Bob Finnan's NBA notes: Stephen Curry joining LeBron James in NBA spotlight
OAKLAND, Calif. — LeBron James has been the face of the NBA for 12 years.
This kind of adoration is new to Stephen Curry.
The Warriors point guard was named Most Valuable Player this season and is starting to appear in commercials. He appreciates how James handles it.
“Obviously, ever since he was a rookie, and even way before in high school, he was kind of holding a big responsibility and huge expectations on his shoulders,” Curry said. “He’s obviously lived up to them. But the fanfare and kind of the on and off the court circus that’s probably surrounding him day-in and day-out, it’s probably the way he handles it, I’m pretty impressed.
“It’s been a crazy year for me, and I haven’t had time to really let it all sink in because obviously we’re still playing and I have a huge goal in mind. But it has been a lot to deal with. You kind of learn on the go and how you’re going to handle it and be comfortable. But he’s had a lot of experience with it under his belt, so I’m just getting started.”
James doesn’t think there has been much heaped on Curry’s shoulders.
“He’s had an unbelievable season,” he said. “(He) got the MVP, (and) rightfully so. I don’t think it’s much pressure on him, though.
“I think he just goes out and plays. I don’t think anybody has put too much pressure on him to do anything besides what he’s been doing all year.”
Warriors coach Steve Kerr played with Michael Jordan in Chicago. He said that kind of pressure is a big burden for anyone, much less a fresh-faced kid from Charlotte.
“LeBron’s had it for years,” Kerr said. “Michael, obviously, carried it for more than a decade and Magic and Larry. I mean, they’ve all been through that, and Steph is entering that realm this year. But he’s built for it.
“He’s unbelievably grounded and takes everything in stride. He’s humble and yet incredibly confident in his game. So when the critique comes, a couple bad games and people are picking apart his game or whatever, his life, (it) doesn’t seem to affect him.”
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Walton’s new gig
Former Cavs forward Luke Walton joined Warriors coach Steve Kerr’s staff this year after his playing career ended.
Walton wasn’t sure if he wanted to coach, but decided to give it a try. Now, he’s in the NBA Finals.
“If you don’t love what you do, it’s probably not a good job for you,” he said. “I came into here with an open mind. ‘We’ll see how it goes.’ I’ll put everything into it.
“We signed a two-year contract. If I don’t like them or they don’t like me, I’ll find something else to do. I’m pleasantly surprised how much I like coming to work every day. The nuances of the coaching profession, I really enjoy.”
Walton, the son of Hall of Famer Bill Walton, played in 2011-12 and 2012-13 with the Cavs. He didn’t have a lot left in his tank when he arrived in Cleveland, but he knew how to play the game.
“I loved it,” he said of playing for the Cavs. “It’s a great sports town. The fans are incredible. Our record was subpar, but they were there every night cheering us on. It was a little cold for me, though.”
He does miss playing, but he’ll occupy his time in other ways.
“There are a lot of nights when it’s the middle of February in Minnesota and I think, ‘Thank God I’m not playing anymore.’ ” he said. “I just have to prepare. Then there’s big playoff games where you do the game plan and get these guys ready, and all you can do is sit there and hope things go well. There are in-game adjustments to be made, but you miss being out on the court. This is a great environment to learn under.”
Kerr borrowed a plan from his former coach in Chicago, Phil Jackson, where all assistants have responsibilities for game planning. Walton handles Cleveland, the Los Angeles Lakers (where he made four NBA Finals appearances), the Knicks (triangle) and Memphis (where he lived for a while).
“Any connection you had, that’s how they tallied them up,” he said.
More connections
There are Cavs connections up and down the Warriors roster. Of course, Kerr played three seasons with the Cavs.
• Many thought the Cavs would draft Harrison Barnes in 2012. They took Dion Waiters instead.
• Klay Thompson’s brother, Mychel, played five games with the Cavs in 2011-12. The Cavs got the short end of the stick there.
• Ditto with Justin Holiday, the brother of Jrue. He was waived in training camp in 2012.
• Shaun Livingston played the 2012-13 season with the Cavs and averaged 7.2 points. He played well as the backup point guard that season.
• Marreese Speights played half a season with the Cavs in 2012-13 after being traded from Memphis. He averaged 10.2 points.
Speights, of course, returned to the Warriors for Game 1 of the Finals. He had been sidelined with a calf injury.
“I was out for a minute,” he said. “I was just happy to put my uniform on.
“When the coach called on me, I knew I had to go out there and impact the game anyway I could.”
And he did. He had eight points, three rebounds and one assists in eight minutes of Game 1.
He said he had a lot of good memories of Cleveland.
“When I got there, it was a good atmosphere,” he said. “The fans came out. We won a lot of big games. I enjoyed playing with Tristan (Thompson) and Kyrie (Irving).”
Speights was sad to hear the news on Irving, who will face season-ending surgery on his broken knee cap.
“I feel bad for him,” he said. “He’s my old teammate. I feel bad to see him get hurt like that. They’ll be prepared. They played a couple games without him.”
Close to being a Warrior?
Kevin Love came close to being traded to Golden State last summer instead of Cleveland. Had the Warriors given up Klay Thompson, he probably would have been.
It was a move the Warriors are probably glad they didn’t make.
“It’s a hard question to answer, because, I mean, this is the NBA,” Kerr said. “Stuff is discussed all the time. The only thing I would say is the feeling with this group was that we had a pretty good team already. This team has been really good.
“As an organization we wanted to see how good we could become. You always listen and that kind of thing. But in the end, if you want to be good, you’ve got to have continuity and you’ve got to have organic growth, and we want to keep this core together for a long time if we can.”
Quick shots
• Cavs forward Tristan Thompson covered a distance of 3.34 miles in Game 1, according to the NBA. That’s about a third more than the next-closest player. Thompson grabbed 15 rebounds in 47 minutes.
• Curry was asked about being born in Akron General Hospital 39 months apart from James. “I mean, it’s a pretty crazy coincidence,” he said. “My pops (Dell) was playing in Cleveland, and my mom chose Akron General where I was going to be born. And, obviously, LeBron four years earlier was already there. So we were joking there is probably some more talent coming out of that hospital right now. The scouts should be lining up to maybe send their first recruit letters out.”
But as with the game itself, live by Lebron, die by Lebron.
