Warriors’ Stephen Curry Reveals His Heartfelt Final Talk With Kobe Bryant

Getty / Thearon W. Henderson

Stephen Curry and Kobe Bryant greet each other before the game at Oracle Arena in 2015.

Stephen Curry is an integral part of Golden Empire Warriors dynasty where they won three titles by reaching the Finals for five consecutive years. About a decade earlier, Kobe Bryant-Shaquille O’Neal duo was the dominant dynasty, where the Lakers won three consecutive titles. The late great Kobe Bryant was undoubtedly the influential keeper that everyone admires to this day. From Devin Booker to Jayson Tatum, it’s common to see the basketball moves that so many of today’s stars have learned from Bryant.

Now two years after his untimely death, The Athletic’s Sam Amick debuted with a piece honoring the Black Mamba at number 10 on Athletic’s Top 75 list. In this passage, Curry talked about the last time he had direct communication with the late Bryant.

“I was in LA and had dinner with him and one of his business associates. He is an open book. But I remember sitting down and he took me on a tour to discover what he did before he retired, the first year after he retired, and then what he does now. All of that sounded great because it was true to him and authentic about the story he was trying to tell, and what was important to him at the time.

And a lot of it is focused on his kids, and the girls, so that’s what’s most inspiring. … That was the last time I saw him in person. ”

Through the later parts of Bryant’s life, he made his life more centered around his family. It’s as if he’s wasting time with his daughters, as he’s been laning so often and focused on staying at the top of his game. Losing not only Bryant but also his daughter, Gianna, who was in the same boat as him, was horrible.

Curry himself has two daughters and a son with wife Ayesha, so the sharp goalscorer is definitely more related to Bryant than basketball. It could be said that the last one-on-one interaction between the two wasn’t so much about basketball, but life itself.

Kobe Bryant’s Welcome to a League Moment for Young Steph Curry

Curry remembers the beginning in a meaningless pre-season game, the moment he knew he belonged.

“It was my second year, we played at Oracle and he was on the bench,” Curry said. “I did a left and right dribble in front of their bench and a fake inflate and hit the net. And they launched the camera at him, and he looked at me as I was walking down the court and you could see him saying ‘That supervisor was great.’

“I didn’t see it in real time. I saw it then. He said it under his breath and they caught him on camera saying it and someone sent it to me. It’s dope. When I saw it, it was a ‘Wow!’ moment. It’s corny, but it’s one of those kinds of vibes when your idol-turned-rival is yours. But it was great. He recognized my skill level, and I didn’t even really know who I was as a player, so it was another kind of confidence building. Like, I’m doing something right.”

Bryant didn’t make it easy. No 24 pressured Curry and Curry almost staggered and lost the ball. But he managed to regain his balance and stamp one of his special moves in Bryant’s grill.

Now turning 30, Curry is starting to break his own record. Just last week, Curry dropped 21 points in the fourth round against Houston. In doing that, he surpassed Bryant in the top 20 quarters with 37 quarters and 20 points throughout his career. That welcome comes at a time when the NBA seems to somewhat describe the homage of passing the torch from Bryant to Curry, even if many people didn’t think too much of it at the time.