What Monta Ellis told Steph Curry after trade from Warriors to Bucks

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Steph Curry and Monta Ellis had a special bond.

And that connection continued after the Warriors traded Monta to the Milwaukee Bucks in March 2012.

In a recent conversation with SLAM, Monta discussed a conversation he had with Steph shortly after he was shipped to the Eastern Conference:

"The fans were upset. Then they had this Chris Mullin night, where they retired the jersey or whatever, and they booed the owner. I think that kind of got to him because everybody was talking about me more than anything. A lot of people were saying they would’ve taken me over him. Being young, sometimes that’ll get to you. And I understood it.

So I just called him and told him, 'Don’t worry about all of that, man. Just keep working hard. You’re in a great situation, it’s your team. There are going to be critics. You’re going to have people that are going to say what they’re going to want to say. Once you turn it around, I guarantee they are all going to be on your bandwagon.' 

I just told him to keep working hard, man, and play basketball how he knows and stop overthinking it. Just play. As players, you get in that mode sometimes. I get that."

That's some sage advice from the NBA's 2006-07 Most Improved Player recipient.

Listen and subscribe to the Runnin' Plays Podcast:

And yes -- after winning three NBA titles, two MVPs and providing countless memories, Curry has every single Warriors fan on his bandwagon.

[RELATED: Steph tells story of encouraging call he got from Monta]

You could make the argument he is the most popular and/or revered Bay Area athlete of all-time.

Not bad for a guy who didn't receive any high-major scholarship offers coming out of high school.

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