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AMERICAN CENTURY CHAMPIONSHIPJuly 11, 2019Steph CurryStateline, Nevada THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Steph Curry. This is Steph's seventh appearance here at the ACC. His two best finishes were two fourth places. But more importantly he's one of the more popular players out here. Q. How much are you thinking about winning this event? Do you really put a lot of time in thinking you've got a real good shot at winning this? STEPH CURRY: Oh, for sure. Once you get a little taste of success, I'll call it, and I think one year I was in the final group, and coming down the back nine, a birdie here, there, might get you a chance to win, that elevates your expectations. The summer schedule for me is kind of crazy, end of the season, going to China, all that type of stuff for Under Armour. So the golf game is kind of secondary to all that, which it should be. But I seem to find my game pretty quick. And hopefully just play well and hit some good shots. And as everybody wants to, you get off to a good start and see what happens. Q. As we mentioned, you've been out here numerous times. What elements of your game do you think need to improve for you to win out here? STEPH CURRY: I mean, everybody wants to make putts. And that's what usually decides the winner. But for me it's mostly just trying to avoid those kind of boneheaded mistakes. I know the limits of my game and just try to stay within that. But really just try to keep the ball in play off the tee, mostly, and then good things will happen from there. Usually when I get sideways, it's from the tee box and try to do too much with it. So that's probably the one thing I'll try to focus on. Q. Just curious kind of with the Warriors, with the new arena, the new era and all this, some young talent coming in, where do you see the style of play going from here? STEPH CURRY: I mean, it will develop as we get together as a group. Like I said, there's a lot of changes. It was a tough way to end the finals with KD and Klay getting injured and free agency. And for us, our core -- myself, Klay, Draymond, adding D'Angelo and a lot of hungry, young guys trying to prove themselves in the league, it will look different in terms of the lineups and things like that, but the expectations of how we play and that championship-caliber basketball, that's going to be for us always be the motivation and the challenge. So I'm excited about the -- to be honest with you, it's five straight years in the finals, we've accomplished a lot, three championships. There's a lot to be proud of. But everybody wants a new challenge in terms of how do you get back to that level. Q. Your first chance to comment on Kevin Durant's departure to Brooklyn. All the dimensions of it -- what he meant when he was here, how you felt about him not re-signing with Golden State? STEPH CURRY: The three years that we had was special. Like you said, with KD, we had three straight Finals appearances. We won two of them. And we accomplished a lot as a group. Everybody talks about the amount of talent we had on that team, but that doesn't guarantee that you can figure it out on the court and that you can put all the pieces together to be successful. I'm really proud of what we accomplished. The beauty of free agency is everybody has a decision, everybody has a choice, and you want to find your happiness wherever that is. And the beauty of the NBA is that everybody has that decision at some point, especially the guys that deserve it, like K and the other top free agents. Again, I like to look at what we accomplished and focus on that and be extremely proud of this run that we had. And now we're going to have to recreate it in terms of what it means going forward. Q. Along those same lines, Andre Iguodala had to be a casualty of the cap. Maybe a comment on the cruelty of the business, and what will it be like without the adult in the room, as they call him, although you're probably an adult, too. STEPH CURRY: I'm the oldest on the team now. I gotta step up my game. It's a tough business. That's part of it. You know at some point or another, whether it's this year, next year or the year after, there's going to be some hard decisions, hard changes. You talk about Andre and Shaun, two guys that do things the right way, have an ultimate level of professionalism, leadership, and just have a presence when they walk in the room that you respect, everything they say and do. That makes them who they are. And they're three-time champs, both of them, and I think they've got a lot left in the tank. It will be fun. Be hard to watch them on different teams; but, again, you look at all that we accomplished and those are things that we'll remember for a lifetime. I know Andre is out here playing golf. He'll probably say I'm going to miss him on the court, but I'm going to miss him on road trips, being able to call him, say when is our tee time. That's going to be tough. Q. Curious what you think of the deal that Seth was able to get. And in that same light, we had a couple of brothers play at the University of Nevada, Caleb and Cody Martin, don't expect you to be familiar with them -- curious, do you have any advice for them about navigating as brothers within the NBA and how you guys pick each other up? STEPH CURRY: I'm extremely excited for Seth, multiple reasons, job security in terms of getting multi-year deal that he's been looking for a couple of years now. And even considering him coming off a surgery, missing an entire year, the year before last. Extremely happy for him going back to a city he's played for before and knows the atmosphere, the arena, the fans. That's going to be exciting for him. In terms of brothers, like everybody's path is different, and not to be overwhelmed or really be overwhelmed by who goes where and how quickly things materialize for each other. Just put your head down, control what you can control, and that's the best way to go about it. The NBA is tough. It's tough to get there. It's tough to stay there. And you gotta put the work in and kind of just keep laser focus on what you can control. And support each other as brothers. When you're at this level, it's kind of surreal stuff, man. So enjoy the moment. Q. In the last two years, last year you went in the lake; the year before Dell went in the lake. Have you guys determined what the bet is between the Currys this year? STEPH CURRY: The lake is done. (Laughter). But we're trying to figure out what could replace it. There's been some good ideas thrown out. Something around karaoke. Something around a food challenge. Something like that. We've got to figure it out before tomorrow's round starts, if I'm going to spot him any points. He's playing -- I don't know if he'll admit it now that he's on the property -- he's playing the best golf he's played in his life. I've got to keep that into account. Q. Is there