Stephen Curry spoke to NBC Bay Area at his Underrated Tour on Friday. He was seen without a walking boot. Here’s a transcript of the Golden State Warriors-related portion of his interview with Anthony Flores:
• How does the ankle feel without the walking boot? “Feels good…doing everything I can to get fully healthy for the playoff run…being there for my teammates, finish off the season strong…”
• Still disappointment you’re not able to come back for one or two regular season games? “I hate missing any game…light at the end of the tunnel…everybody likes the bright lights of the playoffs and it’s nice to know we’ll be back there after a two year hiatus…”
• What does starting basketball activities look like, does it start slow and build up? “Yeah, everything is…strategic as possible in terms those next steps. I know what my target date is. I know it’s trying to get back for Game 1 of the playoffs…”
• Do you have to be careful to not rush that back? “Yes and no. You don’t wanna rush where you put yourself in danger. That’s kinda why I know that I won’t be able to play the rest of the regular season, but April 16th or 17th, whenever Game 1 is, that’s the goal…hopefully be as close to 100% as possible.”
• Frustrating to not be on the court? “Yeah and it’s kinda the theme of the Warriors these last two years, unfortunately…Klay’s been through it…James…Draymond…you have to stay engaged as much as possible mentally…honestly there are times when you’re down because you wanna be out there…that’s your happy place. But as long as I can support my teammates, be as ingrained in what we’re doing as much as possible, stay locked in mentally, then the transition back into the clutter is a lot easier.”
• Does your voice as a leader change because you’re not on court? “Yes and no. They always listen to me, though. I can usually say whatever and I get a response.”
• Are you more vocal now? “You have to be…it’s more so being present and bringing a positive attitude 🚨 because we know what we’re trying to build towards and you gotta find ways to impact that.”
• Does the chemistry being off get solved once you’re back on the court? “No, is not about that. It’s about — it’s a long regular season…a lot of highs, a lot of lows and…there hasn’t been a consistent stretch where we’ve had everybody available…a lot of different rotations and different parts of the season where you’re kinda guessing who’s gonna be available, so hard for any team to go through…understanding who we are, our identity, and what we know we’re capable of in the playoffs…that confidence is always there.”
• Any connect with playoff seeding sliding? “Not really…for us right now it’s about how we’re playing. We wanna win, obviously, we wanna have something to show for it…finding some type of identity in terms of Warrior basketball to get ready for the playoff run.”
• Kerr said today that you can just make one shot and you’re in rhythm. How long do you think it will take for you to be ready to play? “That’s what this whole process is about from now until April 16th. I’ve gone through this before so it won’t be — it shouldn’t be difficult to match that playoff intensity and do what I need to do out there and be myself…I know how to grind through these injuries…”
• Can this team still win the championship? “Absolutely. But the way that we’re gonna do it is not based on teams of old. It’s about, like I said, finding some identity…honestly it’s gonna be a tough road because we’re gonna have a new rotation again when I come back but that just means you have to find yourself every game…possession, every minute is important. We can start to scare some people once we get into the playoffs and find that Warrior basketball.”
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• Where will you put your new Oscar? “…under my pillow…”
• Is there more pressure now that you’ve won an Oscar on picking film projects? “Nah. It’s the same thing as a Championship or anything else. You just love the journey and good things happen. 🚨 You love who you get to do projects with. It’s kind of my motto.”
• Because you tweeted about it, any follow up reaction to the Will Smith x Chris Rock incident? “Next question.”
• Thoughts on Bam Bam being the first K-Pop star to perform at an NBA halftime? “All I want is Andrew Wiggins to be his backup singer for like one song. I’ll usher Andrew to the center stage. That’s all I want, the least he could do for all the help during All-Star Weekend.”
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