NBA: Stephen Curry"s younger brother Seth shines in Vegas - ESPN.com

Tim MacMahon, ESPN Staff Writer

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• Joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009
• Covers the Dallas Cowboys and Dallas Mavericks
• Appears regularly on ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM

LAS VEGAS -- The MVP"s little brother wants a legitimate shot to prove he belongs in the league.

Seth Curry"s performance in the Las Vegas Summer League suggests he deserves one. The 24-year-old combo guard is leading the league in scoring with 25.0 points per game, a major reason his New Orleans Pelicans squad went undefeated during pool play.

"I feel like I"ve played well enough and I feel like I"m an NBA player," said Curry, who played a total of 21 minutes in four games during brief stints with theMemphis Grizzlies, Cleveland Cavaliers and Phoenix Suns the past two seasons. "It"s a little frustrating to not get the opportunity, but the only thing I can do is go out there like I"ve been doing and keep playing well and competing against guys who are already on NBA rosters and trying to outplay them and letting that take care of itself."

Will this coming season be Seth Curry"s NBA breakthrough?David Dow/NBAE/Getty Images

This summer has been a continuation of the success that Curry enjoyed while toiling in relative anonymity in the D-League last season. He averaged 23.8 points per game for the Erie BayHawks before joining his family in the stands to watch big brother Stephen lead the Golden State Warriors to a title run.

"When he has success, I feel like I have success too, because we grew up together," Seth Curry said. "We work out with each other, pushing each other. It"s good for me to see what he"s doing. I don"t really measure myself off of what he does. I try to maximize what I do."

He"s a Curry, so there"s never been any question about his ability to knock down jump shots. Like Steph, Seth inherited dad Dell"s 3-point stroke.

Seth led the D-League in 3s made (156) and ranked second in 3-point shooting percentage (46.7) last season. He has actually lit up the summer league despite a little long-distance shooting slump (4-of-22), but that"s the part of his game that he doesn"t have to prove.

"Obviously, he"s a great shooter," said Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry, an assistant for the Warriors last season. "He"s got good pedigree, good DNA in that area. He"s capable of making a shot, but I think you"ve got to do a few more things, and I think he"s showing everybody out here in the summer league that he can do other things other than just score the basketball.

"I think he"s shown on this level right here he"s a pretty elite player."

Two concerns about his game have prevented the younger Curry brother from sticking on an NBA roster: Can he create off the dribble? Can he defend?

Not coincidentally, those are the two facets of Curry"s game that have most impressed Gentry in Vegas, causing the Pelicans to seriously consider offering an invitation to training camp.

Steph Curry has historically elite ballhandling ability, as evidenced by highlights such as him causing Chris Paul to fall to the ground before swishing a jumper. Seth Curry has worked to develop that part of his game as a pro after playing primarily off the ball at Duke, mostly operating as a catch-and-shoot threat.

Seth Curry"s work on using ball screens has particularly paid off in Vegas. He"s been incredibly efficient off the dribble, hitting 22 of 35 2-point attempts, doing much of his damage on drives. That surely has pleased Seth"s workout partner, whose tracking of his brother"s progress includes trading texts with Gentry.

Stephen Curry gave his brother kudos during his MVP acceptance speech in May.

"Just seeing you, how you"ve grown and following your career, it"s not easy having an older brother that"s playing in the NBA and obviously a dad that"s done it before both of us," Stephen Curry said. "And the way that you"re handling it is impressive. The sky"s the limit for you. Keep doing what you"re doing and keep making the family proud."

Source: http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/13263823/stephen-curry-younger-brother-seth-shines-vegas

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Warriors' Deep Reserve of Veterans Setting Stage for Stephen Curry's Heroics

It wound up feeling like Stephen Curry had done it again, pounding people into submission the way only he can do it with his feathers and cotton b***s.

Yet long before Curry stole the show Saturday night in Houston and finished with 40 pointsscoring system: perfect 10s for artistry, efficiency, showmanship and historical valuethe Golden State Warriors had control of the game and the Western Conference Finals because of his teammates.

As the Warriors savor their 115-80 victory and 3-0 series lead on the Houston Rockets, let's pause to recognize that Golden State's beautiful game isn't just Curry's beautiful game, or the Splash Brothers' sweet shooting, or the rookie runner-up Coach of the Year's sunny disposition.

