Monta Ellis clears the air on expectations from Stephen Curry and his own exit from the Golden State Warriors.
Today, Stephen Curry is viewed as one of the best basketball players of all time and he will go down as arguably the most important player in the history of the Golden State Warriors.
However, before Curry’s rise to stardom, the Dubs had another guard who was enjoying the best spell of his NBA career.
It’s none other than ex-NBA player Monta Ellis, who spent seven years as a member of the Warriors from 2005-2011.
During the 2011-12 season, the Dubs were at a crossroads with Ellis and Curry. As we know it, the Warriors traded Ellis to the Bucks and chose Curry as their cornerstone star.
In hindsight, it turned out to be a phenomenal decision as the Baby-Faced Assassin has helped the organization win four NBA Championships.
However, at the time, the decision was met with mixed reviews. Ellis recently shared his opinion of Curry when the Dubs traded him in favor of him.
“He saw what I was doing and he put that in his game. Now when he came around, it was just messy. He just came in a messy situation.
“Did I think he was gonna be that? Nah, but he did work hard though, so now seeing it, not surprised, no surprise,” Ellis said.
“Like even with him, though, he came in small, and once he figured out how to be able to get strong and take physicality, that’s when his career changed, when he first came into the league, like he wasn’t like that.
“So when he got stronger and could take that physicality, that’s when his game took off,” he added.
Indeed, Curry has gone through a huge transformation since getting drafted into the league. The extra muscle has helped him extend his career and etch his name into NBA history.
Ellis and Curry had a similar build when coming into the NBA. Over the course of his career, Ellis added more muscle to his frame and that’s why he knows what it takes for a small guard to enjoy a good spell in the league.
“Because us as small guards come into a physical league or a bigger league, like, that’s gonna be the main thing, getting stronger, because if you don’t go get stronger like, you won’t be able to sustain that throughout an 82-game season.
“That’s the main thing, that weight room, that strength,” the ex-Warriors star stated.
While Curry undoubtedly turned out to be a better player than Ellis, the former NBA star is still unhappy how he was treated by the Warriors ownership.
“I gave that city everything throughout, even the bull crap, even my leg and all that, for me to be able to put my body through the things I put my body through, to get myself back right, and for that owner come in and do it like that. That was weak, straight up,” Ellis concluded.
After getting traded to the Milwaukee Bucks, Ellis played five more years in the league, but he ultimately retired in 2017 as a 31-year-old as his diminishing offense combined with poor defense cut his career short.
