Ex-Warrior Monta Ellis drops honest admission over Stephen Curry’s early days

Monta Ellis was a great scorer throughout his 12-year career in the NBA. He spent seven years with the Golden State Warriors, where he saw the team draft Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson in 2009 and 2011, respectively. By the time the team drafted Draymond Green, Ellis had moved on to the Milwaukee Bucks. He spoke with former All-NBA defender Tony Allen about Curry’s ascension from an intriguing rookie to one of the faces of the league. At 37 years old, Curry’s team is in the hunt for another title despite his injury.

When Curry joined the team back in 2009, the Warriors were an amalgamation of talent. Ellis, Stephen Jackson and Corey Maggette competed for minutes alongside the rookie. Head coach Don Nelson gave the lion’s share of the playing time to Curry, who averaged 36.2 minutes per game in his first NBA season.

Ellis told Allen on “Out the Mud” that he wouldn’t have predicted Curry’s growth.

“…I knew he worked hard, though. He definitely would pay attention,” said Ellis. “The things that I was doing, he paid a whole lot of attention to it and he put that in his game. When he came around it was messy. He just came into a messy situation, a messy environment. You had teammates who were talking and stuff to the owners about what the players were doing at this time, this and that. So he came in, it was messy. So did I know he was going to be that? No, but he did work hard though.”

Curry is the only player left from 2009, forming the “Splash Brothers” with Thompson a few years into his career. After winning four championships, Curry finds himself in the conversation of the top 10 players of all time.

A fifth championship would be a big boost to his resume, but the Warriors face adversity in the second round. Between Green’s technical foul trouble and Curry’s injury, a fifth title will take everything they have.