*Despite winning three NBA titles, and two NBA MVP awards, Warriors star Steph Curry still doesn’t receive the respect he deserves from colleagues and members in the media.
Former Warrior Matt Barnes went on ESPN’s “The Jump” on Thursday and tried to explain why he believes some players dislike Curry.
“I think, he came in, he’s the golden boy,” Barnes said. “He came in and destroyed record books, won championships, beat LeBron — he’s done a lot of things that probably angered other players and other fans. That’s why I don’t think he gets the respect he deserves.”
+OTHER NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: Woman (Kisha Johnson) Suffered Life-threatening Injuries After She Was Run Over By Her Sister – WATCH!
“He’s obviously the greatest shooter to ever play the game and I can see people being bitter from that. Not to mention the whole light skinned thing, and people have problems with that. Like I said, he’s a perfect example of what the NBA needs to be represented as and people don’t like that either, Barnes added.
Curry’s NBA rise left a lot people feeling bitter — players, fans and media alike –causing them to attempt to discredit his achievements.
“Most of the time, when people are so good or something’s so perfect, people don’t like that and that’s exactly what you get with Steph,” said Barnes.
ESPN Warriors reporter Nick Friedell also shared his theory about why there’s widespread resentment of Curry around the league.
“I’ve seen it,” Friedell said of other players hating on Curry. “When you talk to people about Steph, there’s this resentment, because he changed the game. … A lot of guys came into the league thinking, ‘I’m going to grind, I’m going to play defense, I’m going to play the way I saw growing up,’ and Steph has shown that there’s a whole different style to the game, and when you play that game, you need different pieces to fit around you.”
According to Friedell, Curry’s success has “made a lot of guys have to change their own game, or they have sort of slid out of the league from the way it used to be,” he said.