San Francisco (AFP) – Stephen Curry said Thursday he is excited about the Golden State Warriors’ ability to challenge for more championships in the future despite their disappointing early exit from the NBA playoffs. The Warriors bowed out of the post-season on Wednesday as the Minnesota Timberwolves romped to a 121-110 win to complete an emphatic 4-1 win in their Western Conference best-of-seven semi-final series.
Curry spent the final four games of the series as a frustrated spectator on the sidelines after suffering a hamstring injury in the Warriors’ game-one win last week. Speaking to reporters on Thursday as the Warriors held their final media availability of the season, the 37-year-old superstar insisted that a veteran lineup whose core players are all well into their 30s could approach next season with optimism.
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Curry said the Warriors’ last two months of the regular season, with the team transformed by the arrival of Jimmy Butler in a trade from Miami as well as defeating second seeds Houston in the first round of the playoffs, had convinced him that Golden State could reach the pinnacle once more. “You look at the sample size the last two months and even the Houston series when we had our mind focused on a goal, we had enough to accomplish it and get to a point where we were playing pretty high-level basketball,” Curry said.
“Does that mean we can win a championship? We hope so. That’s really all you want is a fighter’s chance. – More in the tank – “You look at the league right now. I know there’s a lot of youth taking over, but we were one of the last eight teams that realistically had a shot, and if you can run that back, make some tweaks that can help our overall roster… I feel like we had enough that we showed we could be that team.”
Curry is hoping the summer will provide some much-needed recovery time following a gruelling 12-month period that saw him spend last year’s off-season preparing for and playing in the Paris Olympics. “I don’t have any Olympics and it’s going to be just about rebuilding — one, getting rest, getting away from the game a little bit, and then rebuilding everything for another great run,” Curry said. “I’m going to take full advantage of the off-season knowing I’ve been playing a lot of basketball for the last year, and a lot left in the tank to prepare for, so I’m excited about it.”
Curry indicated that he expected Butler, Draymond Green, and head coach Steve Kerr all to be similarly motivated. “Me, Draymond, Steve, Jimmy — our contracts are all two years, and we want this ride to last as long as possible,” Curry said. “That’s all I’m really focused on right now. I’m excited about it because there’s clarity, although there are a lot of decisions that need to be made over the summer.”
Curry said the prospect of renewing his partnership alongside Butler was a particular cause for excitement about the challenges ahead, describing Butler’s integration into the set-up as “seamless.” “Me and him complemented each other so well,” Curry said of Butler. “He gave us so much belief that we could beat anybody any given night and make a legitimate run at climbing up the standings and even having some playoff experience to look forward to. I think it was a success, and now you have to build off of that with a full season hopefully in front of us. I’m excited about it.”
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