The NBA has an age-old tradition of veterans giving a taste of the business they are in to young rookies as a welcome gift to the league. Therefore, players from different eras often find common ground in bonding by revealing their ‘Welcome to the NBA’ moment to each other.
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Former NBA star Baron Davis, who is the new co-host of The Draymond Green Show, revealed that his welcome moment came from John Stockton. He then asked Moses Moody, who was the guest on yesterday’s episode, about his.
The fourth-year shooting guard said,
“My welcome to the league moment, probably before the season started, guarding Steph in training camp. When he hits you with that same move, yeah that’s probably my welcome to the league moment. And that’s the thing too, you be thinking you playing good defense cos he not going past you, but it’s like he ain’t trying to.”
Guarding Stephen Curry can be a hellish experience. Matthew Dellavedova had to visit the hospital just out of sheer exhaustion while guarding Steph in the NBA Finals. So Moody would be counting his blessings that he got off easy.
However, Moody’s initiation didn’t stop there as he described a moment he had with Klay Thompson as well. After recovering from his torn Achilles tendon, Thompson returned to practice in Moody’s rookie year. Therefore, the Dubs’ sharpshooter pretty much saw the new rookie as a punching bag to get back into rhythm after a long hiatus.
“Klay…when he first start getting back on the court, they got me working out with him. When I first started working out with him, I’m like, ‘Man this dude out for two years, he been hurt and all that, he coming back, I ain’t trynna be the one to hurt him,” Moody said.
But the rook would soon find out that it was not Klay who was in trouble of getting hurt. “But he ain’t hooped in a while and he went straight to it, and he killing!” the 22-year-old added.
Moody’s first experience with the Splash Brothers might be a little intimidating, but the more time he spent with them, the more he improved. As vets to a young guard, they helped mentor him into the player he is today.
The mentoring seems to have paid off well, as Moody has become a solid rotational option for the Dubs. In his 4 years, he’s averaging 6.1 points and 2.1 rebounds per game.
However, his shooting stands out the most. Moody has tallied a career average of 46.4% from the field and a respectable 37.1% from beyond the arc.
With Klay having left the Warriors this season, it’s the perfect time for Moody to lock in, and prove that he can be a 6th Man for the Dubs, or even nail down a starting spot next to Steph in the lineup. However, he has some competition with the way Buddy Hield is playing right now.
