With 25 points against the Sacramento Kings and 28 points against Phoenix Suns, Stephen Curry representative Quinn Cook has drawn attention to himself. Is the 24-year-old Guard of the Golden State Warriors more than just a worthy representative of the superstar?
Cook’s service life has increased steadily since Curry’s ankle injury. The Point Guard, who was still signed to the Atlanta Hawks at the beginning of the season, now played 40 minutes each against the Kings and the Suns on the one.
Such a career jump was by no means in sight for the Guard. Cook joined the league in 2015 as an impetuous rookie and had to work his way through the stony path of the D-League with the Maine Red Claws.
In 2017, the Dallas Mavericks Cook gave the first chance to play in a regular season game of the NBA. He finished the season with the New Orleans Pelicans. After being released by the Hawks in this season’s Training Camp, the Warriors took the chance.
Cook’s four-year college career at the renowned Duke University began with an announcement on TV. The Guard from Washington decided against the offers of Villanova, UCLA and North Carolina in front of running cameras and justified his decision: “The reason why I chose Duke is Coach K”.
In addition to Cook, Austin Rivers, Alex Murphy, Marshall Plumlee and Michael Gbinije were also won in Duke’s 2011 recruitment class. Cook scored an average of 11 points and 3.6 assists with the Blue Devils in four years.
For Cook, Curry’s ankle injury represented a great opportunity for playtime. And he knew how to use it: In his 124:109 victory over the Phoenix Suns, he hit eleven of his 17 attempts out of the field and sank five of the seven attempts from downtown. Cook’s career record of 28 points is the highest score a player who plays under a two-way contract has scored this season.
“Quinn shows the world he’s an NBA player,” Draymond Green summed up after the game,”I sit there wondering why the guy should be a two-way player. Then there are players in this league who can’t even dribble with their weak hands. I’m happy for Cook. He makes me happy because he deserves this reward.”
Dealing with the situation around Cook is not exactly easy for the warriors. If you wanted to keep the guard for more than 45 days, which is the limit of a two-way contract, you would have to remove one player from the 15-man squad. Players may not play in the playoffs under a two-way contract.
If Cook had recommended himself sufficiently for further employment, the first streak candidate for Golden State would probably be Omri Casspi. The Israeli plays a season without consistency and with recurring minor injuries. Currently he is listed by the team as Day-to-Day.
The Warriors now have until 11. April time to make a decision. Until then, there are still twelve regular season games in which the 24-year-old can recommend himself. So far, however, there has been no sign of any further commitment from the team.
“To be honest, I’m just trying to win games,” says a focused cook,”I’m not thinking about anything else, I’m just trying as much as I can to help my teammates throw free throws, play defense and throw the ball myself.”
So far Cook has been on the floor 21 times. He has an average of 6 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists. However, he has been particularly strong in the past two games.
The NBA is transferred from DAZN and the League Pass. The next game of the Golden State Warriors around Quinn Cook, which will be broadcast by DAZN, will start in the night from Monday to Tuesday at 2.30 am.
The League Pass transmits all matches of the NBA. Until 21.03 you can test the complete program for free.