“Where’s the leadership?”: Warriors’ Steph Curry slammed by Stephen A. Smith following Draymond Green suspension

Steph Curry is still one of the best players in the NBA. The Golden State Warriors, however, are failing to utilize Curry’s greatness as they find themselves at the 11th spot in the Western Conference. The situation got worse Wednesday as the league suspended Draymond Green indefinitely for striking Jusuf Nurkic in the head on Tuesday.

ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith called out Curry on Thursday for failing to control Green’s repeated antics. It might be too much to ask, knowing Green’s history with ejections, but the onus falls on Curry to control such volatile situations.

“It this were LeBron James, if this was a teammate of LeBron James, we’d be all over LeBron James" Stephen A. Smith said. "Where’s the leadership? … I don’t think that we should be holding Steph Curry to lesser standards.”

Draymond Green is often credited as the vocal leader of the team. However, it is Steph Curry who has to be the leader on the court and off it for the Warriors to be championship contenders. Being compared with LeBron James as one of the greatest players ever comes with its own challenges. Curry is expected to be an able leader who can help his team tread such volatile situations.

Steph Curry appeared frustrated during loss against Phoenix Suns

The Warriors had everything going for them against the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday. Phoenix was without Kevin Durant, and Golden State led by as many as 13 points in the second quarter. The Suns eventually won 119-116.

After a particularly rough passage of play where the Warriors failed to make any stops, Steph Curry was seen kicking a chair during the ensuing timeout.

This wasn’t the first time when Curry expressed his dissatisfaction with the team. After a 138-136 overtime loss to the OKC Thunder on Dec. 8, Curry said:

“I don’t know man. We got to figure out how to stop talking about it and do it or else [we’ll] be into the new year with the same problem. So whatever it is, if it’s within our control, we got to do it if we’re going to be any type of a serious team. And yeah, I’m kind of sick of talking about it too. So [we] just got to go do it.”

At 35 years old, Steph Curry won't have forever to dominate the league. The Warriors roster needs to regroup and give Curry the best possible chance of making his way back to the NBA Finals. Anything short of that, the season will be deemed a failure for Curry and the Warriors.