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For Jeremy Lin, Stephen Curry was abused during his second year

Steve KerrStephen Curry : the two men will be eternally associated with their exceptional joint success and the Warriors dynasty. The strength of their partnership has overshadowed for years the fact that the point guard has known three other coaches before in the NBA. Mark Jacksonthe predecessor of the former Bulls champion, Don Nelsonwith whom Curry took his first steps, as well as, between these two, Keith Smart.

This last, Jeremy Lin didn’t forget it at all. The former Harvard resident was in his rookie year during this 2010-2011 season, when Smart, Nelson’s former assistant, took charge of a team still statistically dominated by Monta Ellis.

Helmed by… Acie Law

The undrafted player thus witnessed the complicated relationship between the coach and his promising playmaker. Our coach at the time didn’t believe in Steph a lot and benched him a lot, picked on him, yelled at him a lot and was really hard on him. He had almost become normal that every fourth quarter he would be on the bench for a while », enumerates Jeremy Lin today.

In mid-March of this year 2011, Keith Smart began to be seriously maligned for his rotation choices. The manager does not trust Stephen Curry, and his association with Monta Ellis, while the new owners have established the point guard as the main element in the reconstruction of the club. During a trip to San Antonio, the cup is full: a certain Acie Law is more mobilized than the incumbent…

This choice will mark the future MVP for years to come. ” I didn’t even play in the fourth quarter my sophomore year. Kudos to Coach Smart. Acie Law has been before me in decisive moments “, he quipped in 2017. More recently still, in reference to the difficulties of his pivot James Wiseman, he let go : « I used to be benched for Acie Law. »

Keith Smart thanked

Jeremy Lin considers that such an experience ” would have shaken any player to some degree and even though his confidence wavered a bit, he had a deep belief that he was a great player and would become one. And that the way things were going then was not the way they were going to be next. »

His former teammate, who does not hide that he did not imagine him becoming as good, never understood why “Baby Face” had been treated in this way. “ As badly as he was treated, he still averaged 18 or 19 points. I thought to myself: ‘Imagine when this guy has a few more years of experience, and he really has the reins of the franchise, which he will be able to do.’ »

No need to imagine him today because the sequel will prove him right. At the end of that season (36 wins – 46 losses), Keith Smart is logically thanked (just like Acie Law, who will never be seen again in the NBA…) and will “bounce back” with the Kings. And a few months later, Monta Ellis was transferred to make room for the leader and begin, in the following years, the writing of history.

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