going to be an adjustment after the first round; is that going to be part of the deal? STEPH CURRY: I think this year now that he knows his game and he knows mine, we'll set the bet and just live with it; if it gets too crazy, might have to switch it up. Q. Would a win here be more meaningful and satisfying than beating the old man or what? STEPH CURRY: In terms of winning the tournament? I want that trophy for sure. If pops is second, that would be even sweeter, but I want that trophy for sure. Q. Curious if you look at the way you played ball and look at a golfer on TOUR, who is the guy you maybe most relate to as a professional golfer? STEPH CURRY: Great question. I don't know. I'm trying to think of somebody like has creativity to him, but has like kind of changed the game in some way. I think if you think of those two points, accolades and all that type of stuff, like Ricky Fowler is probably a good guy that's created a wave of popularity for the younger generation and has a very unique style. That's my best answer. Q. Combining basketball and golf, you dislocated your fingers, looked painful. Still looks painful. How does it affect your grip on the club? STEPH CURRY: So everybody's -- I think all the professionals I've talked to give you some pointers here and there they always talk about keeping your grip nice and loose and fluid. So the finger actually helps because I can't grab the club as hard as I want to, if I get nervous or something, because it will start hurting. I've got to kind of back off just automatically. So it puts me in a pretty good spot. Funny how that stuff works out. Q. You talked about just all the changes in free agency. Did a lot of it catch you off guard in terms of what the Warriors did, and when you look at the league now, especially the Western Conference, the Clippers and the Lakers, how do you size it up? STEPH CURRY: There's a lot of change. It's like this every summer. Just now it's continuing to involve the biggest names in the game every summer. The west has always been tough. It's been that way as we started this finals run back in 2015, and I think it's going to continue. In terms of what we did this summer, really proud of our front office trying to put the pieces together in terms of filling out the roster for talented guys that are going to be hungry to prove themselves in the league, and obviously with D'Angelo, with the year he had last year. Take that next step. I think we're all going to figure it out together. So it's going to be an adjustment. I think we talked about this when Coach Kerr took over back in 2015, we had proven success in terms of being a playoff team, just had to fine tune it a little bit. Now that we're champions and experienced that, it's just about fine tuning with the personnel that you have. And we have high basketball IQ so I have confidence we'll figure it out. Q. You tied last year with Sterling Sharpe, any side bets with him? STEPH CURRY: I might see him on the range in the morning. So I'm sure, since you asked that question, he's probably going to come up and say something. Q. You're a great basketball player, golfer and such a nice guy and now you're in the TV business. Is there anything you're not good at? STEPH CURRY: I can't sing. I can hold a beat but I can't really dance like that. But when it comes to showing personality and anything with hand-eye coordination I got that pretty much down pat for sure. Q. What is your history with D'Angelo Russell? He's a young kid, your encounters with him through the years and what do you expect the dynamic to be as you welcome him to the team? STEPH CURRY: I mean, the noise he made last year was amazing, what they did in Brooklyn, and him taking that next step as a certified All-Star. I haven't had much personal interaction with him. On and off the court, obviously just playing against each other. Back when he got drafted there were comparisons of our games and how smooth he played and he could shoot the ball, he could handle, he could pass. And having guys that are versatile like that only helps your team. So the chemistry will develop quickly, be really purposeful about that and try to set the tone for how we're going to play going into this year. Again, it's about encouraging each other having confidence that we'll bring the best out of each other and then when Klay gets back as well, add him to the back court mix it will be fun. Q. With Andre gone, who is your golf homeboy now? STEPH CURRY: Klay still plays, but he's going to be out for a minute. I might have to introduce a lot of the guys to the game. I might have to get me a bunch of clubs on the plane, it's team bonding time, let's go out. Q. With the ABC station, can you talk about you and your wife getting involved on our network? STEPH CURRY: It's pretty amazing. Tonight, Thursday night obviously starting at 8 eastern and her show coming on at 9, it's pretty amazing to be in this world where you get to share some passions and excitement and entertainment for families sitting down watching TV together. Obviously with "Holey Moley," it's loud. It's crazy. It's fun. And I think people really gravitate towards it in terms of blending the acrobatics of what they have to do in the miniature golf style and just the comedy as well. The crew that we have is amazing. And obviously for her and the culinary world bringing families together through the kitchen with Family Food Fight, it's pretty amazing to see all the work that she put into the show, first and foremost, but also the reaction of people attaching to certain families and seeing how diverse people are in terms of the way they cook. But at the end of the day for families, it's a place to gather and a place to share your most special moments. So I think that was really special for her to be able to bring that show and for us to take over Thursday night is pretty crazy. Q. With the entrepreneurial endeavors and her in Napa with restaurants and you with TV and parenting, how do you do it all? STEPH CURRY: It's a learning curve in terms of balancing it all. A lot of doors have been opened in terms of doing things outside of the basketball court and kind of sharing who we are as a family and who we are as a couple and things like that. She's amazing. I'm trying to keep up with her in terms of how busy she is. Like I said, she's got her wine, Covergirl, GoDaddy, "Family Food Fight," all that type of stuff. And her kitchenware as well, bakeware; it's insane. So I'm asking the same question to her because I've got a set schedule. I know where I'm at 82 games a year. She's all over the place. And parenting those three beautiful kids as well. Q. Canon just celebrated his first birthday in the last couple of weeks. STEPH CURRY: Yes, July is all birthdays for our kids. It's a lot of celebrating going on for sure. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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