Assistant coach Bruce "Q" Fraser on Olympic Steph, off-season workouts, and Podziemski

Steph is "kind of the ultimate teammate"

Bruce Fraser - KNBR 680am⧸104.5FM (8⧸16⧸24)

Was he surprised by Steph’s performance?

Bruce Frazier: I was at home, pretty locked into the Serbian game. I was with some friends. I happened to go down to San Diego to play in a long-standing beach volleyball tournament, so I left the tournament and went over to a buddy’s house with just a couple of guys and locked into that final. Nothing really festive, but really, really exciting. You know, I’m normally not allowed to or shouldn’t show much emotion—at least that’s what my inner self tells me—when Steph’s going bananas, even though it’s hard to control sometimes on the bench. But I was off the couch every time the ball left his hand down the stretch in that final against France.

Murph: Okay, against France. You know him so well. Let’s go to the last one, the double team. Because, Bruce, by any measure, that’s a bad shot, right? I mean, when you see that, are you thinking, “No way”?

Bruce Frazier: I think that the shots that led up to that allowed for that one. When Steph gets going, he’s kind of a knockout puncher, probably the best we’ve ever seen at putting teams out, either in the middle of a quarter where the lead goes from six to 15 or 12. He’s a knockout puncher, and he’s also a closer. So when he hit those shots down the stretch that were pretty good looks—or at least he got some rhythm off them—you know, with a dribble, one was to his right, one was to his left. And then, you know, those kind of set up the crazy one. So when he’s going like that, there’s no one better to take a tough, big shot that you’re saying, “No way,” and I’m saying, “Yes, way.” I’ve seen it so much that when the ball left his hand. That one, I was like, “Wow,” but he had no choice. The clock was going down, so he just had to get some space and try to get his feet underneath him as best he could. Once he does that, he always has a chance, and he did that. He chucked it from his waist a little bit, but I’ve seen that before. It was still miraculous, still unbelievable. I can sit here and say I knew that was going in, but it was an incredible, incredible big shot, as we all watched. It was amazing.

Markus: It’s funny, Bruce, because I was going to ask: You’ve seen Steph Curry shoot the lights out a million times, but for him to do this on the global stage with the whole world watching, are you still surprised by these Steph Curry performances, or is this just like, “That’s Steph, I know Steph”? Is it kind of what you expect from him?

Bruce Frazier: Well, somewhere in the middle of surprise and what you expect. Without taking the middle road, you know what he’s capable of. He loves the big moments. This is where he shines. He wants the stakes to be high, and that’s even better for him. So he doesn’t look at those moments as “Uh-ohs” or “This is big.” He looks at those moments like, “Yippee! Bring it on!” Do you want that shot? Yeah, bring that on. I can’t wait. That’s what he’s saying. So, you’re always amazed at it, but you don’t—I know how he is, I know how he’s wired. Those moments are what he plays for, and it was nice to see him playing for something special like that on the biggest stage and show the world once again how good he really is.

Playing with LeBron

Murph: Knowing what you know about Steph, what did it mean to him to do it with LeBron on the court and even his old buddy KD? How special was that? I mean, there’s a shot of him and LeBron after the Serbia game—they’re like forehead to forehead, screaming at each other, drenched in sweat. And LeBron even did the night-night. Bruce, knowing what you know about that dynamic, what do you think that meant to him, and what was your reaction to LeBron’s role in all that?

Bruce Frazier: Well, you could see his connections growing with all his teammates. That’s who Steph is—he’s kind of the ultimate teammate. You could see it just from afar, the connection that was being established with not just LeBron and his past, with KD, but with all of them, really. The celebrations on the bench for his successes were not just about those shots being made. It was the cumulative effect of all those days they spent with him, where you get to feel who Steph Curry is—not only as a player with his skill set, because I’m sure they watched him shoot at times and saw the pace he goes at—but the person he is.

He did struggle a little early in those Olympic games, but he’s the same guy the next morning, whether he scores two or doesn’t make as many shots or wins games. So, I think his spirit was celebrated, and you can see it through those connections.

