{"id":58355,"date":"2025-05-26T23:01:10","date_gmt":"2025-05-26T23:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/58355\/"},"modified":"2025-05-26T23:01:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-26T23:01:10","slug":"one-year-before-the-warriors-dynasty-era-jerry-west-criticized-steph-curry-and-klay-thompsons-fun-skill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/58355\/","title":{"rendered":"One year before the Warriors&#8217; dynasty era, Jerry West criticized Steph Curry and Klay Thompson&#8217;s &#8216;fun&#8217; skill"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Even late NBA legend Jerry West wasn\u2019t a fan of the Golden State Warriors duo of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson\u2019s one skill.<\/p>\n<p>Since 2015, the <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/tag\/golden-state-warriors\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Golden State Warriors<\/a> have been to six NBA Finals while lifting the Larry O\u2019Brien trophy four times.<\/p>\n<p>Each title run featured the dynamic duo of <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/tag\/stephen-curry\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Stephen Curry<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/tag\/klay-thompson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Klay Thompson<\/a>. The duo\u2019s most feared skill was <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/why-stephen-curry-was-thinking-about-klay-thompson-during-sensational-52-point-masterclass-a-reflection-of\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">undoubtedly their ability to knock three-pointers with ease<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>However, before the rise of the Warriors dynasty, many critiqued the amount of three-point shots that the duo was taking in a game. <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/jerry-wests-brilliant-5-million-bait-that-led-to-kareem-abdul-jabbar-demolishing-the-celtics-in-1987\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">This included the late NBA legend Jerry West<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"941\" height=\"627\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-1398410613-941x627.jpg\" alt=\"Dallas Mavericks v Golden State Warriors - Game Two\" \/>Photo by Harry How\/Getty ImagesJerry West on Steph Curry and Klay Thompson\u2019s three-point shooting<\/p>\n<p>The 2014 NBA playoffs were the last time that Curry and Co. had an underwhelming showing in the postseason. After all, they made five straight NBA Finals from 2015 to 2019.<\/p>\n<p>Curry and Thompson\u2019s three-point shooting was a key reason behind the Dubs\u2019 success during that era. Even Jerry West, who was the Warriors\u2019 advisor at the time, <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/boston-celtics-duo-set-new-nba-record-not-even-stephen-curry-and-klay-thompson-achieved-at-splash-brothers-peak\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">didn\u2019t like the volume of three-pointers<\/a> that the duo was attempting in games.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think coaches have changed the game. People value the three-point line so much. You see shots taken, particularly when there\u2019s a lot of time left on the shot clock, that I don\u2019t think should be taken. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t think they\u2019re good shots because it jeopardizes your defense when you take a quick shot from the corner and teams run out against you,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/news\/nba\/qa-jerry-west-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">West said in a 2014 interview with SLAM Magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>So, what was the reason behind <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/golden-state-warriors-duo-reach-historic-3-pt-record-even-steph-curry-and-klay-thompson-couldnt\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">the Warriors allowing such a high volume of threes<\/a>, if it hurt defense? There was a simple answer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut it\u2019s fun and creates fan interest. I know here in Golden State we have two guys in the backcourt who can really give our fans fun evenings with their shooting ability.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut at the end of the day, this is all about winning,\u201d West added.<\/p>\n<p>Jerry West claimed Jerry Buss turned basketball into an \u2018entertainment event\u2019<\/p>\n<p>West had played an instrumental role as a player and an executive during the rise of the <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/tag\/los-angeles-lakers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">LA Lakers<\/a>. Evidently, he had a good relationship with the late <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/lucky-to-have-him-jeanie-buss-praises-la-lakers-star-who-fights-for-every-ball-he-doesnt-care-about-sacrificing-his-body\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Lakers owner<\/a> Jerry Buss.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking of which, West believed Buss took baby steps in converting the NBA from a purely sporting event to an entertainment event as well.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI worked in Los Angeles with an owner who wanted the team to win, but he thought basketball was entertainment. I\u2019m talking about Jerry Buss,\u201d West continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe did a lot of things to create a different kind of atmosphere that are very much in prominence in the NBA today. Making it not just a sporting event, but also an entertainment event. We see that a lot in arenas today,\u201d the late NBA legend claimed.<\/p>\n<p>In simple terms, if it weren\u2019t for Buss viewing basketball as entertainment, the rise of the three-point shot may have never happened.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Even late NBA legend Jerry West wasn\u2019t a fan of the Golden State Warriors duo of Stephen Curry&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58356,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3786],"tags":[7,479,164,4025,4024,7176,498,6,4106,573,255,574],"class_list":{"0":"post-58355","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golden-state-warriors","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-golden-state","10":"tag-golden-state-warriors","11":"tag-goldenstate","12":"tag-goldenstatewarriors","13":"tag-jerry-west","14":"tag-klay-thompson","15":"tag-nba","16":"tag-nba-legends","17":"tag-stephen-curry","18":"tag-warriors","19":"tag-western-conference"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114576627087784900","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58355\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}