NBA rumors: Steph Curry ‘dominant' reason Giannis would eye Warriors

Share

Will Giannis Antetokounmpo seriously consider signing with the Warriors if he becomes a free agent in 2021?

If he declines the supermax contract extension that the Milwaukee Bucks will offer him this offseason, would he demand a trade to Golden State?

We have no clue what the answers are to those questions, and it's very possible that the Greek Freak is planning on staying with the Bucks for the long haul.

But if Giannis already is contemplating a possible move to the Dubs -- or if he does in the future -- basically it's because of that Steph Curry fella.

As Anthony Slater of The Athletic writes, the three-time NBA champion is "considered by those in the know as the dominant reason Giannis’ eyes would even tilt in the Warriors’ direction."

This makes perfect sense for many reasons.

Let's start by reminding you what Marc Stein of The New York Times wrote back in February 2019:

Golden State Warriors

Find the latest Golden State Warriors news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Bay Area and California.

Kerr explains how Butler brings missing ‘it' factor to Warriors

Why Steph is ‘dream' NBA player for commissioner Silver

It’s undeniably true that Steph and Giannis are buddies who are both represented by the same agency (Octagon) and share a mutual admiration that has resulted in Curry and Antetokounmpo selecting each other first overall with the No. 1 overall picks as captains in the first two All-Star drafts.

I can promise you, furthermore, that the Warriors have internally mused about a run at Giannis — however futile it may prove to be — in the event they can’t convince Kevin Durant to re-sign this summer.

[RUNNIN' PLAYS PODCAST: Listen to the latest episode]

Then, after the Bucks played the Warriors at Chase Center on Jan. 8, it looked like Steph told Giannis during an on-court exchange: "Let's do it. Come on man."

This set social media ablaze, to the point where Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports reported the next morning:

"I reached out to Steph via text, and he said, 'Look, all (I) was doing was giving Giannis (my) gamer tag for an online game called 'PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds.' He said he told Giannis, 'Come see me on this game. We can team up and do some damage. Let's do it, come on.' "

After the Bucks played the Kings on Jan. 10, here's what Giannis told The Athletic's Sam Amick regarding the whole "video game exchange" with Steph:

“Yeah, yeah, but it wasn’t (PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds), it was, uh, it was (NBA) 2k,” he says with a laugh about their conversation before flashing a pair of air-quote hand gestures for good measure. “Nah, I’m joking.”

“Steph is a -- he’s a fun dude,” Giannis told Amick. “I really don’t know him, know him -- but whenever we’ve (played each other) he’s always come up to me, talked to me. It’s fun.”

A couple of days later, Mallory Edens -- the daughter of Bucks owner Wes Edens -- had the following exchange with TMZ Sports:

TMZ: "What was going through your mind when you saw Steph Curry trying to recruit Giannis?"

Edens: "I think that they're just friends. A respect for the game ... I don't think Giannis plays video games (laughing). I don't know, but ... "

TMZ: "Exactly. So he must be trying to recruit him for the Warriors, right?"

Edens: "I don't know. No comment. No comment."

[RELATED: Could Steph leave Under Armour amid company's downturn?]

Speaking of not playing video games, this is what Curry told Trevor Noah of "The Daily Show" on April 21: "I ain't seen a video game controller since I had kids."

You get the point.

Furthermore -- in late March, Giannis said Steph is one of his all-time favorite players (twice).

Will the 2018-19 NBA MVP ever be able to say that the 2014-15 and 2015-16 NBA MVP is one of his all-time favorite teammates?

The waiting game continues.

Follow @DrewShiller on Twitter and Instagram

Contact Us