But it was pretty cool to see that, you know, the foe of the past with LeBron and those big games we had against Cleveland back in the day. I don’t want to call it hatred, but just competitive spirit against him, and to see those guys bond and galvanize and connect like that. Down the stretch, they were running some two-man game with LeBron and Steph, which was pretty cool to see. Steph happened to be the one to do it in that final game, but it was really cool to see that. I mean, Steph is just—Steph’s amazing to watch. So, we’re lucky, we’re all lucky, to kind of watch his magic. He can be electric on any night, so to have him here in the Bay and just be able to see that live every night, where magic could strike at any time, is pretty special.

Special games next season

Markus: Yeah, it’s definitely a treat for Warriors fans to be able to go out to Chase Center and see Steph Curry every single night. Murph mentioned it earlier, the schedule was released for the Warriors, and I think most Warriors fans ran to the schedule to see when Klay Thompson and the Dallas Mavericks would arrive at Chase Center. That game, of course, is Tuesday, November 12th. Bruce, what do you think the emotions are going to be like seeing Klay Thompson in a Mavericks jersey?

Bruce Frazier: I think there’ll be a lot of love in the building for him. I mean, he’s on our Mount Rushmore, for sure, of the recent runs and the franchise here. He’s iconic in the Bay, as he should be, and we all miss him, for sure. But it’ll be incredible to have him back in the building. The energy in that building, I’m sure, the reception for him returning will be incredible. It’ll be another magic night at Chase when he comes back.

Murph: Christmas Day against LeBron. When you look at the schedule, Bruce, you’ve been around this game so long now. I heard Tolbert yesterday saying, “Listen, I just, you know, basically, I look at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the rest, I just roll with it. Just tell me where to go.” Do you look at things like that? I see there’s an early, long road trip—Houston, Washington, Boston, Cleveland, OKC—there’s another one later on. Do you look at the long roadies, the holidays, anything in particular?

Bruce Frazier: I don’t know if I’m that smart to do what you’re saying, but I definitely look at the beginning of the season. Christmas Day is always a special day to play on, and we’ve been fortunate to play on that day for a number of years. It would be really weird for us not to play on Christmas Day. So that’s kind of an honor. You always look to see who you’re playing on Christmas, and that’ll be a special day once again to play the Lakers here. But I kind of look at the beginning of the season. I try not to get too far ahead with it all because we’re pretty day-to-day in our business. Trying to map out things way down the road doesn’t make much sense because there’s changes that happen when you’re playing those teams, and there are a lot of moving parts in it. So, beginning of the season and always Christmas Day.

Off-season workouts and Podz

Murph: Good stuff, Bruce. Finally, before I let you go, you said you’ve been working out with some of the young kids. Are you talking about the rookies like Quinten Post? Or are you working with the younger guys like Kuminga, Moody, and Podziemski?

Bruce Frazier: Yeah, more of the latter, like you said. I haven’t worked out with the really young guys yet. JK (Jonathan Kuminga) has been around, and then Brandin, Trayce, and Moses Moody have been here too. Wiggins has been in quite a bit as well, which has been great. Some of the vets have been around, and then those young guys for sure. We’ve also had new additions like De’Anthony Melton, Kyle Anderson, and Buddy Hield. I haven’t seen Buddy yet, but he’ll be around soon. Everyone is working in different spots, but a lot of our guys are back here at Chase, working out daily. All those guys are intriguing. Podz is really interesting. He’s a great NBA kid.

Markus: I saw that Podziemski tweeted out a list of who people think will be on the 2028 U.S. Olympics team, and he retweeted it with a shrugging emoji because his name wasn’t on there. Is he a little brash? Does that confidence translate to the workouts too?

Bruce Frazier: Yeah, no, he’s a confident kid in a really good way. If you were going to choose, you’d want confidence over not. He believes in his game, puts a lot of work into it, and he’s got goals, like they all do, and like we all do. I would never knock anybody for wanting more, and he’s certainly saying that in that statement—that he wants more. And that’s great. He’s going to chase that. He’s a team guy too, so it’s not just about wanting things for himself. He’s a selfless player, sees the game very well, and is a winner. His success will be based on how well he’s able to perfect or increase his craft and how our team goes. He’ll have a big part to play in all that.