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MEMPHIS — Well before he lifted the Warriors once again with dramatic 3’s and unbridled joy, Stephen Curry exerted his influence without stepping on the court.

Shortly before training camp began in late September, Curry invited Warriors assistant coach Bruce Fraser to his house. Then, the two swapped ideas that both partly defined this season and revealed a subtle difference in Curry’s leadership role.

“That’s probably the biggest thing and change in how he had been in the past,” Fraser said. “It was how interested and connected he was with what was going to happen at the higher level.”

Curry and Fraser said those topics became wide-ranging. How do the Warriors become the sixth team in NBA history to win three NBA championships? How do the Warriors maintain their consistent winning habits, while adding extra spice to the day-to-day monotony? How will the Warriors bolster their new center spot with a prized free agent signing (DeMarcus Cousins) and an intriguing young player (Damian Jones)? To what extent would the Warriors tweak their offensive and defensive philosophies?

“You got to be active in terms of trying to get ahead of certain themes,” Curry said of his pre-season meeting with Fraser. “But it’s more so just me and him getting excited talking about the new year and talking about what it could look like.”

On the surface, the Warriors (50-23) enter Wednesday’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies (30-44) with a familiar journey. They have tried to fight complacency. They have tried to blend their All-Stars together. They have often absorbed everyone’s best effort from 29 other teams.

Through those dynamics, team accounts describe Curry as the same leader in his eight previous NBA seasons that offered a mix of humor, positive reinforcement and prolific play. Hence, Warriors coach Steve Kerr has often compared Curry to a “short Tim Duncan” since the Warriors star and the Spurs’ future Hall-of-Famer have led more with actions than words. As Kerr said, “it’s more the presence and the work ethic with the modest yet talented combination of personality and skill.”

And yet, some on the Warriors noticed that Curry has done much more this season than just fulfill those qualities while averaging 27.8 points with prolific shooting from the field (47.1 percent) and from 3 (43.0 percent).

“There has been more [stuff] to work,” Draymond Green said. “He’s done that very well in a very similar way that he always has.”

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How Curry helped the Warriors navigate through the Draymond-KD argument

What did some of that extra stuff entail? Certainly, Curry did not foresee at least this episode happening when he met with Fraser before the season started.

On Nov. 12, Green and Kevin Durant argued about an end-of-game play against the Los Angeles Clippers. Durant yelled at Green for his decision making. Durant trailed on a fast-break, but still wanted the ball for what could have been a game-winning shot. Instead, Green ran the court and eventually committed a turnover. The argument escalated on the bench. Then, Green yelled at Durant with vulgar language and made references to his pending free agency.

“Me and Draymond handled that on our own. It was such a dicey situation with two men,” Durant said. “It was more than just a basketball thing that went on that night. It was two men that needed to talk. No matter what the dynamic is on the team, nobody is going to get in the way of that.”

As for Curry’s involvement? He respectfully declined to comment and considered the incident “old news.” Kerr described Curry’s role in addressing the issue as “all private and behind-the-scenes stuff.” But Green argued that Curry “played an important role” in ensuring that his on-court flareup with Durant did not morph into something worse.

“He was tapped into the situation from the beginning,” Green said of Curry.

Curry was not present when the incident happened. The Warriors’ training staff instructed Curry to stay in Oakland during the Warriors’ two-day trip to Los Angeles so he could rehab his injured left groin. After that episode, though, Curry drove to Green’s house to talk. Curry also spoke separately with Durant, other teammates, the coaching staff and front office.

After Green served a one-game suspension the following night against Atlanta, Curry then rejoined the Warriors for subsequent trips during his rehab. When Green and Durant played together in Houston on Nov. 15, Curry sat in between them on the bench and often shared laughs. No wonder Klay Thompson credited Curry for having “a very great voice of reason during times of turbulence.”

“He was up on things more so before they happened,” Green said. “He was keeping his finger on every single situation as opposed to coming in after something goes wrong.”

How Curry made Cousins feel welcome

Curry showed he kept his finger on other situations well before they developed. That explains partly why he held a pre-season meeting at his home with Fraser.

