“Delly almost died guarding Steph Curry” – J.R. Smith reveals what Matthew Dellavedova went through during 2015 NBA Finals

With the NBA playoffs ready to start on Saturday, many former and current players are talking about some of the experiences that they've gone through during their careers. Of those players, Steph Curry might bring back the worst nightmares.

Curry and the Golden State Warriors are looking to win another championship after doing so a season ago.

Before his championship last season with the Warriors, Curry balled out against some of the best players in NBA history. That included the 2015 NBA Finals, when the Golden State Warriors knocked off the Cleveland Cavaliers in six games.

Curry played like the superstar that he is in that series, averaging 26.0 points and 6.3 assists per game. He did so while knocking down 38.5% of his shots from 3-point range.

His matchup in that series happened to be Matthew Dellavedova. Dellavedova is still around, but he's a bit older now. When he was with the Cavaliers, he was one of the NBA's better role players

Former Cleveland Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith talked about what Matthew Dellavedova went through during the series in a recent "The Old Man & theThree" podcast:

"Delly almost died guarding Steph Curry. No, literally, almost died. We have footage of this man in the ice tub, like literally to his neck trying to guard this man."

JJ Redick added:

"Randomly on my Twitter feed the other day, a Dellavedova montage video popped up from the '15 finals. F***, he tried."

J.R. Smith then gave Dellavedova the ultimate praise, saying he's one of the favorites he's played with and how tough it is to guard Steph Curry:

"He tried. From watching that, Dellavedova is by far one of my greatest people I like of all time. He literally gave everything he had, and there was no excuse. There wasn't a, like, 'Oh, he had it going,' like, 'I'm trying.' No, no, no, no, it wasn't none of that. He could barely talk after. That's how hard he was trying."

The type of respect for Steph Curry is universal. Having one player guard him typically won't end well, just as Matthew Dellavedova found out.

Curry and the Warriors will look to win another championship this season, although it could look a bit different than n the past. Due to injuries and a brutal road record, Golden State is the No. 6 seed. They will take on the Sacramento Kings in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.