Key Takeaways
- Moses Moody is heading into his fourth season in the Association as a member of the Golden State Warriors.
- The youngster spoke to RG about the impact that Draymond Green and Stephen Curry have had on his development since his rookie year.
- Moody also opened up on losing Kevon Looney to the Pelicans, voicing that he learned a lot from the big man.
Draymond Green and Moses Moody (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
At 23 years old, Moses Moody is one of the veterans of the Golden State Warriors.
The 6-foot-5 swingman is one of the few members of the 2021-22 championship squad that is still on the roster, along with Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Jonathan Kuminga. With Kuminga potentially on the way out, Moody would be the third-longest tenured member of the team.
Moody is coming off a career year after averaging 9.8 points in 22.3 minutes per game on 37.4% from beyond the arc. His career season comes right after he signed a three-year, $39 million contract extension with Golden State.
The 2021 first-round draft pick speaks glowingly of the impact and influence that both Green and Curry have had on his career so far.
"I couldn't even narrow it down to one," says Moody in a one-on-one interview with RG about the influence Green has had on his career. "He teaches me so much, not even just about basketball, but I'll go to his room, hang out and talk to him all the time about all types of things. We actually went to his house when I was in LA last week, and he showed me different things and was teaching me about art. That was a cool conversation. He's just been that guy for me. He's taught me about finance, about money, about the league, about being a professional. He's taught me about all types of things."
The 37-year-old Curry and the 35-year-old Green are the elder statesmen of the Warriors, having led the franchise to four championships. Along with head coach Steve Kerr, they've been the constants of the franchise for over a decade.
One of the constants of the Warriors over the past decade has been none other than Kevon Looney. Looney had spent his entire 10-year career with the Warriors, winning three championships while proving to be one of Kerr's most reliable role players during that time frame. The 29-year-old had appeared in 599 regular-season games and 89 playoff games during his tenure with Golden State.
However, Looney signed with the New Orleans Pelicans during the offseason, ending his stint with the franchise.
"I learned a lot from Kevon," says Moody. "He's more of a verbal leader than you would think because he's not going to stand in front of the team and preach to the congregation. He's more so going to have an individual relationship with everybody on the team and be able to have those conversations personally. That's something that I really appreciated because he did that with me as a rookie. He introduced me to yoga, so we did that together every game day."
Moody is happy for his former teammate where he'll potentially play a larger role in New Orleans and be reunited with their former Warriors teammate, Jordan Poole.
"He's taught me a lot, he showed me the ropes a lot," says Moody of Looney. "I'm happy for him. I'm not even gonna say I'm sad that he's gone as much as I'm happy for him, the opportunity that he's gonna get that he has."
Dubs Have Bright Future After Butler Addition
While the Warriors have been among the annual playoff teams in the Western Conference over the past few years, they've struggled to achieve the success they experienced during Moody's rookie season. In fact, Golden State hasn't advanced past the conference semifinals over the past three seasons.
However, that may change soon with the addition of Jimmy Butler. The Warriors went 18-2 with both Butler and Curry in the lineup. Had Curry not suffered an injury in Game 1 of the semifinals against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Golden State would've had a legit chance to win another championship.
"I didn't know, I didn't know what the future would look like," says Moody when asked if he thought the Warriors would immediately contend for another one after winning a title in his rookie year. "When you got Steph and Dre and Klay on your team, then you never expect to not be a good team. Let's say that. You watch them compete for championships my whole time coming up. I expected to be right up there at the top at the end of every year."
The four-year veteran also speaks highly of the impact Curry has had on his career, saying he's learned a lot from his fellow guard through "observation."
While Green is "definitely" the verbal leader of the team, Moody says that Curry is also not afraid to verbalize how he feels.
"Draymond is definitely the verbal leader," says Moody of Green. "He has a lot to say, and he's not afraid to say it. He definitely adds that to the team, but Steph will let you know what you need to do. He'll let you know what you didn't do. He'll talk to you. When he's doing all of that, you can't help but lead by example as well."
When asked who is the toughest player to guard in the NBA, Moody gives the right answer — none other than the best three-point shooter in the game.
"One of the most difficult guys has to be when I'm in practice, and I have to guard Stephen Curry," says Moody while smiling.
