David Lee remembers the question marks that surrounded Steph Curry as he began his NBA career.
A day after watching his former teammate become the all-time NBA 3-point leader, Lee joined 95.7 The Game’s “Steiny & Guru” Wednesday to reflect on Steph’s journey over the past 12-plus years leading up to last night’s record-breaking evening at Madison Square Garden. Listen to the full interview below:
“To me, that’s a very classy move by the Knicks organization and a really cool for thing for the NBA,” Lee said. “Because everybody really got to celebrate this together. I’m sure every single team that didn’t have game last night, they were watching that cheering for Steph because he is so loved around the league. … It was something great for the sport and great for sports overall.”
The former power forward played with Curry and the Warriors from 2011-15 and won the 2015 NBA championship before eventually retiring in 2017. As Lee watched Curry rewrite the record books Tuesday night, he couldn’t help but look back at the beginning of his Warriors tenure.
Some raised their eyebrows when the Warriors signed Curry to a four-year, $44 million contract extension in 2012. Jump to 2021-22 and Curry is on the books for a $45.8 million salary this season alone.
“When he got that initial contract with the Warriors, even a lot of the local media was like, ‘Wow is this guy worth it? He can’t stay healthy,’” Lee said. “Once he got through those ankle injuries, the rest is history. You’ve just seen an absolute progression every single year, to where now he’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer and a guy who’s going to go down as the best shooter to ever play the game.”
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Despite the mounting accomplishments that Curry has produced throughout his inimitable career, Lee said it’s Steph’s personality that separates him from everyone else.
“He was an incredible teammate along with other guys in that organization,” Lee said. “It’s easy to be as good as Steph and to be a jerk to everybody and do things your own way. He could probably get away with that as good as he is. But he’s always been a guy that’s treated people the right way and led by example.”
