LAS VEGAS — Seth Curry received a text message after he’d agreed to play for the New Orleans Pelicans at Summer League. It was from Darren Erman, who would be coaching the team. The two have known each other since Curry was with the Golden State Warriors in training camp in 2013. He was an undrafted rookie then, recovering from ankle surgery, and Erman was an assistant coach under Mark Jackson. After watching him develop, Erman knew Curry wasn’t far from making it — the 24-year-old guard simply had to show he was more than a shooter.
"I texted him and said, 'Hey, this is your opportunity. Just prove you can defend your position and make plays, and you’ll be in the NBA,'" Erman said.
After four games, Curry has all but officially played himself into the league. He has scored more than anyone else in Las Vegas, averaging 25.3 points along with 4.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 3.5 steals per game while shooting 49 percent from the field. Strangely, he's gone just 5 for 27 from 3-point range, but teams weren't watching to see whether or not he can shoot. They already know he can do that.
The Racine Journal Times’ Gery Woelfel reported that Curry is close to coming to terms on a guaranteed contract with New Orleans. That's something he has never had, and to him it's been a long time coming.
"I feel like I've been very underrated and very kind of disrespected so far in my career," Curry said. "I just take the same approach every time out: try to go out there and dominate and be the best player on the court."
In Vegas, he’s done just that. Erman and the Pelicans coaching staff knew what Curry was all about and thought highly of him before bringing him in, but they weren’t quite expecting this.
"He's made this the Seth Curry show," Erman said. "He’s making plays, too, not just making shots but getting to the rim, finishing. His touch around the basket — I didn’t know he was that good with those floaters and all that. He's been great, and he hasn’t even made his 3s. If he made his 3s, he’d be averaging 35 points a game."
To Curry, the most important thing he’s done in Vegas has had nothing to do with his scoring numbers. "I think I’m doing a lot better job defensively than people really thought of me," he said, adding that he’s been more consistent in terms of being a pest and staying solid. The coaching staff has challenged him to guard players at different sizes with different skill sets, from Jordan Crawford to Kelly Oubre Jr.
"He’s not going to be Defensive Player of the Year, but he doesn’t have to be," Erman said. Like he told Curry, he just needed to show he could hold his own.
Curry spent most of the past two seasons in the NBA D-League, playing with the Santa Cruz Warriors as a rookie and the Erie Bayhawks — where he was named to the All-D-League First Team — this past year. He was first called up by the Memphis Grizzlies in December 2013, then by the Cleveland Cavaliers three months later. He took part in the Orlando Magic’s training camp in 2014 but didn’t stick, staying with the Bayhawks all season aside from a quick call-up to the Phoenix Suns in March.
It’s difficult to produce much when on an unguaranteed or 10-day contract, and Curry has played a total of 21 minutes in the NBA with just three points to his name. He wants a real shot.
"I’m very confident in myself," Curry said. "I feel like I’m an NBA player, I can impact on that level consistently. I just go out there and try to keep it simple. I just try to play the same way, be aggressive no matter where I'm at and hopefully things work out. My mentality’s always the same, whether it’s summer league, D-League, NBA, wherever it is."
That attitude is what has stood out to Robert Pack, who is splitting head coaching duties with Erman at Summer League. Pack was undrafted himself and played 13 years in the league, so he can relate to where Curry finds himself. The motivation is obvious.
"I look for that kind of stuff," Pack said. "I look in guys' eyes, if that hunger is there, if they still have that drive. In particular a guy like him, who's actually had a stint, trying to get back, knowing that I was this close, you can see it. He hasn’t verbally expressed it, but I can see it."
When Stephen Curry gave his MVP speech at the beginning of May, he and Seth both teared up. Stephen recounted their one-on-one battles in the backyard, and told Seth he was making the family proud. "It’s not easy having an older brother that’s playing in the NBA," Stephen said, and "the way that you’re handling it is impressive."
Curry said that he's Stephen’s biggest fan, but he rejected the notion that it was difficult to share the surname. His story has always been tied to his family’s — before Stephen’s rise to superstardom, they were both known as Dell’s sons. Now even Stephen's daughter, Riley, who turns three years old on Sunday, is a celebrity of sorts, a fact her uncle calls "a little bit weird" and "crazy."
"I mean, it’s a little bit more attention, but it’s not hard for me," Curry said. "I just be who I am. I have a good family, so they just tell me to be me and I don’t measure myself up against what they do or what Stephen does. I just try to maximize who I am."
Just before saying those words, Curry was interrupted by Erman: "I have one question for him, sorry. Is this all staged so you don’t have to finish watching the rest of those clips?" Curry replied that they’d watch the film together on the bus. This is exactly what Erman used to do with Stephen in Golden State, so Curry took a photo of the two of them at work this week and sent it to his older brother.
Curry, though, clearly doesn’t want to frame this moment as one where he steps out of Stephen’s shadow. That’s an impossible task, anyway, so he might as well not worry about it. The good news is that, after a couple of years on the periphery, he is coming into his own.
"This Seth Curry is a really good player," Erman said. "This Seth Curry will be in the NBA. He’s not going to be a 10-day contract guy anymore."
