Taurean Prince Reveals How His Coach Helped Him Think Like Steph Curry and James Harden

Taurean Prince didn’t exactly enter the NBA as a laser-sharp three-point shooter. He did nail 1.3 three-pointers out of 4.3 attempts(36.1%) in his final year at Baylor, but it was his defense that made him an enticing prospect. When the Atlanta Hawks selected him as the #12 overall pick in the 2016 draft, coach Mike Budenholzer made sure that Prince also becomes a long-range threat to become a “3 and D” option.

In a recent conversation with Theo Pinson on the Tidal League pod, Prince opened up about how Budenholzer gave him the green light from the three-point line. That prompted him to adopt a mindset akin to Stephen Curry and James Harden.

The former Hawks forward recalled how coach Bud didn’t have a fixed rotation policy. He used to allot minutes according to match-ups. There were times when Prince was receiving just 10-15 minutes at a time.

However, he was elevated as a starter after Thabo Sefolosha picked up an injury in March, 2017. Therefore, Prince recorded big minutes consistently and showed he could be a double-digit scorer.

However, Budenholzer wanted more out of Prince after a terrific performance in the 2017 playoffs. During the 2017-18 season, the veteran coach constantly urged the stretch-three to increase his attempts from the long-range.

In fact, he wanted him to shoot like a top-three shooter at the time like Stephen Curry and James Harden. Coach Bud encouraged Prince to adopt a fearless mindset like the two elite guards while shooting the ball.

Prince reaped big rewards from the advice and had two electrifying 38-point performances against the Chicago Bulls and the Milwaukee Bucks in March of 2018. This is how Prince described coach Bud’s insistence on shooting more threes. He told Pinson,

“I had like 38 twice in one week… I give a lot to props to Bud cuz he’ll come to me and tell me that he wanted me to be top-three in the league in three-point attempts. At that time, it was Curry and James at the top of the list so he’ll come after the game during practise, like, ‘You ain’t shooting enough.'”

“I’m like, ‘Damn, I got 11 up.’ He said the only way you gonna make more if you shoot more. I’m like, ‘Okay.’ So that confidence he instilled in me definitely led me to let them fly.”

Prince had his best scoring season under Budenholzer during his sophomore year. He became a reliable floor spreader, which raised his stock in the league. He’d get traded to the Nets after his third season, where he paired up with Theo Pinson in the frontcourt.  

While he may not have become a generational three-point shooter like Curry and Harden, the forward has been a starting-level player after eight years in the league.

He played for the LA Lakers during the last season and will be a part of the Milwaukee Bucks in the upcoming 2024-25 season.