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The Draymond Green Show: Draymond defends Steph Curry in response to the recent statements made by Monta Ellis and Jeff Teague "That's just not how you win championships, you don't win championships by 'ahh man move this player and this player'... it's not just the basketball, it's the makeup of the person and how does that guy lead?... and so I think these statements are null and void and like kinda irrelevant... I think it also takes away what Steph Curry is as a leader and quite honestly, that's just not how it goes."
Jeff Teague had the same reaction that probably every person on the planet had upon hearing Monta Ellis’ claim. Ellis, the former high-scoring Golden State Warriors guard, controversially declared on Sunday that the Warriors would’ve had the same success had he replaced Steph Curry. Teague, Ellis’ teammate with the Indiana Pacers in 2016-2017 wasn’t exactly buying it. “Imma keep it real with you. He was never better than Steph Curry,” Teague said during a live recording of “The Club 520 Podcast” before saying there was another star guard who he could have seen perhaps replicating the Warriors’ success with Curry. “…If you said ‘We’re going to take Steph Curry out of there, and put Dame Lillard, then I would be like ‘Okay I could see them get the same results.”
Monta Ellis said the Warriors teams in the years that preceded that run set the stage for what Stephen Curry & Co. accomplished. But a fleet of developmental players never positioned his teams to win at that level. "That's what I dealt with. And people know that," Ellis said. "Real people that know basketball and all that, they know that. They know the team that I was dealt with. If you switched me and Steph out with the team that won the championships, it'd be the same thing. So you've got to take the good with the bad, and that's cool. It put me in a position to make money for me and my family. I ran with that."
Alcorn State announced the hiring of former NBA guard Monta Ellis as the new General Manager of the Braves men’s basketball program, effective immediately. The Jackson, Mississippi native, brings 12 years of NBA experience to the Braves’ coaching staff. The Golden State Warriors selected him in the second round (40th overall) of the 2005 NBA Draft. He played in 12 NBA seasons with the Warriors, Milwaukee Bucks, Dallas Mavericks and Indiana Pacers.
Tony Allen: Did you see the upcoming of Stephen Curry when you were that early when you got there? Dorell Wright: Not in time, bro. Like I knew he was a good player. I knew I was getting with a point guard that like to share it, could shoot it. One thing that stood out the most was the work ethic. It had been times me and Monta Ellis be like, "Yo, Steph, we got a game tonight." You know, it's an hour after shoot around, cuz me and Monta would go straight from shoot around to a lift all the time, and then you would see Steph through the window still on the court and it's like, "Bro, get some rest, bro." You know, us teaching him like, "Yo, take care of yourself." But he wanted it so bad, where nothing was going to deny that. And he put the time in. He put the hours in. He was a good teammate. We all know Steph is a solid dude. When it happened, I was definitely shocked, but I wasn't surprised because of me seeing when nobody was watching. He was really putting that time and work in. For sure.
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Q. There was a moment they were they could have traded Stephen Curry. They were going to choose between him and Monta Ellis. Anthony Morrow: Yeah. Q. Was the belief when you were in practices, was the energy like, they fully have bought into Steph or was it kind of like we don't know, it's a little wobbly, like do they believe in him? I know Mark Jackson eventually did, but what was it like those early years? Was it like you could tell that he's kind of like a trial run with them or was it like he's the face of this franchise? Anthony Morrow: Day one. They started him first game of the season against Houston. He played well. It's like he had like 17, but he had like a terrible turnover that lost the game. And like I remember all the vets like he ain't ready to play, he ain't this, he ain't that. I'm like Don Nelson is not turning his back on him. He chose him. He's not turning his back, and it was just part of the game. Like in the process, in the journey. I was like, he turned his back on this boy, man. The way he played, Don was opening him up like play yourself like you did at Davidson, and it is what it is and I remember the whole sh*t going on with him and Monta, well it wasn't him and Monta, it was like the media and everybody else and Monta, with Steph and Monta, and I mean Monta is a hell of a player bro, he was super underrated, still my guy, he was cold and I think that the way they played they had, was too small of a back court for back then.
Nick DePaula: Stephen Curry arrived tonight in a Monta Ellis PE of the AND1 Tai Chi Originally made for the 2009 season, featuring his rookie year teammate Monta’s “ME 8” logo on the heel.
