure in your marriage to kind of uphold what the world see y'all as? Like the world see y'all as the ideal couple that made it work since a young age and is still making it work that, like, on your trajectory to greatness, here comes her trajectory to greatness. And, like, she's doing great things.

And, like, Sweet July was the cover, was the face of cover girl. Like, all the things that she's doing, she has her Aisha Cookwear and stores. And just to see both of y'all, they're seeing it's been incredible. Do y'all feel that pressure from the outside world to be that goal that they all want to I think it's both for sure. But I say that because we never like acknowledge any type of title like that or like pressure or put any merit on like that as a goal, right? But we also understand the influence, inspiration that it can provide and that's what people need. You can't sell yourself for that like in terms of how you live your day-to-day life.

and there's got to be a balance to it. But the best part about it, and I can honestly say that, is because it's built on such a solid foundation, that we are just living our lives and doing it together and sharing every up and every down, you know, the growth that has come individually and stuff that we never in a million years

could imagine, like, that we be doing. And, you know, together and in our individual careers on top of raising three amazing kids. Like the foundation was so strong because none of this was around. And I'm truly appreciative of that, that I do have somebody that I can share all of this with and who knows how I'm thinking before I'm even thinking. I can understand some of the pressures that she's going through

as a quote-unquote basketball wife, which we know is not just the thing. It's something that is thrown at, you know, them understanding. necessarily every single day of either comparisons or standards that they have to uphold every day or just the constant noise around like what's happening in our world is always having to impact them or they have to answer to it or whatever the crisis. You even think about like stuff that's going on this year in like terms of fan interaction. Like it's hard for them to come to game sometimes. Like keeping it real like we're going to playoff games on the road and there's always

you know, people yelling at them because they think that's going to affect us and all this other stuff. And like, I have such an appreciation for her growing into that role, too, because it's loud at times. And it's, there's a lot of, you know, opportunity for distraction and stress and whatnot. But our foundation is key. The fact that we can share that with the world, the proper ways, try to be as authentic and real about the things that we're experiencing. and hopefully, you know, give a good light on what marriage is because there's so much fear around what that is. And obviously, you want to honor that establishment as much as possible

in the commitment that we made. So it's a little bit of everything, but the fact that I get to be her big supporter and biggest supporter and see what she's been able to create on her own and know what work she's put into it and the stuff behind the scenes that nobody gets to see, That stuff is so dope to me and so rewarding because, you know, she deserves everything she's got. And I'm proud of her for that.

Aisha was a little more like me in a sense of she was blah, blah, and then it just comes out. And before you know it, it's out there. It just flew out. One thing I admire is, and I guess it's just who you are, because, you know, as a brother in my life, you've been the same way. Like I said, she's like me in a sense that it'll just come up. And as a brother in my life, no matter where I've went wrong, no matter, you know, if I've said some wrong things before,

you've always supported me. And one thing I admire about you and your relationship, but you in particular is even at times where she may have said the wrong thing, your support for her in saying that and standing in front of it was like you stood in front of her as if she was right and it don't matter

and I admire that but that's for you that can get a little dicey too because you have a brand and you have all the things that you've built but you stood in front of her no matter what that situation like what the situation has been

is that just like that's just what it is that's the way it's going to be like is there a conversation to be had like what how does that how do you go about that i think that's powerful because a lot of it is the the fact that like you just said like i know you're going to mess up at times and obviously i've done the exact same thing and i can defend myself but when it comes to like the unnecessary just focus and heat on somebody that is, like, take a second and walk in her shoes for, you know, I'm not saying, and we're all blessed and we all, you know, have amazing things going on our life. But like my sister always said, like, everybody's mountain is their mountain. And there are certain things that you will never know she's going through in terms of, you know, all the

different hats she has to wear and, you know, the responsibilities and the expectations of a woman in all of those arenas and what they go through on a daily basis. I have an appreciation for all of that. So I know she would hold me down in those situations in the same way it goes the other way. And that is my job as her husband. And so I take that seriously. And the biggest piece is like, it's such a long journey, man. Like there's going to be so much stuff that happens.

And like I said, if you have a strong foundation of how you're going to get through that stuff, Like, at the end of the day, like, there's so much confidence in that because I know, I know who she is. I know what she's about and never second-guess that. So it makes it a little bit easier in times where there is conflict and there is, you want to do everyone to call a drama, unnecessary drama, because that's what it is. For sure, I think I have an appreciation for that because for the longest time I would see you, operate that way and I didn't understand it in part due to because I

didn't have that for myself. Like I didn't, you know, once being in a relationship with Hazel I learned so much about being in a relationship and, like, and support for a woman and the hats that they actually wear. Before that, I can't say I understood that. Like, I didn't

understand all the hats. I didn't understand the things that, you know, she's doing for our kids, like, holding our house together and, like, all a different house that a woman where I can't say that I understood that if you want me to be 100% honest with you

I thought like man they like so easy like I gotta go out here and play every day your life is very simple until you really connect with someone and like you sharing that pain you feel that hurt you see

the struggles it gave me a totally different appreciation for it I don't know if you remember this but I asked you a question on the plane before and I said said, if there's one luxury in the world, and this is long before my understanding, it's probably six, seven years ago, I asked you this. I said, if there's one luxury in the world that you can have and you can have it for the rest of your life or that you can just have one luxury, what would that luxury be? And I asked you, I asked Clay, maybe D. Lee. I know mine was a private plane.

