D'Angelo Russell On Why He Respects Stephen Curry: 'Don't Need The Refs'

Brooklyn Nets guard D'Angelo Russell was a teammate of Stephen Curry for the first half of the 2019-20 season, and it appears the Golden State Warriors superstar made quite an impression on him during that time. During the latest episode of The Backyard Podcast, Russell spoke about why he respects Curry.

“Steph plays the game with this, ‘I don’t need the refs mentality,'” Russell said. “And when you look around the league, who’s doing that? That’s why he gets so much credit, that’s why he’s my favorite player. I know he's yours too, but that’s why I respect him so much.”

Curry, who averaged 24.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game in 2024-25, doesn't do much complaining to the officials during games and isn't the type to foul-bait either. Foul-baiting has, of course, been a big talking point in recent weeks, thanks to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

While Gilgeous-Alexander has been accused of doing it, Curry has never faced that accusation. For his career, the Warriors superstar averages just 4.3 free throws per game. Curry has only averaged more than six attempts per game in one of his 16 seasons in the NBA.

Curry not getting fouls is something that has been brought up on occasion over the years, and it came to the forefront this season thanks to the Houston Rockets. The Rockets were allowed to play extremely physical defense against the 37-year-old, and the Warriors were up in arms about that.

Jimmy Butler stood up for Curry after a game against the Rockets in April. Butler claimed he had never seen someone get fouled as much as his teammate.

As fate would have it, the Warriors and Rockets would end up facing off in the first round of the playoffs as well. Curry's not getting calls was unsurprisingly a big talking point throughout the series, but despite being on the receiving end of some rough defending, he would have the last laugh.

The Warriors eliminated the Rockets in seven games thanks to some mesmerizing performances from Curry. He finished that series with averages of 24.0 points, 5.9 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.9 blocks per game. Curry only shot 4.0 free throws per game against the Rockets, but managed to get his team across the finish line, as he has done throughout his career.

Draymond Green On Why Stephen Curry Doesn't Get Calls

Following that infamous Rockets game in April, Draymond Green shared his thoughts on why Curry doesn't get calls.

"He don't talk to the referees and he gets penalized for that," Green said. "I also think he gets penalized because he is not a flopper. And so, it's almost as if, 'Oh, he not getting fouled,' or, 'It don't matter because he ain't showing that he getting fouled.' I think in this league, we reward flopping.

"We put a flopping rule in that you never see get called," Green added. "But we reward flopping and flailing, and Steph does neither. It doesn't really hurt him because he still do what he do, but it hurts him as far as getting the call and getting to the free throw line because he don't flop and he don't sell the calls."

While Green makes good points, it should also be pointed out that Curry shooting from beyond the arc as often as he does also contributes to his not getting many free throws. While he does go to the rim a fair few times during the games, it's nowhere near as often as Gilgeous-Alexander or some others who shoot a lot of free throws.