Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson – better known as the Splash Bros. – weren’t always the greatest shooting backcourt in the history of the NBA. However, when former coach Mark Jackson declared them as such early on in the Warriors growth into one of the best teams ever, the duo was determined to prove him right.

Speaking to The Athletic as part of an oral history on the early years of the Warriors dynasty, Curry describes how Jackson called he and Thompson the best shooting backcourt ever, and how it made them want to work even harder. “We wanted to prove him right,” he said. “Obviously, there’s a lot of longevity that goes into that. That was just the beginning of our splash on the scene — pun intended, ha!”

While Curry and Thompson hadn’t even made an All-Star game yet when Jackson made the comments, the coach must have seen what we all would come to know, that the duo was incredibly gifted in shooting and making any type of shot. According to then-executive board member Jerry West, he had a feeling it could happen.

“Everyone was probably taken aback by it. But if you were around and watched them in practice, you probably didn’t have that reaction. That in itself was really impressive, just to watch that,” he said. “And now the way they have done it in games. … Klay has really improved. Steph was always there, but Klay has really improved, driving game, mid-range game, and his size, my goodness, one of the best post defenders I’ve ever seen.”

Of course, now that the duo is cemented in history as the greatest shooting backcourt of all-time, not many would argue with you on the point. Six years ago, however, there weren’t many who had that thought, which only goes to show how confident Jackson and the organization were in their players.