When asked what he was doing last time the Warriors had an all-star (Latrell Sprewell, 1997), Monta Ellis responded:
“I was 12. What I was doing was playing in mud and eating mud pies at that time.”
For Monta, publicly at least, an All-Star selection holds little value compared to the value of wins. His witty remarks about mud pies, perhaps, captures his sentiment. But there’s a puncher’s chance that Monta may still get selected if Utah Jazz PG Deron Williams isn’t ready to go. But Monta Ellis is no stranger to All-Star weekend festivities as he made a name for himself on the NBA scene several years back as the person all the sophomore guards in the rookie-sophomore challenge wanted to throw alley-oops to. I believe all 28 of his points came off dunks.
Perhaps Stephen Curry, like Monta, will continue the tradition of Warriors lighting up the Rookie-Sophomore challenge this year. And before all of these three was the trio of exciting and brash sophomores Troy Murphy, Gilbert Arenas (MVP of the game), and Jason Richardson, with the infamous pass to himself off Carlos Boozer’s head. Last season, Curry and Anthony Morrow, quietly, scored 14 and 15 points respectively. Curry scored mostly off jumpers, but I’m guessing we can expect him to do a lot more ball handling and no-look passing. What does this say about the Warriors? Maybe they’re pretty good at drafting guards.
Stephen Curry is currently a finalist in the Taco Bell Skills Challenge. NBA.com compiled a nice video of some of Curry’s nicest plays this season. Though, I find the juxtaposition between the term “skills,” denoting the top athletes in the NBA showcasing their amazing discipline to their craft, and the fast food brand “Taco Bell” to be a little jarring. Nothing about Taco Bell’s unhealthy menu equates with this idea of some of the greatest athletes in the world. Anyway, you can vote as much as you like, so get your vote on! And please, no Derek Fisher. Unless there is a flopping challenge, which is a skill unto itself, then please vote for Fisher.