Among the many topics?

“He wanted to know what we were going to do with the offense and how we were going to incorporate DeMarcus,” Fraser recalled, “and if we could evolve what we had done.”

At the time, the Warriors had no idea when Cousins would return from a left Achilles tendon injury that depressed his free-agent market value. The Warriors had also envisioned carving out a larger role for Jones, whose progress stalled on Dec. 1 in Detroit when he sustained an injury to his torn pectoral muscle that will likely sideline him for the entire season.

Therefore, Curry said the discussions centered more on how Jones would develop as the starting center before Cousins’ pending return. Still, Curry had a keen interest in ensuring the Warriors would maximize Cousins’ presence with the organization’s star talent and a team-oriented culture.

“What has he done for me?” Cousins repeated the question. “He’s opened my game up. He takes all the attention away and lets me be me.”

Well before Cousins showed that following his return on Jan. 18, Curry tried to make his new All-Star teammate feel welcome. Curry asked Cousins periodically about the progress with his rehab and how he feels about his new surroundings. It was seldom enough that Curry did not come across as annoying. It was frequent enough, though, that Curry came across as sympathetic.

“He’s committed himself to make sure DeMarcus is comfortable and to make sure DeMarcus feels like this is home,” Green said. “He’s never been a guy that is not welcoming of anyone. When that’s the face of your franchise, that is important.”

On trips, Curry often sat near Cousins on team dinners. Before and during Cousins’ return, Curry often had food delivered to Cousins’ hotel room during trip. What was the food? Curry leaned on his wife, Ayesha, who owns the restaurant, International Smoke.

“That’s one of my new favorite places,” said Cousins, who enjoys the rib platters. “It’s incredible.”

Yet, team accounts stressed that Curry did not act this way toward Cousins for political reasons. As Fraser said, “none of the things he does is thought out or contrived to get somewhere with DeMarcus.” Instead, Curry insisted he simply was being himself.

“When you have an impromptu conversation,” Curry said, “good stuff comes out of those situations.”

What Durant thinks of Curry being ‘the system’

Green likened Curry’s approach to Cousins with how he welcomed Durant when he joined the Warriors as a free agent in the 2016 offseason. As Green said about Curry, “he’s a welcoming person; he opens his arms and hands to everyone.”

Very early into their partnership, though, Durant told Curry he did not want to feel catered. Sure, Durant is considered one of the NBA’s best scorers. Sure, Durant appreciated Curry’s collaborative nature. But Durant remained sensitive about not wanting his arrival to compromise what has made Curry so great.

“‘I need you to be you,’” Durant told Curry. “‘I don’t need you to take a backseat or try to make me feel comfortable. I’m going to get mine. I need you to be you.’”

Two years later, Durant maintained he still feels the same way. He often has referred to Curry’s presence as the Warriors’ “system.”

“We’re at our best when Steph is aggressive and making shots. It’s simple,” Durant said. “We try our best for him and Klay to get open. Free them so they can run around the open court and get them open shots and take advantage of mismatches. For us, our whole thing is how can we do that as much as we can.”

Those words might be surprising to hear or read. After all, Durant also wants to score. According to NBA.com’s tracking stats, Durant has scored in a variety of ways in transition (21 percent), in isolation (15.5 percent), in postups (10 percent), off of screens (8.7 percent) and off of spotting up (8.6). Those numbers do not just reflect Durant’s scoring versatility as a scorer. It also captures the Warriors’ offense that predicates on ball movement and cutting. Yet, Durant has occasionally taken issue with that philosophy.

Durant stressed he has no problem with Curry being the focal point of the team’s offense. Instead, Durant has lamented occasionally that consistent ball movement does not solve every offensive issue. What happens when open players miss shots? What about when Durant or one of his All-Star teammates has enough of a rhythm to shoot through double teams?

Therefore, Durant argued the Warriors have to master “small things” consistently to ensure their offense, as he put it, “runs fluid like water.” Those small things center on cutting, timing and noticing mismatches. He also considers it critical for the Warriors to recognize their players’ shooting rhythms with more consistency.

