{"id":2046546,"date":"2026-07-16T13:07:46","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T10:07:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2046546"},"modified":"2026-07-16T13:07:46","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T10:07:46","slug":"remembering-a-warriors-record-setting-summer-league-debut-overshadowing-steph-curry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2046546","title":{"rendered":"Remembering a Warriors record-setting summer-league debut overshadowing Steph Curry"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Steph Curry remembers two things about his only NBA summer-league season as a rookie 17 years ago.<\/p>\n

First, he recalled being lousy. The ballyhooed No. 7 pick of the 2009 NBA Draft introduced himself to the Golden State Warriors by shooting 32.5 percent from the field over five lackluster games.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t make a shot,\u201d Curry said via text message on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

His second and more vivid memory is that another Warriors guard did just fine. On July 16, Anthony Morrow, an undrafted shooting guard from Georgia Tech, set UNLV\u2019s Cox Pavilion ablaze with what remains one of the greatest \u2014 and most audacious \u2014 individual performances in the 22-year history of the Las Vegas tournament.<\/p>\n

It was on this date that Morrow scored 47 points in a little over 36 minutes played against the New Orleans Hornets for a mark that has rarely been threatened at the annual summer-league gathering. What made the effort even more of a conversation piece was that the Warriors beat the Hornets 104-84.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had the gym absolutely buzzing,\u201d Curry said. \u201cI\u2019m not surprised that it\u2019s still the record.\u201d<\/p>\n

Morrow, now 40, remembers channeling his inner Ray Allen \u2014 \u201cone of my favorite players ever\u201d \u2014 and launched shots without apology or hesitation.\u00a0He made 18 of 26 from the field, including 7 of 9 from 3-point range.<\/p>\n

Curry, in comparison, chipped in nine points in a supporting role.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a shooter, you get into that groove. I got in the groove that day, and it really kind of set the tone for the rest of my career,\u201d Morrow said. \u201cLike, it really etched me in stone.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s tempting to dismiss an exhibition record as meaningless, Curry and others in attendance that day argue that there\u2019s no more powerful testament to what the summer league is all about than the legend of Anthony Morrow. The performance by the 6-foot-5 guard put him on the radar, bolstered his confidence and served as a springboard to a nine-year NBA career, one that featured stints with seven teams and included earnings estimated at nearly $25 million.<\/p>\n

Keith Smart, who served as the Warriors\u2019 summer-league coach in 2009, said he uses Morrow\u2019s story as a teaching point to this day.<\/p>\n

\u201cSure, people say, \u2018Well, summer league doesn\u2019t mean anything.\u2019 Oh, no, no. It means a lot,\u201d Smart told The Athletic<\/em> by phone this week. \u201cWhen a guy like Morrow gets his shots, that changes his career. At Georgia Tech, everybody knew he could shoot it, OK? But they didn\u2019t know how he could shoot it in the pros.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI share that with a lot of kids. The message is, \u2018If you don\u2019t get drafted, you still got to do what you do here well.\u2019 Morrow is a great example of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

The whole thing started, in grand NBA tradition, with some trash talk.<\/p>\n

Anthony Randolph, the Warriors\u2019 first-round selection in 2008, had scored 42 points against the Chicago Bulls two days earlier, tying a Las Vegas Summer League record shared by Von Wafer and Marcus Banks (both in 2007). Morrow recalled his conversation with Randolph at practice the next day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m gonna break your record, bro,\u201d Morrow told him.<\/p>\n

\u201cNah, you ain\u2019t gonna get that,\u201d Randolph replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to break that record tomorrow,\u201d Morrow said, doubling down.<\/p>\n

Joel Meyers had a front-row seat for what happened next. As the play-by-play man for NBA Summer League for many years since its inception in 2004, he savored the chance to see new talent at the Las Vegas showcase. Meyers arrived extra revved up in 2009 because he admired longtime sharpshooter Dell Curry and was eager to see what his oldest son could do.<\/p>\n

\n

The broadcaster came to see the long-range pyrotechnics, the brazen confidence and the unguardable drives. Meyers got all of that, albeit a plot twist.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnthony Morrow stole the show,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Morrow, like Curry, had grown up in Charlotte, N.C. But unlike Curry, he was not a rookie. The Warriors signed Morrow as an undrafted free agent in 2008, and he performed admirably as a rookie, averaging 10.1 points per game. Morrow also led the NBA by shooting 46.7 percent<\/a> from beyond the arc.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n Anthony Morrow\u2019s NBA regular-season start was as memorable as his record-setting summer-league performance. He scored 37 points on Nov. 15, 2008, against the LA Clippers. (Kyle Terada \/ USA Today)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In his first regular-season start for the 2008-09 season, he flashed his combustible side by scoring 37 points on Nov. 15 against the LA Clippers<\/a>. From that moment, Don Nelson, the Warriors coach at the time, encouraged Morrow to stay aggressive. That was especially true by the time the next summer league rolled around.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The instructions were never clearer than right before Morrow took the floor against the Hornets on that July day in 2009.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember warming up, and after I hit a couple shots, Don Nelson told me, \u2018If you pass up any shots, I\u2019m taking you out of the game,\u2019\u201d Morrow recalled. \u201cSo, I was like, OK, at least I know I got the green light to shoot every time. I can play without worrying about getting subbed out. \u2026 I got to show off how I can really score.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n A box score of Anthony Morrow\u2019s 47-point performance during Las Vegas Summer League 17 years ago. (Courtesy of the Golden State Warriors)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Smart said it was Nelson\u2019s supposition then that scoring was tops on his shopping list when it came to acquiring players.<\/p>\n

