Warriors Media Day Memories, 2009: Monta Ellis saying he “just can’t” play with Stephen Curry

Monday was Media Day for the Golden State Warriors, and nothing much of substance really came out of it.

You know, the standard, generic quotes. Somehow, someway, everyone has either gained or lost 15 pounds and feels in the best shape of their lives. Everyone is looking forward to the season and will put 110 percent effort toward being the best teammate.

But four years ago, in that same Warriors’ facility, the mood was much different. It was an extremely volatile team coming off a 26-win season with Stephen Jackson demanding a trade. Two seasons removed from the “We Believe” run, the Warriors felt like the mediocre Warriors of old again.

On Media Day, however, it was Monta Ellis who stole the show. During the draft that offseason, the Warriors had selected a small, baby-faced guard out of Davidson by the name of Stephen Curry, and Ellis let it be known that this was not going to work out.

Here’s the infamous exchange, as chronicled by Tim Kawikami of the San Jose Mercury News:

"-Q: Can you see yourself playing with Curry in the backcourt?-ELLIS: I can’t answer that. Us together? No.-Q: Why not?-ELLIS: Can’t. We just can’t.-Q: Too small? Too similar?-ELLIS: Just can’t.-Q: The Warriors say you can.-ELLIS: They say we can? Yeah. If they say it. But we can’t.-Q: You wouldn’t want to give it a shot?-ELLIS: I just want to win. That’s… not going to win that way.-Q: Why not?-ELLIS: It’s different when you’re trying to compare me and Stephen, when you’re trying to go back to when me and BD were playing, it’s a different situation.You’ve got a nine-year veteran who’s been in the game, who understands the game, knows how to play the game, and he’s a big body…You can’t put two small guys out there and try to play the 1 and the 2 when you’ve got big 2 guards in the league. You just can’t do it.OK, yes, we’re going to move up and down fast, but eventually the game is going to slow down.You can’t do it."

They did play together for two full seasons, and Ellis wound up being right: you can’t pair two small guards together in the backcourt. So the Warriors dealt Ellis to the Bucks in March of 2012, handed the keys to Curry, and the rest is history.

I’m bringing this up again now because it probably will be the most controversial media day the Warriors have had and will ever have. Oh, and also, Monta was back at it again on Monday. Now a member of the Mavericks, Ellis spoke with Slam Magazine for a feature and stated there were some points when he “just didn’t love basketball anymore. I wasn’t happy and I didn’t feel like the teams I was with wanted to win. To me, winning is all that matters and we weren’t even close.”

When pressed for specifics, he responded, ““My last three years in Golden State and then the two in Milwaukee.”

And those last three years in Golden State just happened to be the three years he spent in the backcourt with Curry.

Looking back at that transcript is a testament to how far the Warriors have come since then. Monta Ellis may have been a fan-favorite with the Warriors, but his attitude and demeanor led to him being dealt, and the Warriors are much better off now.