Stephen Curry explained how Steve Kerr won him over after replacing a beloved coach

• Stephen Curry said he was skeptical of Steve Kerr replacing former Warriors head coach Mark Jackson.
• Curry said Kerr won him over by entering with "humility" and making some tweaks to their system.
• After three championships in seven seasons, Curry said it has been a "really good ride" with Kerr.

The Steve Kerr-led Golden State Warriors clicked so well immediately that it almost sounds preposterous that there was a time when Stephen Curry was skeptical of his new head coach.

Speaking on "The Rex Chapman Show," Curry said that he was hesitant about Kerr taking over the reigns because he had loved former Warriors head coach Mark Jackson.

"Sometimes you have coaches that kind of want to be the hero, you know. 'I did this, I brought in these specific changes, and this is what's gonna get us there,'" Curry said. "[Kerr] is like, it's just a different entrance, if you will, of how he wanted to take our success of a great defensive team, a really talented offensive team, and unlock it.

"That, for me, kind of disarmed me a little bit, to be like, 'Okay, I can roll with this.' Because you know how much I loved Mark Jackson at the time, too. It was a big change for me."

In three years as head coach, Jackson helped develop the Warriors from a 23-win team to a 51-win team that had won a playoff series in 2012-13.

Though behind-the-scenes conflicts reportedly derailed Jackson's time with the Warriors - and he has not coached since - several Warriors players, Curry included, have publicly supported him.

Curry said that Kerr came in with "humility" and emphasized that he only wanted to "tweak" what the Warriors did to get them to the next level.

"As one of the lead guys on the team, when you have a new coach come in, it's kind of awkward at first. Because we had a certain level of success, and he's coming in and trying to give us the blueprint of how to get over the hump and become a championship contending team."

Curry added: "You see how [Kerr] handles people, how he manages people, how he talks to people, how he finds ways to make sure everybody knows their role and get them to buy into it for the betterment of the entire team. That meant a lot."

Of course, Kerr did make some important changes that brought the Warriors to the next level. He encouraged Curry and Klay Thompson to play off the ball, inserting a motion offense that would scramble defenses paying so much attention to stopping Curry and Thompson's shooting.

When All-Star power forward David Lee got injured, Kerr started Draymond Green, then a backup big man. Green's offensive playmaking and defensive versatility helped unlock the entire Warriors system. In Kerr's first season at the helm in 2014-15, the Warriors got off to a 21-2 start, went 67-15, and won the championship.

Kerr gives Curry the freedom to be himself on the court

The 2014-15 season also marked Curry's ascendance to a top-five player in basketball.

Curry had started to break out under Jackson, most notably wowing the NBA world with a 54-point explosion against the New York Knicks in 2013. But Jackson's offensive system was also isolation-heavy, which didn't play into the unique skills of Curry and Thompson.

Curry became Curry under Kerr, raining fire on opponents with audacious pull-up three-pointers off the dribble and quick catch-and-shoots that defenses barely had time to react to.

"There is definitely a give-and-take on, I just need to be creative, be myself, have the confidence and flare that I play with ... and just be mindful of what we're trying to accomplish and how we're trying to go about things. And obviously the success has been proven."

Curry reference a play in 2015, where he evaded several LA Clippers players with behind-the-back dribbles, then launched a spinning, stepback three that went in. Replays had showed Kerr ready to explode on Curry for the shot, before walking back with his hands up, as if to give up.

"I think that's when I broke the system on what is a good play or what is a good bad shot conversation," Curry said.

Kerr, Curry, and the Warriors, of course, dominated the NBA for five years, winning three championships and making the Finals from 2014-2019.

The Warriors are no longer at that peak, with much of their core now broken up - Kevin Durant and Andre Iguodala are gone, while Thompson is missing a second straight season to injury.

Curry, however, has taken his game to new heights this season, with Kerr saying Curry is at his peak. Next season, perhaps with a healthy Thompson and roster reinforcements, the Warriors might enter a new era.

"It's been a really good ride with him," Curry said.