The Curry Whisperer: Shot guru Fraser has MVP’s ear

Shot guru Fraser has MVP’s ear

Warriors assistant coach Bruce Fraser, nicknamed “Q” in the mid-1980s, doesn’t do a lot of talking, but when he speaks, it has the ability to inch Stephen Curry’s jump shot ever closer to perfection on court — or has the All-Star point guard covering his laughter with a towel off the floor.

When he accepted a job on head coach Steve Kerr’s staff last season, Fraser went into the inquisitive role that earned him the nickname “Question Man” — shortened to “Q-Man” and eventually “Q.”

Unlike when he got saddled with the nickname in college with Kerr at the University of Arizona, Fraser, after coaching under Lute Olson, Larry Brown and Quin Snyder, now has most of the answers he used to seek.

“When you start working with someone like that, if you all of a sudden have all of these ideas, your first idea better be right” Fraser said.

In that episode, Fraser flew to Portland, but didn’t want Kerr to pick up the airfare, hotel bill or food costs.

The two would chat on the sideline for six minutes and then Fraser would jump up and pass Kerr a ball at the three-point arc.

After 12 minutes passed, he’d dart for the ball, shuttle it to Kerr for another three-pointer.

People play Curry to drive right, so Frasier drills the left; people are running Curry off the three-point arc, so Frasier has Curry shoot from 30 feet; and people are showing, blitzing or double-teaming Curry on pick-and-roll sets, so Frasier finds answers.

If you’ve ever seen Curry give up the ball to a teammate when he’s double-teamed and then race to a spot where a pass can be returned to him, you’ve seen Fraser’s handiwork.

Fraser, who sometimes juggles three balls while passing Curry another one — just to keep the point guard in rhythm during pregame warm-ups — is here for the long haul.

When interim head coach Luke Walton arrived for a previously scheduled question-and-answer session in a hotel lobby, Fraser yielded the floor to Walton.

[...] everyone wants to talk to the man who whispers to Curry during fourth-quarter blowouts and has the face of the league covering that face with a towel.

“I don’t know if I should be called the Curry Whisperer, but I think we have a relationship that is pretty genuine, true and pure,” Fraser said.