Stephen Curry, star player for the Golden State Warriors, has been around the NBA since 2009. He’s gotten a chance to experience various moments from a plethora of basketball greats. One of those moments was with the late Kobe Bryant, a legend for the Los Angeles Lakers. According to Curry, the five-time champion had the honor of giving him his “Welcome to the NBA” moment.
During a “welcome to the league” event, younger players are usually shown that the NBA is a higher level. That could be an embarrassing fall, a failed contest or a moment where a veteran player shows the younger players that they have a lot to learn. In Curry’s case, he discovered that when it comes to physicality on the court, elite players like Bryant have an edge.
Curry appeared as a guest on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon over the weekend. During his time on the show, he talked about how Bryant showed the league’s physicality, which served as the Warriors star’s welcome to the NBA.
“A preseason game. I got switched on to him. And he was giving me those, like, body blows with his elbows,” Curry shared. “And then my naive self is looking at the ref, like, asking for a call. Like they’re going to give me a call over Kobe Bryant. And then he caught the ball, did a little left-shoulder fadeaway, and then ran down the court.”
The Golden State Warriors star got his revenge a few seasons later. During a preseason game against the Lakers, Bryant took over the assignment of guarding Curry. The four-time champion did not back down and tried to shake the former NBA star before hitting a 3-pointer.
After he made the shot, the one-time MVP gave him respect by tapping him on the way back to the other side of the court.
The Golden State Warriors star talked trash to Bryant as a rookie
Talking trash to any star is something that most rookies try to stay away from. However, Curry did the opposite in his first season with the Golden State Warriors. And he didn’t talk smack to any player; he chose to do it to Bryant.
Curry revealed how he talked trash to the Lakers star in an interview with Complex.
“It was a game at home at Oracle, and they were winning, and I think they were up like six or something like that down the stretch, and we were starting to do the foul game,” Curry said. “And when he was going to the line, I just walked by and was like, ‘Yo, you nervous?’
“And the look he gave me was one I will just, is burned into my, like, ‘One, he’s a rookie talking to me, but two, am I nervous? What are you talking about?’”
Curry still earned Bryant’s respect even after pulling that move early in his career.
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen on Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
