SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — Kris Weems, the coach of the Santa Cruz Warriors, had a new player in the gym for his team’s practice on Monday morning, and Weems wasted almost no time throwing him into the mix. The problem, Weems discovered, was that Stephen Curry did not always listen to directions.
“Sometimes I’d draw up a play for him,” Weems said, “and we wouldn’t quite get to that wrinkle.”
That was because if Curry found any space at all against his defender, he was going to shoot the ball. Weems was willing to live with the results: It is not often that a two-time N.B.A. most valuable player shows up for a practice in the developmental G League.
“I’ll tell you what: It raises my credibility as a coach,” Weems said. “If I can yell at Steph, I can yell at our guys.”
As Curry neared his return to the N.B.A. from a broken left hand that has sidelined him for four months, he needed a place to practice while his regular employers, the Golden State Warriors, took the day off ahead of a road game. So Golden State Coach Steve Kerr signed him over to the farm club, and Curry made the trek to Santa Cruz, a beach town about 70 miles south of San Francisco, for a one-day cameo at Kaiser Permanente Arena.
Curry introduced himself to his (very temporary) G League teammates before participating in a five-on-five scrimmage — three quarters, seven minutes apiece.
“He looked like the Steph of old,” said Jeremy Pargo, a 33-year-old journeyman guard who has played briefly for several N.B.A. teams and has played overseas for clubs like Maccabi Tel Aviv and the Nanjing Tongxi Monkey King. On Monday, Pargo defended Curry for stretches.
Curry, who will turn 32 on March 14, has been ruled out of Golden State’s game on Tuesday in Denver. He could play against the Toronto Raptors on Thursday, though the Warriors have not offered a definitive timetable for his return. One thing is certain: Curry will not be in the Santa Cruz lineup on Wednesday when the team visits the Salt Lake City Stars.
For one day, though, Curry was the best player in the G League — and the most decorated figure ever to grace a G League roster. He arrived at the arena at 9:15 a.m., dapped up several of his new teammates and proceeded to treat practice as if it were the N.B.A.’s Western Conference finals. His energy affected everyone in the building, Weems said.
“Especially our younger guys, to see his approach,” Weems said. “For them, it’s like, ‘If he’s coming down for a practice just to get ready for a game, imagine how hard we have to play.’”
It has been an unusual season for the Golden State Warriors, who are just eight months removed from a fifth straight appearance in the N.B.A. finals. But Kevin Durant is gone, collecting millions from the Nets as he tends to his ruptured Achilles’ tendon, and Klay Thompson has been declared out for the remainder of this season as he recovers from knee surgery.
Curry seemed determined to do what he could to lead an overhauled roster, but then he broke his left hand four games into the season. Aron Baynes, a very large human who plays for the Suns, landed on him after attempting to take a charge, and Curry wound up needing two operations to repair the fractures in his hand.
Without him, the Warriors have shuffled to a 13-48 record. They will be watching the playoffs from home.
“It’s been tough for a lot of reasons,” Curry told reporters last month.
For the first time since 2013, Curry missed the N.B.A. All-Star Game — though he still managed to make a splash that weekend by posting a photograph of himself with his wife, Ayesha, on Instagram. They were in swim attire at an undisclosed vacation destination, and Curry was using his left hand to hold his wife very close. If nothing else, his rehabilitation appeared to be progressing.
Curry did not address reporters after Monday’s scrimmage, which was closed to the news media. He last spoke with reporters on Feb. 22, after he resumed practicing with the Warriors. He acknowledged that he was still dealing with what he described as “nerve damage” that was causing numbness and tingling sensations.
“All of that type of stuff,” he said. “I’m getting used to what a new normal is. It definitely feels different than my right hand. You try to get to a point where you’re playing basketball and you don’t actually think about it, whether it feels all the way the same or not.”
For months, Curry has been adamant about making a return rather than playing it safe and sitting out the rest of the season. He wants to begin forming chemistry with new teammates like Andrew Wiggins, he said. He also intends to play for the United States at the Olympics this summer in Tokyo. Most of all, he said, he misses the game.
“I’ve done every rehab drill you can think of,” he said last month.
At Monday’s practice, Curry got back to basketball and was, as usual, the center of attention. Curry started the scrimmage cold, teammates said, before he settled into a rhythm. Roger Moute a Bidias, a 24-year-old forward, pointed to a spot on the court where Curry had drained a 3-pointer over a defender who was draped all over him.
“It’s Steph,” Moute a Bidias said. “He does stuff like that. Seeing it live is pretty impressive.”
With his team trailing by a point toward the end of the scrimmage, Curry elevated for a floater over three defenders — but missed at the buzzer. Weems, who was coaching Curry’s team, said he would never hear the end of it from James Andrisevic, an assistant who coached the winning side.
“He’s not going to let me live that down,” Weems said.
Afterward, Curry posed for photos with his momentary teammates, then got back to work by taking jump shot after jump shot. Same as ever.
Source: Basketball - nytimes.com
