OAKLAND – During halftime of a game against Phoenix on Saturday, Stephen Curry sent Quinn Cook a text that made a big impression on the 24-year-old, two-way player.
“I don’t care if you go zero-for-25, that 26th shot you better not hesitate,” Curry wrote, according to Cook.
After struggling a bit with his shot in the first half, Cook had 16 of his career-high 28 points in the third quarter.
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“To hear that from a guy like that, and everybody on the team, it really does a lot for your confidence,” Cook said. “And it really shows you I can stop putting pressure on myself and really play my game.”
Cook has started in six straight games since Curry sustained a right ankle injury in a game against San Antonio on March 8. Over that period, he’s transformed from being timid and out of sorts, into a player who’s making a strong case to be on the playoff roster.
He had a team-high 20 points on Monday against the Spurs, scoring nearly twice as much as any of his teammates. In Friday’s loss to Sacramento, he had 25 points on 10-for-13 shooting. Then in the team’s next game against Phoenix, he had 28 points on 11-for-17 shooting.
Cook said up until now, it’s been difficult to establish a rhythm because he’s constantly shuffling back and forth between the Warriors and their G-League affiliate in Santa Cruz.
“When you don’t know where you’re going to be tomorrow or the next week, it’s tough,” Cook said. “So when I’d come here, I’d play just not to mess up. Play not to step on anybody’s toes.”
Last season, Cook played in five games for Dallas and nine games for New Orleans. This season, he’s averaging 6.6 points on 47.5 percent shooting in 16.5 minutes a game over 22 games for the Warriors.
But with a string of injuries to the Warriors’ four All-Stars, Cook knew that he needed to approach his playing time differently over this past stretch.
“Guys need me to be who I am,” Cook said. “I think the Warriors signed me because they know I can do a certain thing.”
Cook said he’s grateful that the Warriors believed in him enough to look past his initial jitters throughout the season.
“When it’s your first year on the team and you’ve had some struggles at times, certain guys, certain coaches, could be like, all right, maybe he can’t do it at this level,” Cook said. “Or tell me to pass the ball a little bit more. But I’m telling you, those games where I was struggling to shoot the ball, Steve and every player on my team…All of them were telling me to keep shooting. If you hesitate, they’d get mad at me. So the fact that they kept that confidence in me has really been the reason why I’ve been able to have some high-scoring games.”
When Cook was asked if he thinks he’s proven to the Warriors that he should no longer be on a two-way contract, he said that’s not his concern.
“I don’t really like to get into that,” Cook said. “I know my teammates know, my coaches know I’m a full-time NBA player. The fact that I’m on a two-way is a little more motivation for me. Just to know I’m not where I want to be at. That’s not my mindset going into games just to prove that I’m an NBA player, I just want to help the team win as much as possible and the rest will take care of itself.”
That being said, Cook didn’t hesitate when asked if he hopes he’s with the Warriors long-term.
“I would love to be with this team for the next 10 years of my career,” Cook said. “That would be the ultimate blessing.”
