How Steph Curry helped Adelaide 36ers guard Kendric Davis, import, NBA, Golden State Warriors #adessonews

Being overlooked isn’t anything new for Adelaide 36ers import Kendric Davis.

He had “three or four” NBA teams tell him they were going to draft him in 2023. That didn’t happen.

He was then offered a starting role on Golden State’s Summer League team with the hope of securing one of the final spots on the Warriors’ roster. That didn’t happen either.

But when Davis found out he didn’t get that last roster spot, and was feeling “kind of down”, he shared a moment with four-time NBA champion Draymond Green.

The 2024-25 NBL season begins in Perth with the inaugural HoopsFest from September 19 to 22. You can watch every game of the first ever NBL Hoopsfest LIVE on ESPN, via Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial today >

“He had a talk with me,” Davis told foxsports.com.au.

“He said, ‘You’re going to play in the NBA. Everything happens for a reason… he was just like, ‘I just put my head down and I grinded’.”

Not that Davis didn’t already know that. A self-described “hard worker” who “prides himself on grinding”, Davis hasn’t got to where he is now without putting in the extra hours.

It is what earned him the respect of Warriors superstar Steph Curry, who to this day still texts Davis, offering words of encouragement, as if the 36-year-old sharpshooter’s career arc isn’t inspirational enough.

“Nobody thought Steph would be Steph Curry but he didn’t listen to the outside noise and just shocked the world and believed,” Davis said.

Green believed too and now he, once a second-round pick, is “going to be a future Hall of Famer”, as Davis put it.

And Klay Thompson. “Klay was drafted,” Davis said. “But didn’t nobody think Klay would be able to have this career”. So, why was he, why was Steph and why was Draymond able to do what they did?

“I think they believed,” added Davis, “just knowing if you believe in yourself, then everyone else will and if you don’t, nobody will.

“They just gave me the confidence to believe in myself. When you put the work in you can live with the results but when you don’t put the work in, you question if you could have worked harder.”

So, Davis gave the Warriors front office no reason to question him and, more importantly, gave himself no reason to question if he had done enough to play in the NBA.

The results showed on the court too as Davis averaged 18.7 points and 8.9 assists with the Santa Cruz Warriors, later named on the NBA G-League All-Rookie Team.

“Every day I just try to get better,” Davis said.

“Every day I try to leave the gym knowing I got better and usually I can live with the results as long as I work hard. I’m a grinder. I pride myself on grinding and I’m a winner.

“Everywhere I’ve been I’ve won. College, high school, everywhere.”

Even if Davis didn’t end up getting that final spot on Golden State’s NBA roster, just having that connection with some of the Warriors players – and most notably Curry – “changed” his career.

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“I learned a lot from them,” Davis said.

“They helped me have a pretty good year down there just by taking me under their wing. They didn’t have to do that and I told Steph all the time, ‘Man, you’re one of the best human beings ever even for (mentoring me)’.

“He used to message me to come work out and just talked to me and it changed my career seeing how he works and how hard he works. It made me realise I’ve got even more levels to get better. They helped me become a better man and basketball player.

“I think more so than anything he (Curry) said he respected me as a worker. Every time he was in the gym I was in the gym. Obviously he’s one of the greatest of all time but you don’t have to be one of the greatest to be respected.”

Davis played with the Portland Trail Blazers at this year’s Summer League and had interest from Portland and Golden State when Adelaide 36ers general manager Matt Weston reached out, hoping either team would be willing to offer him a spot on the NBA roster.

That “didn’t go as planned” according to Davis, who said the move to the 36ers “made sense and aligned with my career”.

And don’t take that to mean the NBL was a distant third option for the 25-year-old, like he simply just settled for whatever was left over.

Of course, the Warriors and Trail Blazers both presented a more direct pathway to the NBA, but having grew up with former NBL Next Star RJ Hampton and followed his career closely, Davis knew “more” about the league “than you’d think”.

“More than anything it’s high-level competition and high-level basketball,” Davis said of the NBL.

“It is very respected and it’s an honour any time you get to play in one of the best leagues in the world. When I got the call I was interested right away.”

Weston had stayed in contact with Davis and his family throughout the whole recruiting process, telling him he could be the “missing piece to the puzzle” as the primary point guard surrounded by a team of shooters.

Davis said new 36ers head coach Mike Wells, who has been an assistant coach in the NBA for almost 30 years, knows his game “well” and has built a “great relationship” with him.

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“I was always intrigued and Matt and Mike pushed for me super hard and sold to me that I was the missing piece,” Davis added.

“I just thank them for it because they got me here to prove myself.”

Which is what Davis has been doing since he went undrafted and the message has always been the same.

Whether it was from Steph, Klay, Draymond or even long-time friend Desmond Bayne and Grizzlies superstar Ja Morant.

“They were just like, go prove to the world what we know,” Davis, who played college basketball for the Memphis Tigers, said at the 2023 NBA Summer League.

“Now it’s just a chip.”

A chip that Davis carries as he continues to put his head down and keeps grinding ahead of Adelaide’s season-opener and his NBL debut against the Sydney Kings on Sunday.

“I told coach and Matt I want to repay them for the trust,” added Davis.

“So (I am) working hard to make it special.”

The 2024-25 NBL season begins in Perth with the inaugural HoopsFest from September 19 to 22. You can watch every game of the first ever NBL Hoopsfest LIVE on ESPN, via Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial today >

NBL HOOPSFEST SCHEDULE

Saturday, 21 September

New Zealand vs. Brisbane – 6:00pm AEST (HBF)

Cairns vs. Illawarra – 8:30pm AEST (HBF)

Sunday, 22 September

Adelaide vs. Sydney – 2:30pm AEST (RAC)