This is a great team, one that should be heavily favored in the soon-to-be NBA Finals even as LeBron James has the Cleveland Cavaliers cresting in the East.

When you rewind into basketball history, you don't often see occasionally excellent guys such as J.R. Smith or Josh Smith as supporting pillars on championship teams.

You see role players such as Andrew Bogut, Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingstonplayers who have had their previous highs also but have settled into jobs that they know they can do and are truly happy to do on a nightly basis.

They were all key in Golden State's powerful start Saturday night, way before Curry floored the Rockets. And guys like Bogut, Iguodala and Livingston are the reason we invariably see proven players (or over-the-hill former stars) hopping on championship-or-bust trains: It just makes sense that they can provide talent-rich teams with stability and professionalism.

The Warriors also happen to have the luxury of Curry's greatness, the scoring and defense of Klay Thompson, the explosiveness of Harrison Barnes and the consummate role player in today's NBA, Draymond Green.

Green is so fantastically good at his plethora of jobs that he should command a max-value contract in restricted free agency this summer. All credit to Green, not just for his defensive tenacity and ability to guard either James Harden or Dwight Howard, but he's a key playmaker who is often the trigger for Golden State's offense finding better shots or delving deeper into its sets after the initial action has failed.

But the likes of Green, Thompson, Barnes (as well as useful backup center Festus Ezeli, injured designated scorer Marreese Speights and unneeded but talented swingman Justin Holiday) are a different kind of role player. They are all still on the rise. Yet they have not fully seen and lived the NBA wars and appreciate the simple value of staying in your lane until there is a void you should fill.

Rarely does the individual attention go to the veteran role players who are willing to do the dirty work.

Bogut's screen-setting and passing are underrated cogs in the offensive machinery, but at least he gets some love (as seen in his All-Defensive second-team selection) as Golden State's valuable rim-protector.

Iguodala is one of the rare players in this league who have pretty much every tool. Despite that, his usage is so low that he was useless in all but the deepest of fantasy basketball leagues this season with 7.8 points per game. That's just not enough scoring glory to impress the simple-minded voters for NBA Sixth Man of the Year, no matter Iguodala's value as a defender and passer.

Livingston turns 30 this year, a long way from the phenom touted to be the next Magic Johnson and infamous for the 2007 knee injury when he heard the word "amputation" in the hospital. He has bounced around the league and bounced back to form a new, steadier identity that the Warriors valued in making him their key free-agent acquisition, committing to him for three years.

Saturday night showed the value in having those types of veterans on the roster.

Despite where he finished the game, Curry actually started the pivotal second quarter Saturday night on the benchand then missed his first two shots, a step-back three-pointer and a driving finger roll in beginning the game 1-of-4 from the field. When Curry got a driving finger roll to fall midway through the second quarter, the Warriors didn't take the lead or begin a comeback.

They simply boosted their lead to 11 points.

They had already received 10 first-quarter points from Bogut. Then timely post-up buckets from Livingston. Iguodala roared in for a dunk and a layup on consecutive possessions, besides throwing a perfect alley-oop pass. Soon enough, he was taking outstanding defensive turns against Harden.

The Warriors led by 12 points after that first quarter. Curry had three points and two assists; he wasn't defending anyone of consequence, either.

The group dynamic was what was working for the Warriors. Then Curry's feathers and cotton b***s fanned the flame to roar out of control.

And Golden State has more veteran production in reserve. There's Leandro Barbosa, whom Steve Kerr will readily tell you is the one guy on the team with deep playoff experience from his days in Phoenix, making plays often enough that the "beep-beep" Road Runner sound effect is regularly played in the arena for him.

And don't forgetDavid Lee, the Warriors' highest-paid player who just two years ago became the team's first All-Star in 16 years. If there's anyone who could be the squeaky wheel, it's the little-used Lee, who capped the Warriors pre-halftime barrage with a nifty layup but otherwise only saw the court for the last 3:31 of the game.

Of course, it's easy to say now that these guys should obviously be buying in because the Warriors are on the cusp of the NBA championship.

That's unfair. The Warriors are on the cusp because these guys bought in.

It's a team game played by individuals.

Sometimes, Curry looks heaven-sent, yes.

