Steph Curry Responds to Maverick Carter Blasting His Defense

Steph Curry isn't bothered by comments Maverick Carter made recently, directly calling out his defense. Or at least that's what he's saying in public. 

The Warriors star and two-time MVP was speaking to Chris "COSeezy" Strachan Wednesday, about criticism sent his way by Carter, stating that he was glad he was asked about it.

Sure, in the 1:45 clip embedded below, Curry never mentioned the businessman/close friend of LeBron's by name, but it was unmistakable whom he was referencing. 

First, Curry half-jokingly said that he has "goons" who make him aware of his press. That was his way of saying he saw recent headlines in which Carter said that Curry "can't play fucking defense." We'll brief you on that below, but let us start with Steph's response.

"There's a relevant headline this morning. Somebody talking about my defense," Curry said. "I hear it all, I don't go lookin' for it but I got so many people -- I got some goons out there that send me every link possible. I know what's up."

From there, Curry talked about how being a champion leads to people having opinions about you, which is a byproduct of being front and center and relevant. 

"You doing something great no matter what it is, they're coming for you. I am so secure in who I am and who I know I am on the court, that's why I never respond to anybody because either I'm agreeing with you or I'm laughing," he explained. "At the end of the day, you look stupid if you're saying something to try to use my name to either get some pub or some heat or some clicks, or whatever it is."

Curry added that he has no "no problem letting stuff live," because "people who actually know what they're talking about they're gonna speak facts and truth."

He went on to say that when he's done playing, "there's still going to be haters," and "the hate's always louder than the praise."

For those wondering what Carter said, after ESPN aired the first pair of episodes in their 10-part Last Dance series about the '97-98 Bulls, the businessman linked up with Draymond Green and The Shop co-creator Paul Rivera to talk about the premiere. 

At one point he used Curry's defense to make a point about great teams needing more than one great player.  

"There's no way to validate this but it's definitely probably true -- he (Michael Jordan) did his job at a level better than anybody else in the world has ever done their job. But the truth is -- even that guy needs his other people, and most importantly that second person," Carter said. 

"If I'm the best at doing my thing, I need the other people to clear the way so I can do my thing. So Scottie (Pippen) took care of everything else. They brought up those stats. Scottie was second in rebounds, second in points, first in steals, blah blah blah.

"It's just like the Warriors -- the world knows Steph (Curry) can't fucking play defense. I'm 38 -- haven't played a decent game of basketball in 18 years -- Steph would have trouble guarding me.

"But Steph is the greatest shooter in the world. When that motherfucker gets rolling you can't stop him -- he can hit any shot from anywhere on the court.

"And he's actually really good off the ball on defense -- he's a good steal artist. But he needs Klay (Thompson) and Draymond to kind of cover everything else so he can do his thing."

Whether or not you subscribe to the "Steph Curry can't play defense" narrative that has lingered for...well, a long time, is up to you. The NBA's not churning out games at the moment, but no one is stopping you from arguing.

Still, whatever side you take, now you should be all caught up on this if and when Carter eventually responds.