Do you know the player who gave Stephen Curry nightmares and drool when he arrived in the NBA? It is Draymond Green who revealed his name in the last episode of the Draymond Green Show.
Draymond Green: What you need to understand, and there are two things. Every guy in the NBA has a guy who destroys you every time you play against him, even though he’s not one of the greatest. Then I think everyone has a guy who at some point in your career is ahead of you in the rotation, and you look at him and say, ‘That guy’s not better than me.’ The world realizes this over time (that it is not better than you). And there was a guy in front of you who had a really big NCAA career, but didn’t have too much of an NBA career, and you told us about this guy and how that motivated you to want the destroy – and honestly, that probably earned him his place in the NBA, but that’s another story.
Stephen Curry: Who are you talking about?
Green: You know exactly who I’m talking about.
Curry: Who are you talking about?
Green : Acie Law.
Curry: Ah (laughs) There’s a thing about our NCAA and NBA. We all know it’s all about fit, timing, opportunity, matchup, that sort of thing. In my second year in the league, Acie Law was the point guard I faced in practice. He was nice and he had such an atypical game that I never managed to find solutions. But while I was trying to find my role, he had every minute (laughs). He finished games. It’s funny, I talk about it often, but in this league it’s all about opportunity, confidence, and what you do when you get that opportunity can dictate your future. Then it is also a question of patience. And sometimes it’s hard to go through that process and you don’t want to hear about it when you’re in the middle of it, but I went through that in my second year. I was benched in the last quarter, and Acie Law was playing – Keith Smart was our coach. Honestly, I learned a lot, but it was a hard pill to swallow. It also motivated and pushed me. Then when I got this opportunity I thought I was that guy who could play at the highest level in this league, finish games, a guy you can trust in those times… Acie is without any doubt the name that best symbolizes this moment for me, for better or for worse. It’s part of the process. It’s not a lack of respect towards him, it’s the guy in front of you who has this opportunity. And to his credit, he was a great veteran, because he helped me through this process, because he still knew I belonged.
