{"id":1275,"date":"2024-11-16T04:05:35","date_gmt":"2024-11-16T04:05:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=1275"},"modified":"2024-11-16T04:05:35","modified_gmt":"2024-11-16T04:05:35","slug":"exclusive-warriors-g-brandin-podziemski-makes-one-thing-clear-to-steve-kerr-on-starting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=1275","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive: Warriors G Brandin Podziemski Makes One Thing Clear to Steve Kerr on Starting.."},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"c-content entry-content\">\n<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/GettyImages-2179491549-e1731696516498.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/GettyImages-2179491549-e1731696516498.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/GettyImages-2179491549-e1731696516498.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/GettyImages-2179491549-e1731696516498.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Brandin Podziemski, Warriors\" width=\"780\" height=\"440\" data-img-load-time=\"134\" data-dom-ready-time=\"192\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span>Brandin Podziemski of the Golden State Warriors wears a protective mask.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>After supplanting\u00a0Klay Thompson\u00a0from the starting lineup in the middle of his rookie year,\u00a0Brandin Podziemski\u00a0was poised to become a full-time starter in his second year.<\/p>\n<p>The expectations went sky-high after\u00a0Golden State Warriors\u00a0owner\u00a0Joe Lacob boldly declared\u00a0during the NBA Summer League that Podziemski is a future All-Star.<\/p>\n<p>But amid the Warriors\u2019 blitzing 9-2 start, Podziemski found himself in a different role \u2014 coming off the bench.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t think I really thought I was either gonna start or come off the bench,\u201d Podziemski told Heavy.com in an exclusive interview. \u201cFor me, it didn\u2019t really matter. I talked to Steve about it, and I just kind of made it clear that it didn\u2019t matter to me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was just kind of \u2018I just want to play.\u2019 And so whether that\u2019s coming off the bench or starting, that\u2019s all I really cared about.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Podziemski\u2019s numbers have slightly gone down this season compared to his first year, in which he earned first-team All-Rookie honors.<\/p>\n<p>In 10 games so far this season, including three spot starts when\u00a0Stephen Curry\u00a0was out with a left ankle sprain, Podziemski is averaging 8.2 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists against 1.5 turnovers in 25.5 minutes. It\u2019s slightly worse than his rookie stats of 9.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists against 1.2 turnovers in 26.6 minutes.<\/p>\n<p>His shooting clip, however, is much worse: 38.9% from 45.4% last season. He\u2019s also shooting an abysmal 19.5% from the 3-point line this season.<\/p>\n<p>But the Warriors have been 6.4 points better in 100 possessions when Podziemski is on the court,\u00a0per Basketball-Reference.<\/p>\n<p>Podziemski is more than willing to sacrifice personal glory for team success, which they are enjoying at the moment.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Leadership Crash Course From 2 of Greatest Point Guards<\/h2>\n<p>Kerr has been using Podziemski in a similar role\u00a0Chris Paul\u00a0had last season.<\/p>\n<p>Podziemski has gleaned from his experience playing with Paul, a 12-time NBA All-Star and one of the remaining traditional point guards in the league. He\u2019s also continuously learning from Curry, who revolutionized the game as a modern-day point guard.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it was a little bit of learning from Chris and learning from Steph, both being point guards and being able to lead their team,\u201d Podziemski told Heavy.com. \u201cAnd now, it\u2019s my job in the second unit to lead us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Podziemski takes a lot of pride in the Warriors bench leading the NBA this season in scoring, with him the point guard.<\/p>\n<p>At 58.0 points per game, they are on pace to surpass the Los Angeles Clippers bench\u2019s\u00a053.2-point scoring average during the 2018-19 season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI couldn\u2019t be more happy to see that,\u201d Podziemski said. \u201cI don\u2019t think the last two games we [the second unit] have played up to our standard, but I think from an overall perspective of the first 11 games, from my perspective as a leader and someone who contributes a lot to our second unit success, I couldn\u2019t be more pleased.