McKillop’s funny story on kicking Steph out of college practice originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
Nowadays, Steph Curry takes practice and his workouts extremely seriously. But back in 2006, that was a different story, at least for one day.
Bob McKillop, Curry’s coach for three seasons at Davidson College in North Carolina, joined “Warriors Live: Finals Edition” on NBC Sports Bay Area an hour before Game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Warriors and Boston Celtics on Monday to discuss his former pupil.
Asked about Curry’s work ethic and if he ever had to boot the three-time NBA champion out of a practice, McKillop shared a great story about his first-ever college practice.
“I did kick him out once,” McKillop said. “It was actually his first practice. He showed up I think about a minute and a half late and I sent him to the showers. He came back the next day and he paid a price for not being there the first day. And I always carry a handkerchief. I guess halfway through the practice, I took the handkerchief out of my back pocket. I started waving it like the white flag because he was sucking wind.”
More than 16 years later, Curry’s work ethic and conditioning are unrivaled.
McKillop was one of the first coaches to truly see Curry’s routine develop.
“It was purposeful,” McKillop said. “Everything he did was at game speed with the same action that was going to happen in a game. And he’d do it off one foot, two feet. he’d do it off the wrong foot, the right foot, do it left-handed, do it right-handed, do it one-handed, do it two-handed. So he practiced in an extraordinary number of ways.”
On Sunday, Curry’s current coach, Steve Kerr spoke about the joy in watching the two-time NBA MVP’s routine, comparing him to a metronome.
RELATED: Curry graduates from Davidson during NBA playoff run
Curry’s days of getting kicked out of practices are over. Now he’s in the business of booting opposing teams out of the postseason, and with two more wins this week, he’ll do the same to the Celtics.