Most times, it's just a team game, and that's a credit to all the Warriors.

Kevin Ding covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter@KevinDing.

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2474676-warriors-deep-reserve-of-veterans-setting-stage-for-stephen-currys-heroics

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Stephen Curry, Steve Kerr 'morally object' to flopping fine

OAKLAND, Calif. -- On Wednesday, the NBA issued a flop warning. The league began issuing fines in 2013 for flops found on film. While less common in the playoffs where there's more contact and further scrutiny, it's not uncommon for it to happen. What was interesting was who it was issued to: MVP and league darling Stephen Curry, on a 3-point make ... on which there was no foul called.

Here's the play.

You can't tell if that's a flop or not. No, stop it Rockets fan. No, I don't want to hear it, Warriors fan. Unless you were seated on that side of the arena in the lower bowl and have great eyesight (and were sober!) you have no concept of what occurred on that play.

Curry was fined $5,000 for the play.

Let's pause for a moment and consider this. Curry made $10.6 million this year from his NBA salary alone. That doesn't factor in playoff share, nor his considerable-but-as-yet-unreported Under Armour sponsorship money, his State Farm sponsorship money, or any of the other bazillion ways he has access to funds -- and oh by the way, his dad was an NBA player. Curry probably had $5,000 on him at practice Wednesday, like in his sock. That adorable little girl of his, Riley, probably has a $5,000 per week allowance. You can probably find five grand in Curry's couch cushion. You know, the one in his second den. So it's not like this is hurting him in any meaningful way.

But on Wednesday, Curry and Steve Kerr raised sizable objections to the fine, not on practical grounds of course, but based on the principle.

"I don't agree with it," Curry said. I watched the play over, and it was a transition play, so obviously balance is not very good in that situation. I take a little contact, got some space off. I didn't even see, whoever it was, I didn't see him, and then when I shoot it, I see somebody coming and hit me in my arm. And when you're up in the air, it was obviously a reaction to that. That play happens countless times.

"I wasn't even looking for a foul. I just reacted to the contract that was on my arm and what have you. So I don't agree with it at all."

Curry was annoyed. It was a head-shake type situation. But for his coach, Steve Kerr? Kerr took it a little more seriously, saying (deadpan) he was "morally outraged" at the fine (after being prompted by a reporter; ask and ye shall receive).

"Well, these plays happen every day," Kerr said. "I don't think a game goes by where Jamal Crawford doesn't flop six times on his 3-point shots. It's part of the game, and I don't blame him for doing it because a lot of times the refs call it. Russell Westbrook does it. Everybody does it. So all of a sudden just randomly to fine Steph just seems kind of strange. Are we just choosing one time to do this? You can pick out flops every single game from half the guys out on the floor, so it just seems kind of random."

Hey, shots fired at Jamal Crawford despite Crawford having just been eliminated. Solid continuance of the Warriors-Clippers feud, coach. (Though he's right, Crawford tries to sell that call like he's in The Wolf of Wall Street.)

There does seem to be contact. Was it enough to warrant a call? Does it matter? Furthermore, here's what Curry said about when officials warn you about these kinds of calls (emphasis mine):

"The refs will tell you in a game if you kick your leg out trying to get contact on the closeout, or if you argue the call in the middle of a game. They'll tell you, 'No, the ball was already gone.' or you didn't get hit, or you fell without contact, and stuff like that. But I've never gotten a call from the league about it."

Something like ... this?

But maybe the contact spun him around. You can make the call.

There's also the belief that you can't flop if there's not a call made, but that's crazy. The whole point is to try and elicit a call where there isn't one. This is in every way the definition of a flop, if he in fact fell without contact. Anyway, there is a level of amusement in that the Rockets who are constantly criticized for flopping -- particularly Curry's MVP runner-up and series star counterpart James Harden -- find themselves with their opponent receiving a fine on a call they were not assessed.

Maybe we'll get lucky and neither team will try and elicit a call by exaggerating contact through the rest of this series.

... Yeah, I don't think so, either.

Source: http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/25191407/stephen-curry-steve-kerr-morally-object-to-flopping-fine

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VIDEO: Forget high school, watch Stephen Curry take on his Dad as an eighth ...

