Curry’s Leadership Highlighted in Revisiting of Green-Durant Feud

The biggest Warriors-related news this week came in the form of a discussion. Draymond Green and Kevin Durant had a sit-down conversation for the first time since Durant left Golden State in free agency in 2019. Appearing together on Green’s Bleacher Report series “Chips,” they discussed a wide range of topics such as Durant’s career, his use of Twitter and, most notably, their argument after a 2018 road game against the Los Angeles Clippers and the subsequent fallout that many people now consider the starting point for the end of Durant’s time in the Bay Area.

Green and Durant named Steve Kerr and Bob Myers as the people they most blamed for the mishandling of the situation, but one major name that did not receive a mention at all during this portion of the discussion was Stephen Curry. Most observers saw this as an indication that Green and Durant would have preferred to work out the issue face-to-face, rather than move past it like Kerr and Myers did. But a few people — including ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith — saw the omission of Curry as a knock on his leadership.

“I found it very, very conspicuous that Kevin Durant and Draymond Green never mentioned his name,” Smith said. “We have seen things that have transpired with the Golden State Warriors [where] other stars for other franchises would have been called upon to handle something. We’ve never done that with Steph Curry.”

With all due respect, where the hell was STEPH Curry??? pic.twitter.com/VP8gvOATZj

— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) August 19, 2021

Smith’s take is misleading for a variety of reasons, not least of which is that Curry was not actually present for the argument. He did not join the team for that road trip, instead staying at home to rehab an injury. But there are far more important details to consider when countering Smith’s analysis.

First off, Curry did in fact play a major role in resolving the tension between Durant and Green. Almost as soon as the team returned home, Curry stepped in. He met with both Green and Durant individually. Within just a few days, the mood around the team had improved significantly, even if it hadn’t completely recovered. Several members of the Warriors have credited Curry for this change in past interviews.

“When we returned to the Bay, he was an integral part of trying to repair our spiritual injury,” Kerr recalled. “Every good team has to have coalition builders, guys who can build bridges and bring people together, who have the respect of everybody. And that’s what Steph represents for us.”

Furthermore, Curry’s leadership is well known. He may not be a vocal leader like Green, but his almost unparalleled ability to lead by example is a huge part of the Warriors’ recent success. The most visible member of an organization tends to be the one whose behavior comes to represent said organization. In the case of the Warriors, that’s Curry. His joy and passion on the court, combined with his kindness off the court, set a tone that everyone who worked for the Warriors had to follow.

“This whole entire organization has taken on Steph's joyful basketball,” Green said in 2019. “His demeanor and presence, just the carefree way he goes about things.”

“He does it a lot by his actions and the way he approaches the game,” David Lee said in 2015, Curry’s first year leading a title-contending team. “He’s not a big rah-rah guy; he’ll speak when he needs to speak. He’s a quiet leader and a guy that goes out there and lays it on the line and supports all his teammates. But he does it a lot by example rather than by giving speeches every day.”

As Lee hinted at, Curry’s relative lack of verbal leadership is something of a signal itself. On those rare occasions when he does speak up, you know it’s time to pay attention. In one instance this past season that got a lot of attention, he yelled at his teammates during a timeout in the third quarter of a game against the Clippers that featured some lackluster Warriors play. The Clippers were regularly sending two or more players to defend Curry, and the rest of the team couldn’t take advantage of the open shots. Curry was clearly mad, but his yelling didn’t appear to be berating the other players. Instead, it seemed encouraging, as though he was trying to fire them up and get them locked in for the rest of the game.

Stephen Curry’s leadership style is considerably different from most other NBA superstar players. He does it mostly in an under-the-radar, subtle fashion that is different from the vocal approach we’re used to. Maybe this is why he received the scrutiny he did this week. You have to look a little deeper for his ability as a leader, but it’s there, and he’s among the best in the league at it.