The reign of the Golden State Warriors over the past decade has instilled fear and hopelessness into opposing teams game after game.
With Steph Curry and Klay Thompson forming a lethal backcourt duo and winning a title in 2015, Kevin Durant joining the Warriors and securing two championships in 2017 and 2018, and culminating in their fourth title in eight years in 2022, the Warriors have become a team nobody wants to play.
This is an incredible Steph Curry / Klay Thompson stat pic.twitter.com/CdNsFpB6XY
— Lev Akabas (@LevAkabas) July 2, 2024
With so many wins and so much dominance over the course of his time with the Warriors and even in last year's 2024 Summer Olympics, some players are starting to appreciate what the Warriors are doing.
When asked about Steph Curry on "The Old Man and the Three," Minnesota Timberwolves center and three-time All-Star Rudy Gobert responded, "I wasn't on the floor at that time. I wish I would have been on the court at that moment but I mean you can only - obviously the competitor in you is in that moment - you're frustrated."
One year ago today
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) August 10, 2025
The devil named Curry said night night to France
pic.twitter.com/JA7nSWjRfj
"Very quick, you can only be grateful to be able to witness and live such greatness. When you witness those kind of plays and efforts, you know, you can only tip your hat and...don't want to turn into a fan, but you know, you want to be, okay, like, this is one of the greatest to ever do it, and you know, this is one of those moments when I don't think we lose the game there. I think we lose the game before," Gobert continued.
"You can only tip your hat," Gobert said, with apparent disdain for the loss that his French team suffered in the Gold Medal game of the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Following Curry's fourth NBA championship, Gobert told TMZ Sports that Curry is "definitely in the very rarified air" and "at the top of the list for sure."
He also said that Curry "changed the game," but with the Timberwolves beating the Warriors in the 2025 Western Conference Semifinals, it still has not made a dent in Gobert's full record against Golden State.
Nicolas Batum on Steph’s golden dagger against France:
— CurryMuse (@Curry_Muse) August 10, 2025
“99.99999% of the players in the world would have missed that shot. Only one guy could have made it. Him.”
(via Court of Gold/Netflix)
pic.twitter.com/MoeB0D6peE
In 39 career games against the Warriors, Gobert is averaging 12.4 points and 12.6 rebounds per game on 63.6 percent shooting and 57.7 percent from the free-throw line, but his teams are 15-24 overall.
While we may not see another Olympic matchup between the two, fans are almost certainly going to be treated to more regular-season matchups as the seasons go on.
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