Warriors rookie Moses Moody waited and waited and waited some more.
As a freshman at Arkansas, Moody started all 32 of the Razorbacks' games last season. He wasn't given a start in the NBA until Dec. 17, 2021, when he played 10 minutes in a four-point win against the Boston Celtics. It was Golden State's 29th game of the season and Moody's 19th as a pro.
Now in early March of 2022 with only 17 games left in the regular season, the 19-year-old is the newest Warrior to rise in Steve Kerr's rotation, whether he's a starter or coming off the bench. Monday night's 131-124 Warriors loss to the Denver Nuggets was the latest example as Golden State was without eight of its players, including Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins and the majority of the Warriors' big-minute players.
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"Moses was just fantastic tonight," Kerr said after the loss. "He was aggressive. Got off to a quick start and made some big shots for us."
Moody came into the night without missing a single shot in each of his last three games. He had made 11 shots in a row, including five straight 3-pointers. He extended his streak to 13 straight shots to start the game, with both being 3-pointers. The streak ended when he missed a running layup, but he then nailed another 3-pointer, his eighth consecutive triple.
In the first quarter, Moody scored 15 points, setting a new career-high for a quarter as he went 5-for-10 from the field and made four of his six 3-point attempts. Midway through the second quarter, Moody had already scored a career-high for a game with 22 points after making two straight free throws. He finished the game with 30 points while going 10-for-23 from the field and 5-for-12 from beyond the arc, plus he made five of his six attempts from the free-throw line.
This wound up being a historic night for Moody. His 22 points in the first half were the most by a Warriors rookie since Curry did so in 2010. He now has made the most consecutive shots by any Warrior this season, and his 30 points are the most ever by a teenager in Warriors history -- passing Jonathan Kuminga's 26 earlier this season and James Wiseman's 25 last season.
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Those are the Warriors' last three first-round picks, and it's becoming more obvious each game what a big part of their future Moody will be.
"He's a keeper," Kerr said. "He's a guy who's gonna be a cornerstone for this team, for the Warriors, for a long time to come. It's easy to see that right now in his rookie year."
His patience paid off.
"I feel like patience is the story of my life right now," Moody said. "It's something that I've had to put a conscious effort and diligently focus on and not try and be cool and have it happen subconsciously. That's not gonna happen."
The rookie then explained how he had a conversation with Curry about how to have poise during a long season full of highs and lows and staying even-keeled. The two-time NBA MVP made it clear to Moody that achieving that won't happen overnight. He insisted on coming up with tactics and strategies and the young teammate listened.
During the game, an injured Draymond Green called Moody "Mo Money" on his Instagram story while watching his Warriors play the Nuggets. Juan Toscano-Anderson shouted him out his own Instagram story as Moses "Money" Moody, and Jordan Poole -- who led the Warriors with 32 points -- said Moody played "fantastic" despite the loss.
At this point in his rookie year, Moody has earned the respect of all the right people. That's for being more than a knockdown shooter, too.
"I think what's really exciting about Moses is the competitiveness," Kerr said. "The fire, the feel. He understands the game and he competes every play."
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When talking about his G League dominance, where Moody averaged 31.8 points in eight games for Santa Cruz, you can always hear an eagerness in his voice. It always felt like he was inviting a bigger challenge with brighter lights, only a positive for a young competitor. With 40 NBA games to his name, including seven starts, Moody admittedly still wants more -- which again, is a good thing.
He also has been praised since Day 1 for his maturity and knows balancing that hunger with an understanding of his role and team dynamic will bring the best out of his game.
"As a young guy, I still got those young kid emotions," Moody said. "I want to run out there, run up and down, play against everybody and that's all there. But I kind of got to grow up, because I'm in this situation going out here playing with OGs, big dogs who have been here for a while.
"I understand the situation, obviously. I know I've been saying that all year. I don't want to keep saying it. I do want to do more, but just having that patience, having that poise and being able to suppress those feelings a little bit."
Moody still has nearly three months left of being a teenager. It's true he's growing up in the NBA each and every day, and he shouldn't have to suppress any part of his game going forward. This former Hog has grown his wings and he needs to fly.