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NBA FINALS: CAVALIERS vs WARRIORS

June 5, 2018

Stephen Curry

Cleveland, Ohio: Practice Day

Q. I'm going to ask your opinion, if you care to give it, on the Eagles situation and how you feel about being the team and kind of the guy that started that, for want of a better word, protest kind of deal with the White House?
STEPH CURRY: You know any team that wins a championship is going to be in a decision-making situation where you've got to do what is in the best interest of your team and kind of handle that accordingly, like we did last year. Or I should say like what we planned to do, having a meeting together to figure out what our decision was going to be, and obviously know what Trump did before we had an opportunity to do that.

Kind of a similar situation here. But not surprising. It's unfortunate, but we all have our right to kind of do what we want to do. The Eagles fall in line with that.

Q. Following up on that, LeBron said he would expect that either team that won a championship would not want to go. Do you agree with that? And also all the black players from the Eagles decided before being uninvited that they did not want to go. I wanted to see what you thought about that as well.
STEPH CURRY: I hope to be in that situation and win two more games where we win a championship and obviously know what comes with that. But I think I agree with LeBron. Pretty sure the way we handled things last year, kind of stay consistent with that.

But at the end of the day, like I said, every team has an opportunity to make a decision for themselves and speak for themselves. I think that's powerful, being in this situation.

Q. If -- and I know it's a big if -- you get Andre Iguodala back, what does he bring to your team that you're missing -- not that you're missing, but what does he bring?
STEPH CURRY: No, I know what you mean. We talk about his versatility all the time. We talk about the ways that he can fill holes defensively and offensively for us, especially against teams that we have such familiarity with. He's such a high-IQ type of guy that he'll most likely find himself in the right place at the right time and help our rotation get back to what we're consistently used to.

Just for him, just as a person, to be healthy and be able to play in The Finals now that we're here, I think that would mean a lot to him and give us an emotional boost as well.

I don't know what his status is, but I know he's said he's been feeling better and making progress. So that's good. I don't know what other hurdles he has to clear to get back out there on the floor. I'll let him speak on that.

Q. To go back to the anthem and the White House for a second. When you first came out and said last year that you weren't interested in going, did you expect, number one, that we'd still be talking about it a year later and that the divide was seemingly going to widen between the White House and athletes in general? And secondly, did you ever think about maybe the unintended consequence of the White House is now almost using this as fuel in some regards in that -- for example, they came out today and said the Eagles are the ones alienating their fans. Did you have any idea it was going to turn into all of this?
STEPH CURRY: No. But I didn't really -- I did care, because it's an important conversation. But you can't control what other people try to do or try to control the narrative or things like that. We've been really consistent about our messaging and understand why we decided -- or I should say why I decided to speak out on me not wanting to go to the White House last year. And every team that has won a championship since then has gone through that.

Like I said, it's hard for -- so many people want to chime in. How, I guess, social media is used today, the conversation can get out of control with so many different voices. I know a guy from the Eagles, wide receiver who played on the Super Bowl-winning team last year, and he broke it down pretty verbatim of how his process went with his discussions with his teammates and how he wanted to keep the focus on what the conversation should be and not the anthem and not Trump's policies and how he's been overshadowing the NFL and all that type of stuff.

So that's refreshing that he's educating people along the way. I think that's important. If you focus on who is saying the right things, you shouldn't get lost in the noise that's going on right now.

Q. This season, how have you seen the dynamic with you and Kevin Durant play out in terms of knowing when it's best for you to get going and him to get going, and vice versa?
STEPH CURRY: Every opportunity we get to play more minutes together, we start to figure out a better chemistry. That's been the case since October 2017. It's nice when we're both going and have the opportunity to play off of each other. We both can be aggressive no matter if I'm getting the shot or he's getting the shot or anybody else on the team is getting the shot. When we pick our spots offensively and try to find the right matchups, find the right flow, make simple plays, good things usually happen.

I think it's best when we're communicating with each other about what we see on the floor consistently. We've been doing a lot of that as of late, encouraging each other, but also kind of pinpointing things that we see. It's refreshing to hear that from his perspective, and I'm sure vice versa. So that helps.

I remember in the fourth quarter of Game 2 right when Cleveland called the first timeout, he was the first one in my face pepping me up for kind of holding it down while he's on the bench. And vice versa.

We want to see each other succeed. Got a good chemistry going.

Q. Specifically this season because there are so many different overlapping injuries with yourself and sometimes he was out of the lineup, to what degree did that play any complications at times?
STEPH CURRY: Not much. I would say kind of the things that we bring the best out of each other when it comes to what our strengths are. When one guy is out, you miss that. But it's not hard to kind of ramp it back up once we're both out there on the floor. So ever since Game 2 of the Pelicans series, we built up that chemistry again. And it's been fun.

Q. When you walk into this building in June, what kind of memories hit you? Also, how do you feel like you've played here during the playoffs?
STEPH CURRY: I mean, it feels like The Finals. Like I said, this is a road atmosphere. In The Finals, this is the only building I know what that experience is like. We know how the atmosphere is here. We know how Cleveland plays here, with a lot of energy and force. I think without going back to each game, I think I've played solidly. Obviously, hopefully raise my level up this year, coming in with the opportunity we have in front of us being up 2-0 again.

We understand how hard it is to win in this building. No matter what's gone on in the series, when you change venues, you've got to reassert your dominance and try to find that right momentum to start. We have a great opportunity tomorrow to do that. I want to be a part of leading that charge and playing an amazing game tomorrow and really taking control of the series.

Q. Given all the injuries you guys have had this season, how important has someone like Chelsea Lane been in terms of helping you guys get to this point?
STEPH CURRY: She's been huge. And her whole team has been huge. Just being there for us, we all have kind of unique injuries or things that we're dealing with. Every guy kind of copes with injuries differently, so from a mental aspect as well, helping us through the recovery process and kind of giving us the game plan of how we can get back on the floor and be better than we were before we got injured.

Even just maintenance work throughout the season for the healthy guys. We play a lot of minutes, a lot of games, so they're vital to our success.

She's been amazing, especially for me. Just thinking about all that I've been through this year with the ankle and the knee and all that type of stuff, just keeping me sane. You're not on the court for a good amount of time. You've got to keep the right perspective about your rehabilitation and understanding that big picture: I can come back like I have and be the player that I want to be when it matters most.

Q. What is she kind of like as a person, and how would you describe her overall approach to the job?
STEPH CURRY: Very positive. She's got a great sense of humor about stuff. I'd say topics of conversation in the training room go all over the place. She doesn't have that huge basketball background. She's not really talking about much of that. It's just, what have we got to do today to get right. She's always one step ahead trying to anticipate what your mood might be like coming into the training room, no matter what you're going through.

She's fun. She's got a great staff that they all step up to the task and sacrifice for us. We've got a good thing going in there.

Q. The NFL people pointed out that the NBA does have a policy, done a while ago, to enforce that you must stand for the anthem. I guess there was some understanding that you could stay in the back. Do you think that's worth discussing? Are you OK with this policy, or do you understand that this has been agreed to with the players and you don't need to open up that discussion again?
STEPH CURRY: Honestly, I didn't know that rule. I would assume if somebody wanted to demonstrate or protest during the anthem that there would be an opportunity to have that discussion and understand what the player wants to express in that moment and that the league would support that player while they're doing it. I don't know if that's come up because nobody has knelt during the National Anthem.

I think from just overall, just thinking about how the league has supported players and we've had that open dialogue, I'm happy to be playing in this league and know that we can speak on what we believe without people breathing down your neck. That's a good environment to come to work in.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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