Stephen Curry‘s NBA résumé is measured against the best of the best. Magic Johnson. Oscar Robertson. John Stockton. Isiah Thomas. That’s the level.
Early in his 12-time All-Star career, though, Curry was measuring himself against a very different kind of competition. Acie Law. A player who never really carved out a long NBA career.
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It’s something Curry reflected on during a 2022 appearance on “The Draymond Green Show.”
Curry met his match in Warriors practice
By the time Law arrived with the Golden State Warriors, Curry was still trying to establish himself as a full-time NBA point guard.
Curry entered the league in 2009. He was the No. 7 overall pick out of Davidson College. Law had been taken 11th in the 2007 draft. He joined the Warriors during the 2010–11 season after bouncing around a few teams.
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Their time together in the Bay lasted just one season. But it stuck with a young Curry. The Warriors legend said it was due to facing Law in scrimmages.
“My second year in the league, Acie Law was the point guard in practice that I was going up against, and he was nice,” Curry said. “He had such a unique game that I could never figure out.”
The tough lesson that helped build an all-time great
Golden State was coming off a transitional period and lacked stability, both in its roster and overall direction, which often led to inconsistent rotations. The backcourt situation told that story.
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Curry started all 74 games that year. He put up solid numbers. Still, then-head coach Keith Smart often leaned on Law. Curry remembered it clearly.
“I was trying to come into my own as a player, and he (Law) was getting all the minutes. He was closing out the fourth quarter,” he said.
Jeremy Lin, who was also on that Warriors roster, described how routine those decisions became. He noted that Curry would often be benched in the fourth quarter, a pattern that “would shake any player,” as he put it.
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For Steph, the experience indeed was a “tough pill to swallow.” But it became a turning point, not a setback. The future Hall of Famer later reflected on the silver lining in it all
“I honestly learned a lot… It also motivated me and drove me, and when I did get that opportunity, I am that guy that can compete at the highest level in this league and close out games and be a dude that you can trust,” he remarked.
Importantly, Curry has never framed that competition as purely negative. The 2022 Finals MVP has said that Law, even as direct competition, played a role in his development during that time.
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“To his credit, he (Law) was a great vet, and he was helping me throughout that process,” Curry said.
Still, the four-time NBA champion couldn’t help himself years later, slipping in a slight jab. When asked about the-young Warriors project, James Wiseman’s lack of playing time, Curry noted that he himself used to get benched for Law — which sounds crazy now — adding that “you got to be able to take those lumps in stride and learn the lessons you need to learn.”
Steph clearly learned his. It’s a big reason the 38-year-old Ohio native now ranks among the best point guards ever.
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This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Jun 4, 2026, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.