"I honestly believe like 90-something percent of NBA players don't do that in that situation" - Jeremy Lin shares story of how a young Steph Curry played through injury in a meaningless NBA game
Former NBA guard Jeremy Lin shared a story on how a young Steph Curry played through an injury during the early part of his career. Lin was amazed by Curry's dedication because it happened in a meaningless game in the final stretch of the regular season.
In an interview with Scott Davis of the Insider, Lin recalled how Curry decided to play in the final regular-season game of the 2010-11 season. The Golden State Warriors were out of the playoff picture and Curry was nursing an ankle injury. The future two-time MVP had 18 points and nine assists in their 110-86 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.
"He's limping around, he's like, 'I'm playing tonight,'"Lin said. "I'm like, 'Are you serious?' Why would you ever — who would do that? But he was just like, 'I'm playing tonight, I wanna play, I would love to play. If I can limp, I can play.'
"And I'm just like, wow, that's a special passion for the game. I honestly believe like 90-something percent of NBA players don't do that in that situation."
Steph Curry and Jeremy Lin were teammates for the 2010-11 season at Golden State. Curry was just in his second year in the league then, while Lin was a rookie. Curry's ankle problems started that season, but were only minor at that point. He finished that season with averages of 18.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 5.8 assists.
However, Curry endured his biggest setback the following season with a major ankle injury that required surgery. He played just 26 games in the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season.
After questions about his durability started popping up heading into his fourth season, Curry exploded into one of the best players in the league. He announced his arrival with a legendary 54-point performance at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 27, 2013.
Jeremy Lin recalls playing with a young Steph Curry, whose unique mix of intensity and 'gentleness' foreshadowed stardom insider.com/jeremy-lin-kne…
Jeremy Lin knows Steph Curry's early struggles in his NBA career
Jeremy Lin knew of the struggles Steph Curry had to endure during the early years of his career. The two were teammates for a year, with Curry under his second coach in two years for the 2010-11 season. Curry had Don Nelson during his rookie year before Keith Smart took over.
Lin told Sky Sports in August that Smart was not a fan of the future four-time NBA champion who changed the game forever. He explained that Smart would bench Curry in the fourth quarter despite having a great game.
"I was with him my rookie year," Lin said. "The coach that we had didn't believe that much in Steph and would bench him a lot. Get on him, yell at him a lot, was just really tough on him. It almost became normal that every fourth quarter, he would get benched for a certain stretch."
The Warriors fired Smart after that season and replaced him with Mark Jackson. Curry, alongside Klay Thompson, became the Splash Brothers under Jackson and the rest is history.