Stephen Curry is relishing the turn of events that brought Chris Paul to the Golden State Warriors this offseason.
“It’s a beautiful thing about basketball, you can’t write these narratives,” he said to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony. “To go full circle, we’ve had a lot of battles over the years. He’s in Year 18, I’m going into Year 15, it’s amazing we have an opportunity to play together, and hopefully win at the highest level. He’s super competitive, and so am I.”
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Because they both play the same position, Curry and Paul have had a competitive rivalry for years, dating back to the latter’s time with the Los Angeles Clippers. CP3’s Houston Rockets tenure only heightened the hostility because the Rockets and Warriors battled for Western Conference supremacy.
But there was always an underlying respect between the pair.
Curry reflected to Givony how attending Paul’s Elite Guard camp in 2008 before entering the NBA had a formative impact on his development.
“Going to his camp, following in his shadow after I got drafted, before my rookie year, he taught me what it was like to work and prepare for an NBA season; the time and attention to detail that you needed to put in,” he said.
Curry previously told The Athletic’s Anthony Slater in June he’s pragmatic about the situation as well, explaining that “every team that CP has been on gets better.” The 38-year-old may have a beneficial impact on Golden State’s younger players in addition to aiding in the team’s quest for another NBA title.
No matter what happens with the Warriors this season, the arrival of Paul makes them ripe for dramatic storylines.