I'm like, private plane. That's one, that's the ultimate luxury to me. And I'll never forget your answer, I was so disappointed and your answer I look back on that answer now and I 100% understand because what your answer was, it is, like it has

a bearing on your life, it has a bearing on you being, you know, one of the things that you told me is like me and Aisha date and like, we have a relationship totally separate of the kids that we really involve, like that we really commit to because we know

if we're committed to that relationship, the kids, they'll be fine and they'll automatically benefit from that. And I understand that now. But when I asked you that question, it was so disappointing. You said a nanny. I'm like,

I don't, all the luxuries in the world. You call me on a stressed out day. All the luxuries in the world you can have a nanny? I didn't understand it. I do understand it now, though. But I didn't understand it then.

And that was like, I mean, I thought she was out of your mom. And that's me saying that. So imagine, like, you talk about the stuff that my wife does to be a presence and a caregiver and take her of our kids and just the amount of work that they might not even feel like is work. But I feel like, you leave me at home with the kids for four hours. God. something's going to break. I might lose one of them at the house.

They might be hungry. I don't know what. Like, it's just a whole lot of stuff. But that definitely is a reflection of just an appreciation for what it takes to be, you know, an amazing wife and a mother and an entrepreneur and all that type of stuff. And the other piece to that appreciation is I know how hard, you know, we work to do what we do and what it takes to be successful. or it's something you pour everything you have into it.

Yeah, I feel like there's a kind of common theme of like women in general, you know, have to work twice as hard for the same opportunity. Absolutely. And that's like just common. And, you know, we talk about pay equity and all like, all that stuff. But we can also like even think about a lot of the accomplishments my wife's have been marginalized because of my success. 100%.

So think about that, I work twice as hard to get, you know, acknowledgment. or success in my business, what all of that is. And then I would get half the praise for it because it's because you have money. It's because you can afford multiple nannies. It's because your husband is the superstar and NBA that it's easy. You got all the opportunity in the world. Like I never appreciated that vibe because I don't get off on praise like that, but you also have to appreciate it like what you put in is not going to necessarily come back,

you know, with the same energy. And once that clicked, all the other stuff made so much so much more sense in terms of the day-to-day on just finding peace and happiness at the end of the day. And so Hazel Aisha, every other wife in the world, I got so much respect for what you do. And we wouldn't be who we are without them. I agree 100%. You're trying to get some brownie points on the Draymond Green show today. I got a day in two hours and it better be good, East. I'm playing this.

Can I get the advanced copy? Can I get the raw? We're sending this right away. But speaking, I mean, two more questions. I didn't know you had a date, but we're not out of here anyway. But last one about Aisha and then just one for you. As guys, especially in our position, like Hazel's an actress. She's constantly doing audition.

I'm constantly reading, I know you remember this because Aisha used to be in the same field. I'm reading these, like, these scripts. I'm reading the script, slides, they call it. I'm reading the slides and trying to record her because as you COVID sent everything home. So I'm the cameraman. I'm the reader. I'm all of these things.

I'm the light, man. Doing all of these things. And I have a huge appreciation for her and her grind and what she puts into it. But that's not always the case. And especially in our professional life. A lot of guys have egos. And a lot of guys are super, super insecure in what we do.

And Aisha's leveled up on a totally different level over the last two, three years or so and everything that she's doing. How was that for you accepting that growth? Because it changes the dynamic. Like it changes, you could come home from a 10-day road trip. and she's going for 10 days. And then now she come back from her 10-day trip and all her business that she's handling,

and then you're leaving for four days. How has that been for you and adjusting to what she's been able to do all the things that she has her hands in and the businesses that she's started and are running? And, like, you know, like, Cover Girl isn't a business that she started,

but then being the face of that, that comes with a requirement. How is that for you and to accept that this is who she's becoming and I support that 100% because it totally changes the dynamic that you were used to for years? You got to, that's where we came. I mean, it's not a genius term, but we literally have to thrive in chaos a little bit

because it is, you got all these plans for what the year going to look like and how we're going to balance it out. Okay, we're going to match up road trips and work crazy. work schedules and so that, you know, when I have a homestine, we're all at home and we have some normalcy and family dinners and all that. And then you get like three, four weeks into the season, you're like, uh, we ain't getting this right. But to your point, like, it's a celebration of what she's doing is understanding that we're trying to do everything at the same time. Like, we're trying to raise a family. I'm in the height of my career. She's, you know, a serial

entrepreneur and has a lot of, you know, success at scaling these businesses up and what it requires to do that. You kind of have to continue to reprioritize. Like, again, like you said, like, you said, like, dating each other and having as much quality time as you can, you know, the kids are definitely, you know, a priority and work. Like, all those things kind of shuffle at the same time. And it's difficult. I want to sit here and try to sugarcoat it and say, like, we got everything perfect.

at the end of the day, the one thing, I'll make a joke, the one thing that has done is like, I kind of am looking forward to like, like, what does retirement look like? What is that? What does that actually look like? We get nine months of my year back, and, you know, you're going to work trip?

