Close friendship with Curry drew refined Bazemore back to Warriors
Since they were last teammates on the Warriors six-plus seasons ago, Kent Bazemore and Steph Curry kept in touch and often wondered if they’d ever be teammates again.
That dream became reality when Golden State signed Bazemore to a one-year, $2.3 million veteran-minimum contract this offseason.
An undrafted rookie out of Old Dominion in 2012, Bazemore almost signed to play overseas in Ukraine before an impressive Summer League performance helped him land a nonguaranteed deal with the Warriors.
Golden State traded him away in February 2014 along with MarShon Brooks in exchange for Steve Blake. Now in his ninth NBA season, Bazemore, 31, returns as part of an experienced group who will anchor the team’s bench.
Over the years, Bazemore and Curry have maintained a friendship and talked on the phone often about family, golf and Christianity. When Bazemore watched Curry sulk on TV, he’d send his friend a note to cheer him up, his way of paying forward what he learned in Golden State during his first two NBA seasons.
“I took the locker room stuff and I carried that with me wherever I went,” Bazemore said during his media day interview Wednesday. “So Golden State has always been a part of my DNA as a basketball player.
“Even when I left, to see the kind of success that they had, it always felt like I was a part of it.”
Much has changed since Bazemore was an excitable rookie getting his car filled with popcorn as a prank. The franchise hired Steve Kerr as coach, won three championships and moved from Oakland to San Francisco.
Meanwhile, after stints with the Lakers, Hawks, Trail Blazers and Kings, Bazemore is an established NBA player who has made more than $75 million in a career that has brought him back to where it started.
Having blossomed into a prototypical “3-and-D” player, Bazemore in 2016 signed a four-year, $70 million deal with Atlanta. He completed that contract last season in Sacramento, where he averaged 10.3 points on 38.4% shooting from 3-point range and 4.9 rebounds per game in 25 games for the Kings.
His experience playing in ballmovement systems under Mike D’Antoni in Los Angeles and Mike Budenholzer in Atlanta, ability to hound opponents with his 7-foot wingspan and career 3-point shooting percentage of 35% will prepare him to take on an important role with the Warriors.
“I’m going to bring the energy,” Bazemore said. “Ball movement, cutting, slashing, and then defensively is where I’m going to hang my hat. I’m going to shut that water off.”
As a free agent last month, Bazemore was pursued by the Bucks, Nets, Lakers and Clippers — all contenders who could use a player with his skill set. But when Klay Thompson suffered a torn Achilles that will sideline him for the entire 2020-21 season, the Warriors made addressing the wing position a priority.
Bazemore will back up Kelly Oubre Jr. and Andrew Wiggins this season but can make a spot start when needed and could be a reliable option to close games when Kerr is in need of floor spacing and perimeter defense. He’s come a long way since his first stint with the Warriors, when he shot 37.1% overall (27.4% from 3-point range) in 105 games.
Soon after news of Bazemore’s return broke, Curry shared a screenshot on Instagram of the two friends on a FaceTime call. Both were smiling, no longer thinking of what-ifs.
“You can’t buy happiness,” Bazemore said, “and being back here I’m the happiest I’ve been in a very long time.”