“We all know what the offense is,” Durant said. “We all know exactly how Steph is going to get his shots. Some nights it may not work that way. As time starts to go on and more teams start to figure out the offense, he’s using different ways to be effective out there.”

How Curry has handled the Warriors’ entire offensive dynamic

What are those different ways? There are many. After all, the Warriors believe they are at their best when they can improvise their offense. Why burden the Warriors with a thick playbook when they have five All-Stars that can score and playmake off of their own instincts?

“When we feel something as a staff, we might make a call. Otherwise, we pretty much leave the team alone out there,” Kerr said. “I don’t like to call too many plays.”

Instead, Kerr likes his offense to become what he calls “organized chaos.” Hand the ball either to Curry, Durant, Green or Cousins to facilitate the offense. Hand the ball either to Curry, Thompson, Durant or occasionally Cousins to make a 3. Hand the ball either to Durant or Cousins to score in the post.

What a luxury for the Warriors to have. Curry ranks third this season in points (27.8), second in free-throw shooting (91.3 percent) and eighth 3-point shooting (43 percent). As for his teammates? Durant fares eighth in points (26.8). Green ranks 12th in assists (6.9). And Thompson is 20th in points (22.2). As Thompson noted about Curry, “he’s very unselfish.”

“He hasn’t tried to figure out, ‘Do I go now or not?’ He just plays,” Green said of Curry. “That’s very important to our success. It creates so much controversy, if you will, on an opposing defense. It make things easier for everybody.”

If only it were as simple as the Warriors rolling the ball out, Curry picking it up and then doing what he pleases.

“He’s a natural-born shooter. He’s not a natural-born point guard,” Kerr said of Curry. “The challenge for him is always finding the right mix and the right blend and playmaking and scoring and game management.”

According to NBA.com’s tracking data, Curry has taken the plurality of his shots in either a catch-and-shoot situation (38.1 percent) or as a pull-up jumper (38.1 percent). He mostly passes to Green (22.9 percent) since he also assumes playmaking responsibilities. When Curry has not delegated offensive duties to Green, he either looks for Durant (22.9 percent) or Thompson (15.6 percent) to score.

“You don’t really need to say or do anything besides just be a little bit more aggressive for shots. Just play your game,” Curry said. “Everybody plays the game the right way and tries to have a high basketball IQ. That stuff is going to meld.”

Yet, Curry concedes that his thought process “changes quarter-to-quarter” for a simple reason. Curry considers it important he’s “reading the situation.”

That has often helped the team even sometimes to his own detriment.

Since Cousins’ return, Curry has passed relatively fewer times to Green (23.2 percent), Durant (19.7 percent) and Thompson (14.2) percent) so that he can also give looks to Cousins (11.4 percent). Despite Cousins’ mixed progress with his conditioning and outside shooting (33.2 percent), he has still averaged 15.9 points on a 46.1 percent clip. As for Curry? Since Cousins’ return, Curry has shot only 40.3 percent from the field and 36 percent from 3 in the first quarter. Overall, though, Curry has still shot 44.4 percent from the field and 39.4 percent from deep.

Curry has never placed blame on Cousins’ presence itself disrupting his own shooting consistency. The Warriors have attributed their first-quarter starts, more on complacency. Curry has often maintained he only needs one shot to end any slump. Through it all, Curry has outlined the need for the team to cater to Cousins’ strengths.

No wonder Cousins says that “everything about him is A-plus.” Sure, there are times Currycould venture off on his own and look for his own shot. Plenty of times that approach would work. Kerr also admitted there are times that “I should’ve gotten more organized” with the playcalls. Yet, Curry strongly believes in the strength in numbers philosophy, both to maximize the team’s depth and to empower his teammates.

“That’s been a tricky balance for him because he’s used to playing on his instincts. But he’s a selfless player,” Fraser said. “He’s definitely gone out of his way to try to get others involved, while sacrificing his own numbers. There are times he’s had choices to make and sometimes there are choices for himself and sometimes there are choices for the other. But I think he tries to make the right basketball play.”

