While Team USA cruised through the group stages to book their spot in the quarter-final, Stephen Curry has continued to struggle. Maybe, it is because of the added pressure of playing in his first Olympics, but the shots just aren’t falling for the greatest shooter in the world. However, an opposing player once helped unleash Steph and his Warriors pal Draymond Green had a stern warning for Andrew Nembhard, as he reminisced about the fire in the Splash Brother because of a specific incident in his rookie season.
Draymond was asked if he believes the Warriors are a better team than the Pacers, to which he instantly replied, “Are we better than the Pacers? We got Steph Curry.” Then, he explained why Steph turns ‘beast mode’ every time he faces the Indiana side. “If you go back and watch the game when we played the Pacers in the Bay… Nembhard gave us hell. You hear me? Complete hell and he was talking so crazy.”
Obviously, Draymond Green was talking about the game during Nembhard’s rookie season when he dropped a near triple-double bomb with 31 points, 13 assists, and 8 rebounds, while Stephen Curry was guarding him. Although the night belonged to Nembhard, his performance turned a switch in Curry’s head. Green further revealed, “In turn what you did was every time that guy see you now, he (Steph) could be sleepy on a back-to-back-to-back, when he see you, he at you now.” Oh, the scorelines that followed did all the talking!
Sure enough, the next three times Steph faced the Pacers, he dropped 38, 42, and 25 points respectively. “Blame Nembhard. If y’all have a hard time with us, its because Steph got an issue.” Draymond remarked on the Club 520 Podcast. Moreover, he was so confident in Steph’s abilities that he claimed the only way for Nembhard to avoid Steph’s wrath was if the Warriors superstar stopped playing basketball! And he also had a warning for the Canadian guard, “Every time he see Steph Curry, he better buckle up!”
But why is this story suddenly relevant now?
How can Andrew Nembhard unleash Stephen Curry in the Olympics?
Although the NBA season is still a couple of months away, Steph and Nembhard might face each other again, very soon. But this time, it will be while representing their nations at the Paris Olympics. Yes, after dominating the group stages, both Team USA and Canada are through to the knockouts. And according to the brackets, they could meet for the Gold medal match on August 11. But first, Canada will have to defeat France in the quarter-final and one more team in the semis.
Meanwhile, Team USA will need to eliminate Brazil and the winner of Serbia vs. Australia to book a spot in the final. In the first three games, Stephen Curry has averaged only 7.3 points on an abysmal 9 of 15 shooting from the three-point line. But facing Nembhard in the final could rekindle the fire in the Splash Brother like it always does against the Pacers and that would mean trouble for the Canadian team.
And if Stephen Curry goes off in the possible final encounter, there’ll be no stopping Team USA from winning gold that night. Draymond Green said it best, “When Steph go off, it’s over. It’s a wrap.”
Do you agree?