Nets' Seth Curry all business entering matchup against former team, father-in-law Doc Rivers
Nets guard Seth Curry looks on during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz at Barclays Center on Sunday, April 2, 2023. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Seth Curry is no stranger to family ties in a playoff series. The Nets guard faced his older brother Steph in the 2019 Western Conference final.
Saturday’s first-round playoff series with the 76ers means Seth and his family will be linked again. His father-in-law is 76ers coach Doc Rivers; Curry has been married to Rivers’ daughter Callie since September 2019.
Curry downplayed any awkwardness. He’s faced Rivers five times since his marriage.
“[We] haven’t really talked since we played them last,” Curry said on Friday. “So not much. Just like I said, good competition and looking forward to it.”
Curry also played 102 games for Rivers and the 76ers between 2020-22. He knows Wells Fargo Center and the atmosphere that awaits the Nets for at least the next two games.
He’s also comfortable in that setting, scoring a season-high 32 points and shooting 7-for-10 from beyond the arc in his last visit to Philadelphia on Jan. 25.
“Always good to go back and play there. Hostile environment, especially for the playoffs,” Curry said. “One of the best playoff environments, some of the best fans, and should be a good competition.”
It’s one of several connections between the teams. Philadelphia guard James Harden played 80 games with the Nets before being sent to the 76ers last season in the trade that brought Curry to the Nets. Mikal Bridges returns to his hometown against the team that drafted him in 2018.
For Rivers, however, facing Curry isn’t business as usual. While he’ll treat him as “the enemy,” it’s not that simple; he’s looking forward to seeing his grandchildren.
“It is a strange component because in the playoffs, you are a little . . . I don’t know what the word would be,” Rivers told reporters in Philadelphia this week. “You don’t like the opponent as much. I think we can say it that way. So I’m gonna have to put that in some kind of compartment that I haven’t thought about doing yet.”
Curry was with the Portland Trail Blazers four years ago when he and his brother were on opposite sides in the playoffs. Golden State swept that four-game series.
Before Game 1, their parents, Dell and Sonya, showed up wearing hybrid jerseys featuring both teams. However, Curry said something like that shouldn’t be expected in this series.
“I don’t think we’re going that far. This is the in-laws, so it’s a little bit different than when we play [Golden State],” Curry said.
Rivers joked that if he couldn’t get any information from Curry, he might ask his granddaughter instead. Nets coach Jacque Vaughn won’t have that problem; he said he has leaned on Curry’s help in planning for the 76ers.
As for Curry, he said he won’t have extra motivation this series. He had no hard feelings about being traded from the 76ers last season because he understands the business side of things.
It’s why starting Saturday, this series is more about familiar ties than family ones.
“I think I know them well, know what they do offensively and defensively,” Curry said. “So just go back there and put on another show and figure out ways to get wins.”
NETS VS. 76ERS FIRST ROUND SCHEDULE
Game 1: Saturday, at Philadelphia, ESPN, My9, 1 p.m.
Game 2: Monday, at Philadelphia, TNT, YES, 7:30 p.m.
Game 3: April 20, at Nets, TNT, My9, 7:30 p.m.
Game 4: April 22, at Nets, TNT, My9, 1 p.m.
* Game 5: April 24, at Philadelphia, TBD
* Game 6: April 27, at Nets, TBD
* Game 7: April 29, at Philadelphia, TBD
* if necessary
Evan Barnes covers the Nets for Newsday. He previously covered Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.
