SAN FRANCISCO – Multiple players have tried their hand at joining the Splash Brothers lore with the Warriors in one way or another.
The combination of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson can never be replicated. There never has been, and never will be, a more skilled shooting backcourt in the NBA. But the Warriors now have a literal Splash Brother on their roster, Curry’s younger brother Seth.
“It’s definitely special,” Curry said Thursday at his introductory press conference. “It feels like a good time in both of our careers for me to be here.”
Curry, 35, signed an Exhibit 9 contract with the Warriors on Wednesday that will allow him to be with the team throughout training camp and the preseason. They then will have to waive him to remain below the second apron. The first day the Warriors can sign a 15th player – Curry – and stay under the second apron is Nov. 11.
Despite the contract oddities and having to wait the entire offseason, Curry knew this was the right time for him to join his older brother in a Golden State jersey. Curry admitted coach Steve Kerr and general manager Mike Dunleavy continued to ask him the past few offseasons if he ever would be open to the idea after years of him not wanting to.
Going into his 12th year in the NBA and his 10th full season, now is when teaming up together was best for both.
“Just feels right for both of our careers,” he said. “For me coming from Charlotte the last couple of years, for me to have the opportunity to come back to a winning organization, everybody pushing on the same path and trying to win a championship is good for me.”
Curry went undrafted in 2013 and signed a non-guaranteed contract with the Warriors but never played a regular season game for Golden State. He did, however, play 38 games for their D-League (now called the G League) affiliate in Santa Cruz, averaging 19.7 points and 5.8 assists per game. It took Curry years to establish himself as a pro as his older brother jumped to superstardom.
Ironically, the same season Steph won his back-to-back MVP unanimously in 2015-16, Seth got his first big break down the road. Curry played 44 games for the Sacramento Kings that season and showed signs of a player bound for a long NBA career. He then played 70 games the next season with the Dallas Mavericks, starting 42, and averaged 12.8 points while shooting 42.5 percent from 3-point range.
Curry missed the entire 2017-18 season because of a stress fracture in his lower left leg. He returned as a key bench contributor for the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2018-19 season. In a three-year span from the 2019-20 season through the 2021-22 season, Curry averaged 28.9 minutes, 13.3 points and shot 44 percent on threes. He has since become a 3-point specialist off the bench, and a very good one at that.
He led the entire NBA with a 45.6 3-point percentage last season, and his 43.2 career 3-point percentage is second among active players – one spot ahead of Steph. The Currys are the First Family Of Shooting A Basketball. But Seth believes other parts of his game continue to be underrated.
“I feel like an all-around offensive player,” Curry said. “I mean, look at my numbers. I can obviously shoot the ball well from three, but I can score off the mid-range. I can do enough off the dribble where you can’t just run me off the line. It’s kind of stuff I had to develop over my career to be impactful in a lot of different situations.
“And then on defense, I’m in the right spots and compete. I played for [Warriors assistant coach Terry Stotts] for that one year in Portland and he had me out there in a lot of situations, a lot of big-time moments. There are a lot of underrated parts of my game that people don’t realize. They might not have watched me, especially the last couple years in Charlotte, but they’ll be on display.”
Seth has walked out of the shadows of being Steph’s little brother. But that still always will technically be what he is, and the elder Curry had to remind him somehow. Jokingly, Seth said he tried to buy Curry’s famous No. 30 jersey off him and his request was quickly denied, which is why he’ll be wearing No. 31 on the Warriors.
“He said he didn’t need the money,” Seth responded. “I don’t think the NBA would have liked that either.”
The thought of playing together in the NBA was always Steph’s dream more than Seth’s. The two grew up together in NBA locker rooms and could spend hours together shooting the ball. Parents had to have thought ‘If only, if only.’
Paving your own path, as Seth has, is commendable. He’s his own person and basketball player, as is Steph. They’re now part of an exclusive list of brothers to play together in the NBA and will do their all to downplay any memes and play on words, keeping the focus on basketball first.
The obvious also can’t be ignored. The timing is right, and the coolness factor of two Curry’s on one team is undeniable. The moment both are raining threes in the same game is a storm the Warriors and the entire Bay Area are ready to embrace.
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