How Curry lifts his younger teammates

Curry does not need to worry about such issues with his younger teammates. After all, those players’ minutes and shots will forever remain sporadic because of the All-Star talent around them.

That does not mean Curry ignores them, though. He still finds other ways to make them feel empowered.

“He’s the ultimate leader and ultimate competitor,” Warriors fourth-year guard Quinn Cook said. “He works his butt off and he’s happy for you when you do well. He’s always building you up if you’re going through anything.”

The Warriors noticed that Curry has taken a more active role in doing that this season because of the team’s new bench identity.

The Warriors carved out relatively bigger roles this season for Jones, fourth-year forward Kevon Looney, second-year forward Jordan Bell and Cook. They essentially replaced Patrick McCaw with Alfonzo McKinnie. They selected Jacob Evans with the No. 28 pick in the 2018 NBA draft. They signed Damion Lee and Marcus Derrickson to two-way contracts.

The verdict remains undetermined if their younger bench’s learning curves will eventually yield a return on investment. They have suffered some short-term consequences by losing veteran voices in the locker room with David West (retirement), Zaza Pachulia (Detroit Pistons) and JaVale McGee (Los Angeles Lakers). Therefore, Curry has helped out veteran reserves Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston to nurture the bench rotation.

“Even if he hasn’t been in your shoes, he can try to put himself in your shoes. That’s huge,” Lee said. “For any leader, it’s about understanding what someone is going through and try to help them and empathize as much as you can. He tries to build that and keep everyone together.”

Therefore, Curry has encouraged his younger teammates in various ways.

Curry has given pointers to Looney on how to run the pick-and-roll to help him receive more open looks. During a recent game, Curry told McKnnie not to feel down after committing a turnover. Curry has challenged Cook in occasional scrimmages during training camp and during the season. Curry has encouraged Lee to keep his aggressiveness and confidence regardless of his evolving playing time.

“It shows his character and the type of guy he is on and off the court,” McKinnie said. “It also lets you know how seriously he takes the game. Us being his teammates, if he sees us down, he’s coming to uplift us. He cheers guys up and get guys in that good spirit.”

What does Curry’s joy do?

That is the power of Curry’s joy. He will take half-court shots at the end of practice. He will leap out of his seat after his teammate completes a highlight reel. He will say or do things that will make people laugh.

How many instances does Curry try to lighten the mood? Curry conceded there are “too many to count.” But more importantly, the Warriors have expressed appreciation for Curry ensures a positive working environment.

“We’re not looking at Steph as the guy that’s supposed to make our lives better,” Durant said. “That’s not the approach we have here. That’s not the real human approach, anyway. That’s too much to put on him to make us feel better about ourselves. He comes in, does his job and gets back on the bus and goes home. It’s not that complicated.”

Do not take Durant’s words as a swipe about the Warriors believing it is important to play with joy. He is merely clarifying how Curry’s demeanor impacts the team.

“Sometimes Steph takes us over the top with his joy for the game and his personality and brightens who he is as a person. But once we step in between the lines, none of that stuff really matters,” Durant said. “We’re just trying to win every possession with whatever mood you show or emotion you show. We’re all okay with it.”

How does Curry establish that culture? The Warriors credited Curry for exerting his presence more through his consistent work habits. Durant credited Curry for “being more tactical on how we can get better in certain situations instead of just giving motivational speeches.” Fraser praised Curry for offering suggestions in their pre-season meeting on dividing up the season in segments and changing the team’s practice routines to keep things fresh.

“I try to be consistent with who I am and how I show up every day,” Curry said. “Other than that, it’s the trust you have in each other, sense of accountability and responsibility to be able to figure it out. But there’s nothing special about this year versus any other year. It’s trying to be consistent.”

And that is why the Warriors consider Stephen Curry to be special. Through new circumstances this season, the Warriors credit Curry’s leadership for being as dependable as his outside shooting.

“We all see through fake [BS]. Fake [BS] can divide a team,” Green said. “Obviously everyone knows it’s genuine and who he is as a person. He’s not going to always say something. So when he does speak and says something, we know it’s genuine and we know it’s real.”

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