Since Steph Curry joined the Golden State Warriors 17 years ago, they have been the blueprint for success in the NBA. But according to one of Curry’s former teammates, the team would have had the same level of success even without him.
“If you switched me and Steph out with the team that won championships, it’d be the same thing,” Ellis told ESPN. “So you’ve got to take the good with the bad, and that’s cool. It put me in a position to make money for me and my family.
“I ran with that.”
Monta Ellis said the Warriors would’ve had the same success with him as they have with Steph Curry.
Ellis was selected by the Warriors in the second round of the 2005 NBA Draft and played with the team until 2012, when he was traded in the middle of the season to the Milwaukee Bucks.
During his first six seasons with Golden State, Ellis averaged 35.7 minutes, 19.6 points, 4.4 assists, and 3.7 rebounds per game. He won the NBA’s Most Improved Player in 2007. But the franchise was unable to break through during his tenure by the bay.
“Real people that know basketball and all that, …They know the team that I was dealt with.”
Ellis’ career went on to last another six years, during which he still saw regular time as a starter for the Bucks, Dallas Mavericks and Indiana Pacers.
The Warriors only made the playoffs once during his tenure in Golden State, losing in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs to the Utah Jazz.
Meanwhile, Curry was selected seventh overall by the Warriors in the 2009 NBA Draft and saw regular playing time during his first two seasons.
Monta Ellis said the Warriors would’ve had the same success with him as they have with Steph Curry. NBAE via Getty Images
Curry’s time on the floor shortened in 2011, and he appeared in only 26 games for Golden State as he was dealing with an ankle injury, after having surgery on it during the offseason.
From that point forward, Curry blossomed into arguably the greatest shooter the game of basketball has ever seen.
In 2015, Curry won his first of two NBA MVP awards, when he averaged 30.1 points per game, knocking down 5.1 three-pointers per game.
He would go on to revolutionize the sport of professional basketball. Today’s NBA is a direct consequence of Curry’s ability to stretch the floor and shoot from anywhere. Very few people in history have had the type of impact Curry has, let alone Monta Ellis.
Curry, alongside Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, would go on to win four NBA titles. Ellis, on the other hand, did not garner a single All-Star nomination throughout his career.
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