Baron Davis remembers watching the Warriors draft Steph Curry – and his instant reaction to his former team’s bet on the future.
Chatting with Draymond Green on “The Draymond Green Show,” Davis looked back at the moment when his former team and coach, franchise icon Don Nelson, drafted the Golden State superstar guard, who he knew would have the potential to be a generational player.
“When Nelly drafted Steph Curry, I remember watching the draft,” Davis told Green. “I said, ‘Oh sh-t he found his guy.
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“He found his next Steve Nash that could potentially be better. And with him, [Monta Ellis] and [Stephen Jackson], I was like, ‘Oh sh-t.’”
The retired guard recalls being so excited about Curry that he would tune in to watch the Warriors play, knowing that the new-era Warriors would be a difficult matchup for any team.
"I used to always dial in and watch the Warriors because I was like, ‘If this kid can do …’ You know what I mean?," Davis added. "What Nelly wants him to do, or what he can get to. They’re going to be tough."
Having finished his three-season tenure with the Warriors two seasons before Curry's arrival, Davis, along with Nelson and Co. had taken Golden State from being a perennial bottom-feeder in the Western Conference to clinching its first NBA playoff appearance in 13 seasons during the 2006-07 season.
Golden State Warriors
The legendary "We Believe" Warriors team set the precedent for the legendary Big Three era, igniting Dub Nation and the franchise with a sense of empowerment that Davis noticed years later.
"I was always rooting," Davis concluded. "And then when you came and Klay, and then y'all start bringing back older dudes from the legacy.
"Y'all was rocking our jerseys to the game. Y’all was turning it up. Like how can we not be excited?"
Certainly, with Curry on the court, that same Warriors excitement will continue for Dub Nation.