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Photo: Sebastian Kim

In 2009, fresh off improbable back-to-back NCAA runs at Davidson, Stephen Curry was drafted by the Warriors and hooked up with us to write about his rookie season for GQ.com. Little did we know Curry would transform from NBA longshot to MVP frontrunner—the backbone of the best team in the NBA. We played a game of then vs. now with him, five years on, tossing him lines from his "My Rookie Season" blog on our site to see how much (or how little) things have changed.

Then: "Wednesday morning [before my first-ever NBA game], I woke up at about 9:30 and got a good breakfast in—an egg-and-cheese bagel and a waffle."

Now:_ _"Five years later and it’s still the exact same breakfast order."

Then:_ _"I couldn’t sit in the locker room. I was jumping up and down, doing extra stretches for no reason. I was the most wired guy in there. And all the veterans were looking at me like, ’This guy doesn’t know we have 82 games?"

Now:_ _"I am pretty chill before games. Have a go-to routine that keeps me busy until we are ready to take the court so I’m not just sitting around anxious for the game. The routine goes from my ritual tweet—"Lock in"—to stretching, pregame warm-up shots and then chapel to get my mind right. Then it’s time to go."

Then:_ _"Here’s a funny story: I went to California Pizza Kitchen in Salt Lake City the other day. A bunch of my teammates and I were going to eat there right before we saw _Hot Tub Time Machine,_and so we wanted to get in and get out quickly. We wanted to sit at the bar, but the lady didn’t think I was old enough. So because of me, the whole group got carded."

Now:_ _"Depends on how long my facial hair is but yeah I still get carded regularly at restaurants and even the movies!"

Then:"When I moved out, my Mom and Dad came to help me get settled into my apartment—a place I ultimately got hooked up with in Coach Nelson’s building. We had to figure out how to get all my shoes over here. That was a little stressful."

Now:_ _"My now-wife and I have moved three or four times since then, and now we have a house near Oakland that we love. Have a pool outside to enjoy the beautiful California weather all year. And my garage was dedicated for all of my Under Armour shoes that I have on deck for any occasion. I have too many, but at least they are not in the house! Recently partnered with Express Men as a brand ambassador so my closet is full of the new fashion trends and styles that keep me fresh for games."

Then:_ _"I bought a Mercedes G-Wagon back in Charlotte and had it shipped out to Oakland."

Now:_ _"A Porsche Panamera."

Then:_ _"I know public transportation’s big out here, but I still haven’t tried the BART."

Now:_ _"I am not a BART regular but have taken it probably five times to and from the city with some of my teammates. Nice to just hop on the train and enjoy some of the views of the Bay Area while I’m out."

Then:_ _"It’s strange coming home and having so much free time—not knowing what to do with it or where to go, and having to ask everybody, What should I do?or What’s good on a Wednesday night in Oakland? Early on, I would ask some of the coaches who’d lived here for a while or some of the players—especially the young players who were here last year. I was even asking people on Twitter for recommendations. Some of them were good; some of them were a little crazy."