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Steph Curry\u2019s Successor<\/h2>\n<p>With starting shooting guard\u00a0De\u2019Anthony Melton\u00a0out with a sprained ACL, there is an open spot in the starting lineup.<\/p>\n<p>But Podziemski isn\u2019t particularly focused on claiming that starting backcourt spot.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cObviously, we all just found out (Thursday, November 14) about [Melton\u2019s injury], but we haven\u2019t talked about it,\u201d Podziemski told Heavy.com. \u201cI\u2019m sure Steve and the staff will figure something out for [November 15 game against the Memphis Grizzlies]. And there\u2019s a bunch of different things he could do, a bunch of different players he could put in to fill that void. So we\u2019ll just see.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kerr had previously played\u00a0Moses Moody\u00a0and\u00a0Gary Payton II next to Curry before Melton started in their last two games. Podziemski had only started when Curry was out. It\u2019s clear Kerr views Podziemski as more of Curry\u2019s backup.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s also a window to the Warriors\u2019 view of Podziemski as Curry\u2019s successor in the future, which reinforces Lacob\u2019s belief in the second-year guard as a future NBA All-Star.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s any pressure,\u201d Podziemski said of Lacob\u2019s lavish praise. \u201cI just think it helps me kind of have that \u2014 not satisfaction \u2014 but a good feeling that we\u2019re on the same kind of mindset. Because I believe I\u2019m an All-Star too.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd so for you to believe, it is one thing. But then those people that are providing the opportunity for you to be an All-Star, if they believe that same thing, it makes it much easier. And so for [Lacob] and the front office, and Steve thinking that I can be an All-Star and have enough potential, it helps me just kind of be relaxed and just be able to play my game and not have to try to force anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Brandin Podziemski Partners With Invisalign to Keep His Confidence Going<\/h2>\n<p>Aside from his golden locks, part of Podziemski\u2019s charming personality is his mega-watt smile from time to time.<\/p>\n<p>The 21-year-old guard has partnered with Invisalign to take care of his smile and keep his confidence going on and off the court.<\/p>\n<div id=\"5175500cfd19443f16b5c48b02065372\" class=\"embed_container\">\n<div class=\"lazy-embed lazy-embed--ssr embed-instagram-com lazy-embed--loaded\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/iab_podz\/reel\/DB2YUgCuqsy\/?locale=ne_NP\"><iframe id=\"instagram-embed-0\" class=\"instagram-media instagram-media-rendered\" src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/DB2YUgCuqsy\/embed\/captioned\/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=590&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fheavy.com&amp;rp=%2Fsports%2Fnba%2Fgolden-state-warriors%2Fpodziesmki-on-starting%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A239362.5%7D\" height=\"1113\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-instgrm-payload-id=\"instagram-media-payload-0\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve been partners with them for about 10 weeks now,\u201d Podziemski told Heavy.com. \u201cIt\u2019s been super easy, super convenient. They\u2019ve fit me in around my schedule.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With the rigors of an 82-game regular-season schedule that demands a lot of cross-country travel, Podziemski said Invisalign has delivered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cObviously, I have a busy schedule during this time of the year and the Invisalign aligners themselves are really convenient, easy to use so it\u2019s been a great help for me,\u201d Podziemski said. \u201cIt\u2019s helping with my smile, it\u2019s helping with my confidence, everything like that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>GettyBrandin Podziemski of the Golden State Warriors wears a protective mask. After supplanting\u00a0Klay Thompson\u00a0from the starting lineup in the middle of his rookie year,\u00a0Brandin Podziemski\u00a0was poised to&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1276,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Exclusive: Warriors G Brandin Podziemski Makes One Thing Clear to Steve Kerr on Starting.. - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=1275\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Exclusive: Warriors G Brandin Podziemski Makes One Thing Clear to Steve Kerr on Starting.. - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"GettyBrandin Podziemski of the Golden State Warriors wears a protective mask. 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