Brandin Podziemski's balancing act in pursuit of greatness with Warriors

SAN FRANCISCO – The first day of Warriors training camp wraps up and Brandin Podziemski is last to speak at the podium on the ninth floor of Chase Center, following coach Steve Kerr and teammate Quinten Post.

Podziemski is ending his press conference answering a question about Steph Curry’s sustained greatness going into his 17th NBA season, speaking to his commitment of excellence and finding the rhythm, flow and routine that’s allowed him to maintain it as the years go by. 

That’s when Podziemski, near the end of his answer, says what rarely is admitted. It’s not so much an admission of his own doing but an observation. 

“To be honest, not everybody wants to be as great as Steph Curry. Some people say it, but not everybody wants to,” Podziemski says. “So it's how can you find that balance of what you want to do, and be as great as you can be."

His five minutes of answering questions from the media looks to be over with those words. A follow-up was needed. I had to ask: Do you want to be as great as Steph Curry?

"I want to be better than him,” Podziemski said. “I think that's a tall task, but I want to maximize my talent in the league and get as much out of it as I can." 

Podziemski hasn’t been shy about his desire to be an all-time great in Curry’s realm. He also hasn't hidden his strategy of watching and absorbing Curry’s every move. There are baby steps and boxes that must be checked to even be on a path Curry paved for himself. While Curry keeps carrying the Warriors, Podziemski is in his own balancing act of patience and pushing forward. 

The same day, Kerr didn’t pinpoint a physical part of the game that will lead to Podziemski taking a leap in his development, but a mental one in staying more engaged and not letting any frustrations with referees hurt the energy he brings to the Warriors. Podziemski agreed with the assessment, too. 

As the clock ticks on Curry’s every move at 37 years old, as well as Jimmy Butler (36), Draymond Green (35) and the newest storied veteran Al Horford (39), the Warriors have a 22-year-old who’s his own kind of special glue, able to fill the cracks and keep the machine going. It’s not who was the talk of the Warriors’ offseason. It’s Podziemski. 

And the numbers back up why Kerr wants Podziemski next to Curry and the Warriors’ top stars. He played the same number of games as Curry when he was a rookie, yet led the Warriors in plus/minus at plus-264, 75 points higher than Curry. Injuries held him to 64 games last season, but Podziemski still finished third on the Warriors in plus/minus behind only Curry and Green, and one spot higher than Butler. 

Podziemski doesn’t want to get in the way and be the chemical that ruins the ingredients to a shot at another title run. He wants to be the special sauce that makes the stars shine even brighter. He also wants to be a star himself, as any person chasing greatness aspires to. Or at least says they do. 

Now as Curry and others age towards 40, can Podziemski continue being the one to pass the baton, so the Warriors stay in sync, and also carry the torch himself now and in the coming years? The question to that answer will be seen when he’s on the floor around Curry, Butler and others, and it will be heightened on the nights where the Warriors are without at least one of their top vets. 

"You want him to be aggressive, and if we're not on the floor you want him to be even more aggressive,” Green said. “But you also want him to play within himself. You don't want to put this whole thing on him, like, 'Hey man, those guys are out. We need you to go for 40.' That's not even the brand of basketball that we play around here."

The real onus on Podziemski when the Warriors are shorthanded, Green believes, is being the maestro to Golden State’s gran orchestra. In Podziemski’s case, that’s putting Jonathan Kuminga in the best position to succeed. Calling the right play for Buddy Hield to get hot. Knowing the ins and outs of the playbook and the Warriors’ game plan on any given night. 

Green even used Podziemski’s first love, baseball, as a prime example. Green compared the next steps in Podziemski’s career to a young pitcher in the big leagues no longer focusing only on how hard he can throw a fastball but how he can outsmart hitters and use the right sequence of pitches to finish him off. 

His role can be dependent on who’s around him and how healthy the Warriors are. Podziemski will be an opening night starter against the Los Angeles Lakers for the first time alongside Curry, but he also often is tasked with running the second unit as a point guard.

"If you remember last year, Jimmy and BP played a lot in that second unit," Kerr said. "So if Jimmy's playing, you can expect those two guys to be out there together. They were an incredible combination." 

"For me, BP is just a basketball player. He's not necessarily a backup point guard, he's a guy who's at his best when the combinations are really good for him and good for the rest of the group, and that's where he found his groove last year."

Butler unlocked another layer of Podziemski. The two played 25 regular-season games together and produced a 15.1 net rating with a 115.3 offensive rating and 100.2 defensive rating. Podziemski after the Butler trade averaged 15 points on 46.3-percent shooting and had a 41.7 3-point percentage. 

Podziemski in his first two games of the preseason scored a total of 13 points. Then it was his time to turn the keys and start the engine. In the Warriors’ third game of the preseason, one without Curry and Butler against the Lakers, the stage belonged to Podziemski, flowering the audience with 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting, five rebounds, eight assists and only two turnovers. 

But he then only scored nine points and made three 3-pointers the final two games of the preseason. 

"That Lakers game was great. He's a guy where numbers don't necessarily reflect his impact, so I don't want him to get caught up in that,” Curry said. “Keep playing hard and things will take care of themselves."

His coach saw a player who found a good rhythm shooting the ball, and also got off the ball quickly and didn’t over dribble. Podziemski struggled two nights later, scoring only four points on 1-of-9 shooting and made just one of his nine 3-point attempts. Some of the same issues that have hurt him in the past – over dribbling and distorting space – came back one week before the regular season begins. 

“He's trying to do the right thing. He's trying to make the right plays, and he's a playmaker, so we want him doing that,” Kerr said. “But he's a young player and he has to go through it and make some mistakes and feel them and see them on tape. 

"That's kind of the balance that we're trying to show him. To be aggressive, but to get off the ball early if there's somebody available, because he's a really good passer and playmaker. And as you said, he's a connector out there. He's getting better and better. He's had a great camp. It's been fun to see." 

How Podziemski played against the Lakers in that third preseason game is who Kerr and the rest of the Warriors have seen throughout training camp every day on the practice court. Podziemski is here to lift his stars into the sky, and find his own ways to soar behind them. 

The path he’s pursuing is one only few have reached at the end of the road. The pace at which he goes and how he gets there is solely Podziemski’s race, not Curry’s or anybody else. Podziemski wants the throne, and he equally understands the value of making it even more golden for the man who currently occupies it, taking in every last morsel of greatness Curry provides.

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