Stephen Curry Reacts To Warriors Game 6 vs Lakers | May 12, 2023

That this is definitely the first time you've gone out this early. Just what the emotion was in that locker room moments after this, just seeing the end of the season. I mean, you're disappointed and kind of shell shocked that it's over. Poured so much into every season, but coming off of last year, trying to defend and give ourselves a chance to keep advancing. It's a tough way for the season to end. Like I said, it's unfamiliar territory, but proud of the fight that we had. The Lakers played amazing all series, played to their strengths, and obviously that led to them getting out of the series and moving on. So, got to give them credit. They played great basketball. For us, it's an opportunity to kind of take stock of where we're at, keep the confidence that we can come back and be back at this stage next year. So, we're kind of in between disappointment, but still maintaining some pride about how we played this year. Steph, Steve said that he thought you guys were maxed out, and Draymond said he thought that you were maxed out. Did you feel that way? And if so, when did you maybe feel that? Did you feel that during this? Like, did you have a feeling that this wasn't a championship team during the season? I mean, we lost, so it's like a hard truth at the end of the journey. It's not anything you allow yourself to. No competitor believes that until you're proving that you're not a championship team. That's what getting beat in a playoff series means. Basketball is over for this year, so I felt it in the fourth quarter. We're about seven minutes left. You know, just really never heard that from us before in terms of trying to make sense of losing a series like we did unless it's been in a final. So, got to accept it, move on, and try to be better next year. Yeah, and I know it's still fresh, but how do you view the bigger picture, the future, the decisions that need to be made this summer, and, you know, some of the, you know, Dre, Mom, Bob, and some of the situations that need to be resolved? We'll all collectively kind of handle those in the right time. You know, I think, obviously, you know, start at the top and working down in terms of, you know, trying to put together the best team possible next year. Making sure all the pieces fit and understanding, you know, how we can retool to put ourselves in a position to be a legit championship contender because, for us, that's all we're worried about, and that includes, you know, Bob. That includes, you know, DG and other decisions that we got to make, but at the end of the day, that'll settle itself over the course of the next couple months. Steph, I know it didn't end the way that you wanted it to, but coming into this series, I think Draymond said something to the effect of, well, they have a goat referring to LeBron James, and so do we, referring to you, and a lot of us weren't sure if we'd get to see this battle between you and LeBron again, going through it again, playing in these games again, the moment you all shared on the court. Can you just reflect on that, on this stage, on what this rivalry has sort of meant to basketball over the last couple of years? Well, I mean, it's just a battle every time, and I know there are a lot of different narratives within each of the series that we've had, and different teams and teammates and all the above, but it's just great basketball, great competition, understanding who LeBron is and who he's been his entire career, and the accolades and the championships he's won and the records that he has, like, he's an amazing basketball player, and he brings the best side of you, and you know you have to be your best if you're going to try to beat him, and I think he feels vice versa, and so you love those experiences. Somebody's got to win, and it's part of the nature of what we're dealing with, but there's so much respect and, again, appreciation for the battles and the experiences in the back and forth, because it's basketball at the highest level, and that's all you can ask for. Ron, left-hand side. Steph, there's obviously been a lot of conversation over the years about you guys as an outside shooting, jump shooting team, and you and Klay have established yourself as two of the best, obviously, in history. The last few games weren't at your level, at your standards. How much of that was their defense? How do you sort of view the way the last few days went in terms of three-point shooting for you guys? It obviously wasn't great, but, again, there's a lot of confidence in the ability to continue to shoot at a high level, and you might tweak some things and understand some learning lessons, especially like how game four went, where shots that we wanted to take and make didn't go in, and whatever, you kind of live with that, but as you move forward, you make the necessary adjustments while maintaining the confidence that you can shoot the ball at an extremely high level. I think for us in this series, like, it was a battle of strengths, right? Like, they're an extremely big team, A.D. in the paint, you know, Bron flying around all over the place. They were trying to take away certain things, and it worked. We didn't have a change-up pitch to throw, you know, in this series, which is kind of what led to, you know, the results, so it doesn't mean you stop shooting. It just means you figure out a different way to be impactful and, you know, come back with the same mindset. Just a quick follow-up. How much did their size bother you with shooting, do you think, throughout that? Not just, I mean, their game plan was obviously to pressure up on the three-point line, funnel us in there, A.D. in the back, clogging everything up, and like I said, we just didn't have enough variety in the way we were trying to score after game two, so good learning lessons for us. When, you know, you understand a team that has a guy like him in the paint, you got to figure out different things, and we just didn't do it. Three more, Dalton, Kim, and Rick. Steph, Steve said that it felt like you guys were swimming upstream from the very start of the season. In your eyes, what were the factors that kept obstacles on the road to trying to repeat this season? I mean, you could probably fill in the blank there. From training camp to now, it's just the reality we're living in and trying to keep things positive and optimistic around what we're trying to accomplish this year, and we were one of the last eight teams. It's not a moral victory at all. It's just understanding that, you know, in game six of the conference semifinals, you had a chance to push it to the end. So, again, there's a lot of pride in, you know, there's a lot of pride in what we accomplished, but there's also an understanding that this is not good enough, and we have to be a lot better next year and start reestablishing ourselves as a legit championship contender because we weren't this year. Steph, when you think about getting better, becoming a championship-level team, how much responsibility or onus do you put on the young players? You kind of went into the season with a bunch of them. Obviously, Wiseman got traded, and, you know, Moses is the only one. Well, Jordan's playing minutes in the end. How much do you expect from them next season, and how much is there? And was it disappointing not to see them get more time or produce more in these playoffs? There's a lot in there. I think, I mean, everybody's going to get better. Everybody's going to take the next steps. Everybody's going to learn the lessons that you learned this year and try to put them into use next year. I don't know what the opportunity is going to be. I don't know what the roster will look like. I don't know, you know, sitting here right now, what, you know, opening night's going to look like in terms of who's going to be asked to do what, but I have a lot of confidence in everybody being able to take advantage of the summer, you know, add to your skill set, add to your mental preparation for the year, and the list of guys that kind of fall in that bucket, be ready to take those next steps because that's the journey of your career that you're always on. So it's just hard to say specifics right now about what it'll look like because, you know, this league is crazy and things can change really quickly. Last one. Rachel? Steph, Draymond was just expressing the confidence he has in you, him, and Klay as a core and what you guys can do in the future. What is it for you knowing those two guys and if you do stay together through the next couple years, what does that make you feel like you could do? No matter how different it looks, I think we understand each other, what we all bring to the table, the trust that, you know, we're just going to compete until the wheels fall off, and, you know, that is something that should not be taken for granted in this league because we've proven that we can do it. And even in this series and this year, like, things were looking bleak at one point in the regular season. You find yourself in the second round trying to just scratch and claw your way out of it. So we're going to fight and we're going to compete and we believe in each other. And that goes up and down the roster. And hopefully there's belief in us to be able to lead that. So I feel like that's a two-way street and that's the progression of the stages that we are in our careers to keep doubling down on it. So I think we're excited about that opportunity. It's as terrible a feeling as it is right now. I feel like we can come back. Great. Thank you. Want to play in here and not the hall?