(SP) – Sources close to Steph Curry say the Golden State Warriors star is facing a serious hit to his self-confidence with the NBA playoffs just over the horizon. Less than 10 months after seeing his team blow a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals, Curry has not produced an MVP season again this year and now, with the elimination of Lonzo Ball from the NCAA Tournament, is forced to face the realization that he very likely is not even skilled enough at basketball anymore to be good at the collegiate level.

“He’s struggling mentally right now,” confirmed Warriors teammate Draymond Green. “It’s one thing when one of the leading basketball talent evaluators in LaVar Ball said that Lonzo is better than Steph. But when Lonzo Ball can’t even lead his team through the Sweet 16 and gets badly outplayed by some freshman on Kentucky, how is Steph supposed to feel about his game? It’s tough.”

Other teammates say that in addition to the pressure Curry feels to win a championship with the Warriors team this year, he can’t help but look ahead to next year when he’ll undoubtedly fall behind the likes of Lonzo Ball, Kentucky’s De’Aaron Fox and possibly even others in the league pecking order.

“I’m not saying Steph will retire after this season,” said a Warriors coach. “But he’ll consider it. He has to think about if he still wants to play in this league if he’s not able to be the player he once was and if he’s okay not competing for championships since it’s unlikely he’ll be on the same team as Lonzo Ball.”

Also see … LaVar Ball places semen sample on eBay with a starting big of $500,000

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