The famous saying, “Haters are my motivators,” might be overused by high school teenagers or overworn on a T-shirt by that one guy at the gym. But to Steph Curry, it’s his reality.

The Warriors superstar, entering his 16th NBA season during an uncertain time for Golden State, recently spoke to PEOPLE about how the outside noise fuels him to go even harder on the hardwood.

“I love the fact that people don’t think we can keep the pace with some of the other teams that they’re picking in the West,” Curry said. “And I just love that challenge of stepping into a training camp and being able to create your own success — that gets me going.

“And obviously coming off of this Olympic experience, I’m trying to channel that energy all year.”

The Warriors failed to make the playoffs last season for just the third time in the last 12 years.

But Curry doesn’t believe their time is up just yet.

And if history is any indication, Golden State — without Kevin Durant — won its fourth NBA title in eight years just three seasons ago despite being written off by the “experts” and dubbed “too old” and “too washed” to get the job done again.

And more recently, Curry, who made his first Olympics appearance this summer with Team USA, singlehandedly saved America with back-to-back heroic performances to win his first Olympic gold medal after struggling in the first few games.

If the NBA world hasn’t learned by now, you might not want to count Curry or the Warriors out. Because if you do, there typically are consequences.

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