Getty Donovan Mitchell of the Cleveland Cavaliers guards Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry.
It’s no secret that Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry is one of the more difficult players in the league to defend. He’s led the Dubs’ high-powered offense for more than a decade, winning four NBA championships along the way.
During a recent appearance on Theo Pinson’s “Run Your Race” podcast, Cleveland Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell labeled Curry as one of the two most difficult players in the NBA to try and slow down, alongside Kyrie Irving.
“It’s between Kai (Kyrie Irving) and Steph, bro,” Mitchell told Pinson. “Steph, because that motherf***** don’t stop running around, bro. Like bro, he don’t stop. And the thing about Steph is the minute you f*** up it like ‘All right, bet, I got you’.”
Curry put together yet another dominant season in 2022-23. He had to miss some games due to various injuries, only playing in 56, but made an impact when he suited up for sure. Curry averaged 29.4 points, 6.3 assists, and 6.1 rebounds per game, while shooting 49.3% from the field and 42.7% from deep.
JR Smith Tells Hilarious Story of Matthew Dellavedova Trying to Defend Warriors’ Stephen Curry
Mitchell isn’t the only one who’s spoken about the amount of running Golden State’s No. 30 does on the court. JR Smith shared a similar anecdote during an April 2023 appearance on The Old Man & The Three With JJ Redick and Tommy Alter. Smith had told the hosts that his teammate Matthew Dellavedova “almost died” while chasing Curry around back in 2015.
“Delly almost died guarding Steph Curry,” Smith said. “No, he literally almost died. We have footage of this man in the ice tub like literally up to his neck trying to guard this man.”
Smith’s Cavaliers faced off against Curry and the Dubs in four straight NBA Finals from 2015-2018.
De’Aaron Fox Second’s JR Smith’s Stephen Curry Story After Matchup With Warriors
Sacramento Kings guard De’Aaron Fox learned about defending Curry this spring, when he and the Kings faced off against the Warriors in the playoffs.
After Game 1 of the series, Fox joked about how difficult it is to chase the star guard around, saying his experience was quite similar to Dellavedova’s in 2015.
“Did you all see that clip with JR Smith talking about Delly guarding Steph? That sh— real,” Fox said, laughing, via the Sacramento Kings official YouTube channel. “It’s real. I mean honestly I didn’t guard Steph the entire game, but most of the first quarter, most of the fourth quarter I guarded him. Yeah, that clip is real. Obviously, my team wants me to do things offensively.
“Mike [Brown] talked about it as soon as he got here, he’s not worried about what I can do offensively. He wants to see me be better defensively. And that’s something I want to take the challenge of doing. I think we’ve all seen it in spurts, but I want to do it throughout the course of a game. Playing 40 minutes and scoring 38 points is cool, but just trying to be as disruptive as possible while guarding the best player to ever shoot a basketball, not just off the catch but off the dribble.
“Guy’s probably one of the craftiest players to ever touch the ball. Just being able to be try and be disruptive for me is the biggest step and I think that’s kind of something that… I want to prove to myself that I can go out there and just try to hound some of the best guards in the league.”