High school highlights of superstar athletes have become en vogue. Whenever someone wins an award, some website (occasionally this one) will trot out their high school mixtape to showcase what they were like as a high school senior. Heres a hint: Typically they completely overwhelmed their opponents. Not a big surprise.

So, why go down this road? Were raising this as a caveat to the video you see above, which are youthful highlights of new NBA MVP Stephen Curry, with a strong emphasis on youthful.

Those arent Stephen Currys high school highlights (if you want to see those, click here). Those are Stephs middle school highlights, when he was a truly undersized point guard at the Toronto-area school Queensway Christian College. Well, the video isnt so much season-long highlights as it the better points from an exhibition game in which Currys undefeated Queensway Christian College team took on a team helmed by his father, then-NBA sharpshooter Dell Curry.

According to a profile on Currys time in the country by the Toronto Star, his skills as a middle schooler were as self-evident as they are today. Perhaps even more so.

He was this tiny little guy, but when we put him on the court he was just unbelievable. He was scoring 40 points, 50 points a game, no problem, James Lackey, the history teacher who coached the Queensway Christian College teamin 2001-02, told the Star. No one even came close to us that year.

Want more proof of his middle school dominance? Check out this story, again from Lackey:

Looking back on that season, the big moment that sticks out for Field and Lackey is the final game of a tournament at Mentor College, a private school in Mississauga. The Saints were down by eight points with about a minute left in the championship game, an undefeated season on the line against Hillcrest Jr. Public School.

Huddled on the sidelines with his players, Lackey was exasperated. I tell them: Guys, I think were going to lose. I am out of ideas. I have nothing left to give you on how to beat these guys.

Then Curry piped up. Give me the ball.

Coach goes, All right, (teammate Casey) Field recalled, just give him the ball.

Next thing you know, Curry hits a three, gets a steal, hits another three, Field hits a three, Curry hits another three. Ive never seen anything like it, Lackey said. We ended up winning the game. It was a 13-point swing-around and it was entirely because of him.

If the Warriors follow the same path on the NBA level this year, there will be little question who got them there, either.

basketball, boys basketball, Canada, Dell Curry, Queensway Christian College, Stephen Curry, Must See, Outside The Box, Video

Source: http://usatodayhss.com/2015/video-forget-high-school-watch-stephen-curry-take-on-his-dad-as-an-eighth-grader

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5 Reasons Stephen Curry Is Criminally Underrated

Mar 4, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) points to a teammate during the first quarter against the Milwaukee Bucks at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L c*x-USA TODAY Sports

Mondaynight against the Phoenix Suns, Stephen Curry put up 36 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals in a road victory that gave his team its 50th win of the season. It was an impressive stat line to be sure, but not his best of the season and not even the best stat line of the night.

Why then, was Mondaynights win for the Golden State Warriors such an eye-opening event that would lead me to create such an outlandish headline?

Well, aside from being able to observe Steph Curry in person for the first time, it became blatantly obvious just how criminally underrated he is.

It seems ludicrous to make a statement like that about one of the NBAs top MVP candidates, a guy who just so happens to be averaging 23.8 points, 7.7 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game while flirting with joining the 50-40-90 club. But even his status as quite possibly the leagues best point guard and most enjoyable heat check doesnt quite do him justice.

Its been a rough couple of weeks for the Suns, who traded the face of the franchise in Goran Dragic and handed the reins over to Eric Bledsoe. With the team floundering and in clear need of leadership, Currys dominant 25-point second half served as a painful reminder to everyone in the building that not every franchise is lucky enough to have a star player capable of putting his team on his back.

To be honest, watching Curry go to work was probably one of the most enjoyable aspects of the 98-80 rout for Suns fans. With each jaw-dropping three-point bomb, the US Airways Center crowd swayed closer and closer to cheering for himout of sheer respect for the high level of basketball on display.

Players like that in the NBA are rare, and when someone of that caliber has grown men in media row sitting there with eyes popping out of their skulls like five-year-olds hearing their parents swear for the first time, you know youre witnessingsomething special.

Steph Curry isnt just a great basketball player who generates a lot of highlight reel plays. Hes an NBA deity whose MVP argument of best player on the leagues best team criminally underscores all that he brings to the table for his team and for the league in general.

Source: http://hoopshabit.com/2015/03/10/5-reasons-stephen-curry-criminally-underrated/

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