The legend that is "Petty Steph" was years in the making before the 2022 NBA Finals.
Steph Curry infamously kept receipts of every analyst who doubted him and the Warriors throughout the 2021-22 NBA season and was dubbed the moniker after mimicking ESPN analysts who incorrectly predicted that Golden State would not win another championship.
Curry joined former NBA guard J.J. Redick and co-host Tommy Alter on the latest episode of "The Old Man and The Three" podcast, where he was asked if he always kept tabs on what others around the league were saying, or if it was something he developed.
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"I think I developed it," Curry said. "Mostly trying to rationalize the chaos of that five-year run we were on, making the Finals. That first Finals appearance, you have no idea what that level is like until you get there. Just the amount of attention, scrutiny, moody swings, the narrative changes from game to game and all that ...There's way more conversation, way more hot takes and all types of conclusions about your game."
Keeping up with the ever-changing narratives could be a distraction for most players, but for Curry, he was secure enough with his level of play to where reading what critics had to say didn't bother him.
"You've got your stans out there that will defend you, you've got people that are going to hate on anything that you do," Curry added. "And I found that it's nice to be aware of what's going on and also develop a sense of comfortability in who I am, because you're going to get asked about stuff, you're going to have 82 games and nine months of your life on the NBA's 24/7 (365-day) news cycle. You want to be aware of what's going on, but I'm also so secure in who I am and what I can do on the floor. It's more entertainment at this point."
Longtime teammate Andre Iguodala revealed on an earlier episode with Redick that Curry used to be on his phone during halftime of games, to which Steph confirmed and disclosed that he was reading what people on Twitter had to say about him after poor shooting performances in the first half.
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"I started that during that run, yeah," Curry admitted. "Andrew Bogut was kind of the first one to call me out on it. It was funny because he actually was bold enough to ask me 'what are you looking at right now?' I'm like on my phone.
"I was looking at Twitter and looking at ... It wasn't hateful messages, but real strong opinions on how you're playing and all that. We called it 'First Quarter Twitter,' it's the best thing in the world ... you kind of get off on that, so I enjoy it."
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Curry notoriously is not one to respond to critics online, instead will do so with his play on the court or his comments in a postgame press conference. So even though he didn't respond on Twitter, Steph saw everything, and thus a petty legend was born.
Long live Petty Steph.