One-on-One with Michael Curry
With Matthew Brennan, NBADLEAGUE.com
A name long familiar to NBA
fans, Michael Curry recently concluded an eleven year NBA career that included
stops in Detroit, Milwaukee, Indiana, Philadelphia, Washington, and Toronto. Widely
known as one of the league’s most articulate and intelligent players, Curry also
played a major role with the NBA off the court by serving as president of the
Players Association. These days, Michael is staying involved with basketball and
the NBA in his current position as Vice President-Player Development of the D-League.
We recently spoke with Michael to hear about how he is working to help the D-League’s
players reach their NBA dreams.
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“I interviewed with Commissioner David Stern about a position with the NBA, we talked about the D-League and he knew that I had prior minor league experience from my playing career, and with our discussion it seemed to be a good fit for me.”
What is your role in regards to the D-League as VP of Player Development?
“I monitor the players on the court and off; we have a lot of programs off
the court which help to further their education and their development into well
rounded young men, as well as developing them as basketball players.”
What
are the NBA’s goals for the D-League in the next few years?
“I think the
goal is to continue to provide a place for players to get more playing time and
develop into being more NBA ready when called upon. If we continue with the assignment
system, it gives players the opportunity to get the 25-30 minutes a night that
they can’t get with their NBA team right now. Maybe they can’t get that opportunity
because their team is overloaded at their position, or they are physically not
ready for the NBA yet, but the D-League gives them the chance to develop into
an NBA ready player.”
What are your personal goals concerning your position
with the D-League and continuing your career working in basketball?
“My
goal is to continue to help this league grow, we are moving into expansion by
adding more teams, we want to make sure that the assignment system is working
effectively, and we want the D-League to be known as the best minor league that
there is.”
Going undrafted out of college and playing in Europe, the USBL,
and the CBA before making your NBA debut, do you think it would have been easier
for NBA teams to see your ability if the D-League had been around when you started
playing professionally?
“I think that playing in it would have definitely
helped me, I played in other minor leagues such as the GBL which definitely helped
me before I got into the NBA. I think in the D-League just the playing time and
the practicing help, and the affiliation system now gives the league a better
ground and makes it a better minor league. There’s the best talent level available
as you have the best players who aren’t in the NBA, combined with the players
coming down who are affiliated with NBA teams."
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“My favorite aspect is just having the opportunity to help the players grow.”
Are there any particular unaffiliated
players in the League right now who you think have the potential to earn a call-up
to an NBA team?
“There a number of guys who have played really well and
who deserve a call up, we just had two this week, but right now I would have to
say Will Bynum, Anthony Grundy, and Marcus Fizer.” (All three players received GATORADE Call-Ups shortly after this interview.)
What about coaches? Are there any in the League now that you think we could see on an NBA staff soon?
“I haven’t really spent a lot of time with the coaches, so I’m a little
biased, but I think all of our coaches could be at least assistant coaches in
the NBA, and I mean both our D-League head coaches and their assistants as well.
We currently have sixteen coaches in the D-League, and many of them already have
some NBA coaching experience.”
