Monta Ellis Admits The Warriors ‘Probably Wouldn’t Have Won A Championship’ If He Stayed

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It may seem like a distant memory now, but there was a time when the Golden State Warriors were a fun, interesting team without true championship aspirations. Stephen Curry was still a young gunner with persistent ankle issues, and his backcourt partner, Monta Ellis, was a shooting guard who handled the ball as much as a point guard. They could both score in bunches, but they were light on defense, and Monta knew it — as did others. (It certainly wasn’t that purported beef.) That’s why when asked if the Warriors could still have won a title with him still around, he was brutally honest:

Ellis said on Sirius XM radio on Tuesday, “If I was there, we probably wouldn’t have won a championship.” He explained that he and Steph were too small as a backcourt pairing, so the combined changes of bringing over Andrew Bogut (who was Golden State’s return in the Ellis deal) and elevating Klay Thompson to the starting lineup were the early steps on the way to the Dubs becoming the force of nature they are now. Of course, the last piece of the puzzle was Draymond Green’s emergence, but that might never have happened if the Warriors hadn’t shown the potential that eventually lured head coach Steve Kerr.

After a lost couple of years in Milwaukee, Ellis had a career mini-revival as a deadly pick-and-roll partner with Dirk Nowitzki in Dallas over the last few years, and he’s found similar success in Indiana as the offensive yin to point guard George Hill’s defensive yang. He may have missed out on one of the greatest teams we’ve ever seen, but he’s still doing pretty well for himself.

(Via Sirius XM; H/T BDL)

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