\u201cNelly didn\u2019t look at the player coming in like, \u2018He must dribble. He must do this. He must do that,\u2019\u201d Smart said. \u201cThe prerequisite was he has to be able to shoot. We\u2019ll fix everything else.\u201d<\/p>\n

Morrow didn\u2019t need to be told twice. He\u2019d circled summer-league dates on his calendar knowing he was poised to turn heads. It was his mission.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember thinking, \u2018Ain\u2019t nobody working harder than me at practice,\u2019\u201d Morrow said. \u201cSo, all I needed was a platform to be able to put everything on the table. If I get the opportunity, I was gonna show them everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Morrow kicked things off against the Hornets by scoring 17 points in the first quarter \u2014 connecting on 7 of 8 from the field and 2 of 2 from 3-point range. On the air, Meyers took note. Morrow was so good so early that the broadcaster even got a tad sarcastic.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a struggling tempo every time you face the Warriors and Anthony Morrow \u2014 what a shame the guys can\u2019t fill it up,\u201d Meyers joked dryly after Morrow bumped his total to 23.<\/p>\n

Soon, the energy became too much to deny. The Cox Pavilion crowd of roughly 2,500 started reacting to each shot as if it were a high-stakes roll of the dice at the craps table.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, it\u2019s not a big gym, but it was rocking,\u201d Meyers recalled. \u201cThey were urging him every time he touched it. They wanted him to shoot, and he responded.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Against a Hornets lineup that included Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton, Morrow had 25 points by halftime and cooled briefly, scoring seven in the third quarter. Along the way, Morrow attempted a heat check \u2014 a risky shot just to see if he was as hot as he thought he was.<\/p>\n

\u201cI forgot who was guarding me, but I remember I got, like, 18 or 20 or something early in the second quarter,\u201d he said. \u201cI came down and did a left-to-right crossover, then a right-to-left crossover, and pulled up and shot.\u201d<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t have to ask if it went in.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not like Kobe, but I felt like that kind of mentality,\u201d Morrow said. \u201cJust kept going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Morrow cranked things up in the fourth quarter with the summer-league record in sight. His confidence kept building, one swish at a time.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the biggest things that game helped him understand was, \u2018I can play in this league,\u2019\u201d Smart said. \u201cAlthough it\u2019s summer league, it showed what he can do if he\u2019s open. Whether summer league or regular season or preseason, if you can make an open shot, you got a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the fourth, with the crowd clearly aware that the record was in sight, Morrow kept shooting. It hardly sounded like a summer-league game over the airwaves, as Meyers punctuated the drama.<\/p>\n

Morrow got a little crease, and he found it! Thirty-four now for Anthony Morrow.<\/em><\/p>\n

Morrow. More? Unbelievable! Thirty-seven now for Anthony Morrow! Only five off the summer-league record.<\/em><\/p>\n

Morrow rising over the smaller man! Anthony Morrow \u2026 it\u2019s his day! He\u2019s now got 39!<\/em><\/p>\n

Morrow broke the record by catching a ball on the wing, faking a shot as a defender flew by, then releasing a shot from just inside the arc. His finishing touch was a well-contested 3-pointer with 1:08 to play.<\/p>\n

Notably, Morrow\u2019s final stat line featured seven rebounds and did not include a single assist.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI wanted to hit 50,\u201d he said with a laugh. \u201cThat was definitely a special day for me. My kids look at that game, and they can\u2019t believe it when they see it. It\u2019s on YouTube, everything. So, when I see it, they\u2019re like, \u2018That\u2019s daddy!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

a.showcase-link-container {
\n display: flex;
\n gap: 20px;
\n flex-direction: column;
\n align-items: center;
\n padding: 20px 0px;
\n border-top: 1px solid rgba(150, 150, 147, 0.4);
\n border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(150, 150, 147, 0.4);
\n text-decoration: none;
\n color: #121212;
\n cursor: pointer;<\/p>\n

.showcase-link {
\n font-family: nyt-franklin;
\n font-size: 14px;
\n font-style: normal;
\n font-weight: 700;
\n line-height: 13.8px;
\n letter-spacing: 1.1px;
\n text-transform: uppercase;
\n }<\/p>\n