Cool, I'll be here and hang out with the kids. I mean, it might look different when you get back, but don't worry, I hold it down. But we have an amazing village around us that helps. And, you know, that is extreme. extremely crucial to supporting us and what we do. But there is an understanding that these could be the busiest in most chaotic times of our lives,

but the most rewarding in terms of life experiences and even what we get to share with our kids along the way. So at the end of the day, we're always tired though. Your last answer honestly leads me to my last question, which was, what does retirement? and life after basketball look like for Steph Curry and it's two-part question.

Does, will we get the opportunity to see Steph on the PGA tour or at least pursue? I like the word pursue. Pursue because, like, we're professional basketball players. We know it.

So no disrespect to all the PGA golfers out there. Say that loud. Like, I know what it takes to be what you all have, become and what you're doing. I don't know what it takes to be a golfer, but to be a professional. And so no disrespect. But I know your love for golf. I know your relationship with the tour, with the guys on the tour.

Will we one day have the opportunity to see Steph Curry pursue playing on the tour? There are a couple templates that certain other professional athletes from other sports have taken and to dabble into professional golf. like John Smolz, Tony Romo, Marty Fish, who was amazing tennis player. All of those guys have found ways to find competitive golf, test their skills, get ingrained to some of the kind of of temple events by the calendar year that kind of scratch that itch,

if you will. So I'm going to learn from that when it's all said done. don't know if that's the scary part is like if you told me that I know what it takes to be a basketball player at this level and the grind right I'm not afraid of that grind but I also afraid of that grind because with the grind starts and I commit to it I'm not going to stop absolutely so I have to I got to find some clarity on that question because it would be interesting to see how far I could go but I'm also afraid of what it what that means because my work ethic it's something I hang my hat on.

And you can take that and apply it to something else. One, I just hyped up my relationship with my wife and success and peace and happiness, and I might ruin all of that by saying, hey, babe, I'm, you know, whatever, 17, 18 years in the league. I'm going to go, I'm going to try golf now. Let's just watch Friends will beat this whole last 18 years. I don't know what that's going to look like. but those guys have figured out a way to have some fun, keep it competitive, but not go all the way into the deep end.

So we'll see. My brother, I appreciate it. I mean, I think, like, people always ask me, obviously, you know, I can't golf, but people always ask me, am I going to coach, or am I going to be a GM when I'm down playing? And I tell everybody, no, hell no. Like, the last thing I want to be on when I'm done playing

is a basketball schedule. I've been on a basketball schedule my entire life. The last thing I want to do is retire and then be back on a basketball schedule. So I totally understand, my brother. I totally understand. And from myself, producer Jackson, Jackson has been fucking blowing my phone up all week

about this episode. Like, how he did it work. We had two calls about this episode And trying to make it as perfect as possible. And honestly, it's really a, you know, just a nod to you. And everything that you've done, who you are, these trophies, your MVP trophies that sit right next to those trophies that's just in your own personal trophy case,

who you are as a person, a steward of the game of basketball. a and an example for black men and how, like, no, we can be successful in marriage and, like, yeah, there is a divorce rating. Like, we can be successful as the head of a family because that is skewed, and like, we don't get to see that all the time. And so I think, you know, when speaking of a couple goals,

it's incredible to see two African Americans do what y'all are doing and so I appreciate that man I appreciate it and I want to say thank for everything that you've done and been to me and my life for the success that we've had

you know there's always this notion of like Draymond can't do it without Steph or he can't do it without Clay and I'll be 100% honest I can't On the flip side, Clay and Steph, Clay can't do it without Steph and Draymond. And Steph can't do it without Clay and Draymond. And I think for me, what we've built, it's not that I can't go on and do something else.

It's not that you wouldn't be successful in playing with someone else. It's not that Clay couldn't go to the Lakers tomorrow and beat Clayton. It's not that. It's just not as beautiful as. what we've been able to do together. And so, fuck everybody. I don't know how you're going to end that because that choice. You're right.

Who say I can't or he can't or Clay can't. You're right. You win. We can't. We can't do it without each other. But we're damn good doing it together. That's it. From this episode of doing my Green Show.

Thank you, my brother. It's a wrap. We out.