Zaza Pachulia won two championships with Stephen Curry in Golden State, but now he is speaking candidly about Curry’s current situation.
In an interview this week with Wes Goldberg of The Mercury News, the retired big man had a criticism of his ex-Warriors teammate Curry. Pachulia indicated that Curry could be stopped without a good supporting cast.
“It started with Andrew Bogut and Draymond Green setting screens to get him open,” said Pachulia. “Klay [Thompson] helps because teams cannot really load on Steph. If you leave Klay open, Klay’s going to make 14 3s against the Chicago Bulls.
“With Kevin Durant, one of the best players in the league, Steph has more freedom,” Pachulia continued. “He can be who he is. But if you have this amazing defender on him and a big man down there waiting for him, then Steph is going to struggle, too.”
Pachulia did also give Curry plenty of praise though. He complimented the two-time MVP’s “humanity,” his “insane” work ethic, as well as the way that Curry “changed the game.”
Curry and Pachulia were teammates in Golden State from 2016 to 2018. They won back-to-back titles in the latter two seasons. Curry’s situation obviously looks a lot different now though with Durant in Brooklyn and Thompson out of the lineup with another devastating injury.
Just about any player will struggle without a strong supporting cast to take the load off his shoulders. But other top superstars like LeBron James and Damian Lillard have led their respective teams to deep playoff runs despite lesser ensembles around them. The Warriors, meanwhile, have now lost their first two games of the season by a combined 65 points.
Curry seems to indeed realize that he needs more help to get the job done. Thus, Pachulia’s criticism does seem largely fair.
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