Stephen Curry arrived tonight in a Monta Ellis PE of the AND1 Tai Chi 🔥🔥
— Nick DePaula (@NickDePaula) January 8, 2026
Originally made for the 2009 season, featuring his rookie year teammate Monta’s “ME 8” logo on the heel. pic.twitter.com/ho725KcOuN
Stephen Curry: (Our PR director) runs outside the parking deck, he's like, “Steph, I got to tell you something—you might hear it...” (This is before real-time breaking news updates, X, all that stuff.) He says, “You might have to go back and watch the news to hear it. But you might hear something about what Monta said about y’all.” I was like, “All right, what did he say?” He goes: “He said, ‘You know, two small guards can’t win together.’” And him being the vet, him saying that—it gave me a choice, right? Like, to your point: Do I sulk? Do I go demand a trade? Do I act like this is a personal shot at me? How do I take what’s happening in this situation and—to your point—still find a sense of perspective and joy around it?
Stephen Curry: That whole ride home, that’s all I thought about. I was like, “I can’t let this rob me of an amazing accomplishment—the dream of being able to..." But the idea of... that’s a moment where it’s all perspective. And for me to come to training camp the next day and be like: “I deserve to be here. I deserve this opportunity, and I’m going to put the work in behind it.”
You got a chance to play with Steph, yeah? How was that experience? Did you see that he would become the guy who he is today? Monta Ellis: No, I didn’t. But I knew he worked hard though. He definitely would pay attention to the things I was doing; he paid a whole lot of attention to it and he put that into his game. Now, when he came around, it was just — it was messy. He just came into a messy situation, messy environment. You had teammates that were talking stuff to the owners about what the players were doing at the time, this and that. So, he came in — it was messy. But did I know he was going to be that? Nah. But he did work hard though. So now, seeing it? Not surprised. Not surprised. Because of the work. Once you learn — even with him, though — he came in small. Once he figured out how to be able to get strong and take physicality, that’s when his career changed.
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You mentioned the moped incident (that happened in 2008). It was reported then that you had lied to the organization and that you injured yourself playing basketball. Why did you feel the need to lie about it? Monta Ellis: I was a young kid, I had just signed the biggest deal of my life. So that was my biggest thing was to be like, ‘Man, I got to try to make it something basketball-related.’ So, I panicked. I said what I said. But then after I did that, I came back and I told them exactly what happened. I admitted it. I said ‘I’ll give you 2.5 (million dollars) back from the contract that I just signed.’ And so they suspended me for 57 games that they already knew I was going to miss anyway just so they could get another $500,000 so it could be $3 million versus ($2.5 million). And so that’s when our relationship turned. (Note: Ellis was suspended by the Warriors for 30 games, but missed 57 in total with his ankle injury.)
Monta Ellis: So I’m in the hotel thinking, “Damn, I don’t know what’s going to happen.” We get on the phone. They were like, “We ain’t trading you.” We were like two games out of the 8th seed, I think. I don’t know how many games we had — like 20-something or whatever. And they were like, “We’re just going to ride it out.” So I’m like, “Cool, we’re jelling right now, so I ain’t even tripping.” I was like, “I ain’t going nowhere.” I was like, “Cool, I didn’t want to go nowhere anyway. I ain’t going nowhere.” But, man, from the time I got off that phone call, hung up with them, went down to the bus to ride to the arena, bro — they had already traded me. So the crazy thing is they didn’t tell me. Hold on now, hold on, bro. They didn’t tell me nor my agent. Man, I get in, and what’s his name — Dominic McGuire — he said, “Bro, they just traded you.” I said, “No, bro, they ain’t trade me.” He said, “Bro, it just came on ESPN.”
Monta Ellis: That’s how I got traded at Golden State. I’m glad — that messed me up, though. I gave that city everything, even through the bullcrap, even with my leg and all that — for me to be able to put my body through the things I put my body through to get myself back right. And for that owner to come in and do it like that — that was weak. Yeah, straight up. Hell yeah. I was soft about that for a while. And it wasn’t until I got to Dallas that I really got back to playing basketball.
Monta Ellis: They taking the biggest risk of their life. Now I'm expendable because it ain't a bigger contract. Like they can write that off on their taxes, but like they took a chance on me and so I love Golden State, you know what I mean? They gave me my opportunity. The way it went down is what really hurt me or affected me. And it's similar to what happened to Luka Doncic. That's what that part of the business that you really don't know nothing about unless you really be a part of it or if you just had somebody that was close to you that has been done to. But I had my good days and I had my bad days. But I had more good days than I had bad days. And I'm always going to give them their flowers, their respect, and everything they have done for me and my family. So now, Golden State will always going to be in my heart.