.showcase-link-image {
\n border-radius: 8px;
\n object-fit: cover;
\n width: 200px;
\n height: 150px;
\n margin: 0px;
\n @media (max-width: 600px) {
\n width: 120px;
\n height: 120px;
\n }
\n }<\/p>\n

.showcase-link-inner-content {
\n display: flex;
\n flex-direction: row;
\n gap: 16px;
\n width: 100%;
\n }<\/p>\n

.showcase-link-text-content {
\n display: flex;
\n flex-direction: column;
\n gap: 20px;
\n justify-content: center;
\n @media (max-width: 600px) {
\n gap: 8px;
\n }
\n }<\/p>\n

.showcase-link-title {
\n font-family: nyt-cheltenham;
\n font-size: 24px;
\n font-style: normal;
\n font-weight: 500;
\n line-height: 120%; \/* 24px *\/
\n letter-spacing: 0.01px;
\n text-overflow: ellipsis;
\n overflow: hidden;
\n display: -webkit-box;
\n -webkit-box-orient: vertical;
\n -webkit-line-clamp: 3;
\n @media (max-width: 600px) {
\n font-size: 16px;
\n }
\n }<\/p>\n

.showcase-link-excerpt {
\n font-family: nyt-imperial;
\n font-size: 16px;
\n font-style: normal;
\n font-weight: 400;
\n line-height: 139%; \/* 19.46px *\/
\n color: #323232;
\n text-overflow: ellipsis;
\n overflow: hidden;
\n display: -webkit-box;
\n -webkit-box-orient: vertical;
\n -webkit-line-clamp: 4;
\n @media (max-width: 600px) {
\n font-size: 12px;
\n line-height: 121%;
\n }
\n }
\n}<\/p>\n

.showcase-link-inputs {
\n .showcase-link-input {
\n width: 100%;
\n font-size: 1rem;
\n background-color: white;
\n margin-bottom: 12px;
\n }<\/p>\n

.showcase-link-indent {
\n margin-left: 25px;
\n }<\/p>\n

option {
\n width: 100%;
\n }
\n}<\/p>\n

@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
\n .native-mobile a.showcase-link-container {
\n background-color: #121212;
\n color: #f0f0ee;
\n .showcase-link-excerpt {
\n color: #c4c4c0;
\n }
\n }
\n}<\/p>\n

\/\/ Remove all onclicks on imgs for apps to prevent image zoom on click
\n document.querySelectorAll(‘.showcase-link-image’).forEach((img) => img.removeAttribute(‘onclick’));<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

What You Should Read Next<\/div>\n
\n \"Three<\/p>\n
\n
\n Three questions with Anthony Morrow on Russell Westbrook’s historic season\n <\/div>\n
\n Anthony Morrow has played for a lot of teams in his nine-year NBA career \u2014 seven to be exact. He\u2019s had a lot of different teammates over those years, including some of the greatest players of the era. He was in Golden State for Stephen Curry\u2019s rookie year, played with Dirk Nowitzki for…\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

That game was 17 years ago \u2014 and the record might last another year. With the 2026 summer league winding down, the closest anyone has come as of Wednesday night is 35 points (Caleb Wilson of the Bulls and Meleek Thomas of the Cleveland Cavaliers).<\/p>\n

Morrow said he\u2019d happily pass the torch, one hot hand to another.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want somebody to break the record. I\u2019ve said that before,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s just a blessing to have that still standing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Morrow\u2019s playing days ended after the 2016-17 season. In 2023, he was arrested and faced charges of assault and kidnapping<\/a> following an incident with a woman in Charlotte, N.C., and the case remains pending in North Carolina courts. Morrow\u2019s attorneys have denied the allegations.<\/p>\n

Since his retirement from basketball, he\u2019s been involved in commercial real estate, a tech company investment, a clothing company, AAU training, his charitable foundation<\/a> empowering underserved communities and a sports and entertainment company. With it being 2026, it makes sense that he also hosts a podcast.<\/p>\n

On this big-game anniversary every year, he finds a way to post on social media about his summer-league scoring record. As for Morrow\u2019s highly touted Warriors backcourt mate that day, Curry finished 4-for-10 from the field and committed six fouls.<\/p>\n

Whatever happened to that fresh-faced rookie anyway?<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d Meyers joked. \u201cI don\u2019t think he played in the league very long.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Steph Curry remembers two things about his only NBA summer-league season as a rookie 17 years ago. First, he recalled being lousy. The ballyhooed No. 7 pick of the 2009 NBA Draft introduced himself to the Golden State Warriors by shooting 32.5 percent from the field over five lackluster games. \u201cI couldn\u2019t make a shot,\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-2046546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2046546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2046546"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2046546\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2046546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2046546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2046546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}