KAISER PERMANENTE ARENA, SANTA CRUZ, CA– The Golden State Warriors NBA Development League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors were chosen to host the 11th annual NBA D-League showcase. The event started on Thursday afternoon and will run through Monday night.
The showcase features all 18 D-League teams and is in a tournament style with teams battling it out to decide an eventual champion. All of the games will count toward the team’s overall record with exception of the championship game.
For Santa Cruz, the tournament opened on a good note as they notched 97-90 win over the Canton Charge.
During Friday’s action, former Golden State and Santa Cruz Warrior, and younger brother of All-Star Stephen Curry, played in the showcase with his respective team, the Erie Bayhawks. Seth Curry finished his game with 14 points, but shot only 25% from the field.
Curry did however play solid defense coming up with 2 steals. After the game we caught up with him and asked him if he approaches the showcase games any differently.
“No I don’t, I treat it the same way, Curry said in the locker room, “I mean just prepare the same way before every game and treat every game the same. You don’t want to come here and get out of character and do things you wouldn’t normally do, so you just try to show what you do best.”
Many NBA scouts and General Managers attended the showcase to see if any potential NBA talent was waiting to be picked up. With more eyes on these players, anything can happen. We asked Curry what this showcase means to players on the brink of an NBA roster spot.
“It’s big,” Curry said, “You come out here on the biggest stage possible in the D-League, everybody is in one place and you try to just come out here, play hard, and put on a show.”
The Golden State Warriors GM, Bob Myers also spoke about the significance of an event like this.
“I think it’s great! I don’t think a lot of these players are able to play in front of ten, fifteen – I don’t know how many GMs are here, or assistant GMs – but that’s what they’re playing for.” Myers said, “Most of the players in the D-League are playing to get a call-up in the NBA. To have the ability to have, I think every organization represented here, gives [the players] a chance to gain the exposure that we’re looking for. A good showcase can certainly catapult you into the NBA or at least get you a 10-day opportunity.”
The action continues all day tomorrow, and Santa Cruz will face off against the Grand Rapids Drive at 7:00 PT.
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