Mannion shares incredible story that shows Steph’s routine greatness originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
Many rookies and young players entering the league have pointed to Warriors superstar Steph Curry for delivering their “welcome to the NBA” moment.
And for Nico Mannion, who was selected by Golden State with the No. 48 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, it didn’t take long for him to get his wake-up call.
Five days after Mannion was drafted, he was already put to the challenge of guarding Curry during a players-only scrimmage that Draymond Green put together.
Mannion acknowledged he wasn’t locking Curry up, but thought he was doing a decent job defending the greatest shooter of all time.
But Curry will quickly humble you.
“There’s one play, he goes left and I go to cut him off, and he goes to go behind the back, kind of slips and falls at an angle so now his shoulder is to the basket,” Mannion explained on “LePodcast” earlier this week. “He’s sitting down dribbling the ball in his right hand, and I’m like I don’t know what to do, he just slipped, he’s on the ground.
“And as he gets up, he shoots. All in one motion. He steps back and shoots a three. I contest it and everything. It barely touches the net. It’s one of those where the net just kind of pulses. And Marquese, who’s one of my good friends, Marquese Chriss goes to throw the ball in and I look at him and I’m like ‘What the f–k was that?’ and he’s like ‘You’ll get used to it.’”
Incredible.
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The world has seen what the four-time NBA champion is capable of doing on the court, and every new jaw-dropping shot from downtown or record being broken is never any less impressive.
But hearing and learning about the stories of Curry and his greatness behind the scenes is another level of remarkable. And just like many other players in the league, Mannion had to learn the hard way.