Stephen Curry lost 38 of the first 56 points out of 3 he tried this season. His Golden State Warriors were without a blow without the injured Klay Thompson beside him in the famous defense area of the Splash Brothers, losing 26, 39 and 25 points in the first five games.
There was little at the time to suggest that Curry would soon be missing out on the race for the NBA’s most valuable player award and inspiring his coach, Steve Kerr, to say that “this is the best” version of his armor.
Curry hardly said he agreed. The likely explanation: he is as audacious as ever with his selection of pitches, confidence, celebratory moves and ambition. So he continues to expect more and resist the limits, even when his 33rd birthday approaches next month.
“I’m playing well,” said Curry in a telephone interview – but he insisted he could still improve.
“I know this is kind of crazy to say,” he added.
This conversation is not crazy for the Warriors. Shaun Livingston, a former teammate who moved into the team’s office, said Curry was noticeably stronger absorbing contact after working on his body outside of the season. Curry cited an improved ability to read defenses as an even greater development in his game.
After a broken hand and the NBA pandemic hiatus limiting him to five games last season, Curry emphatically recovered. He got rid of his first 3-point shot fights with 62 points, his career record against Portland on January 3, overtook the Hall of Fame Reggie Miller for second place in his 3-point career scored on January 23 and drew 57 points at the Dallas Mavericks two weeks after that.
Curry has an average of 30 points, 6 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game, while shooting 49.2% of the ground and 42.5% in the 3-point range. These are the most robust figures he has produced since 2015-16, when he was named the league’s MVP for the second consecutive season. The offensive wave put him at the pace of joining Michael Jordan on a very short list of players, averaging 30 points per game at age 32 or older.
Team officials have grown accustomed to seeing him shut up skeptical after skeptical since his arrival from Davidson College as the seventh overall choice in the 2009 draft. They understand that Curry, who became the kind of revolutionary base in the franchise that no one imagined at the time , you may have to stay on a supernova level to get your 16-13 team back into the playoffs. They have also learned now that there is little point in trying to curb their aspirations or quirks – even when it means having to watch Curry go through the potentially toxic social media criticisms on his phone at break.
Andrew Bogut, the newly retired former Warriors warrior, revealed last month on his new podcast “Rogue Bogues” that Curry used to check his Twitter mentions “if he had a bad part”. Asked to check out the story, Curry laughed and said it had really become “a very bad habit”.
Bogut last played alongside Curry in the last month of the 2018-19 regular season and in the playoffs, which were marked by serious injuries to Kevin Durant (Achilles tendon) and Thompson (knee) and interrupted the remarkable sequence of three championships of the Warriors on five consecutive trips to the NBA finals. Asked how regularly he still peeks at break, Curry said, “Probably more often than you think.”
As such, prior to the 62-point eruption against the Trail Blazers, Curry was aware of growing social media criticism, doubting his ability to transport an injured team and claims that a bad season for the Warriors could damage his legacy.
“I saw it all,” he said of critical tweets. “It was hilarious.”
As reckless as ruin may seem, given the potential adverse effects on his mental health, Curry said he is more focused on “the comedy I get from it” than trying to “keep the revenue” from fans and the media who don’t believe him.
“To be honest, it all started by accident,” he said, the day before he was named All-Star holder for the seventh time. “I had a ritual with my wife where, during the break, she would send me some encouragement or kick me a little in the ass if I was playing badly. And obviously, with the way iPhones are built, this Twitter button is right there. It’s easy to get involved in that for a minute or two. To this day, I don’t know how Bogut got it, because it wasn’t like I was reading the tweets out loud. “
After two games with at least 10 points from 3 points earlier this month, Curry lost 15 of his first 18 points from 3 against the Miami Heat on Wednesday – only to drain two points from 3 points in overtime in the victory to come. -behind. It was the kind of performance that ignited social media, with critics asking for his two MVP trophies to be retaken and supporters answering “just asking” why he lives in the minds of so many people without paying rent. (Translation: why talk about it so much if it is not as potent as advertised?)
“I don’t think he plays with a grudge or trying to prove that people are wrong,” said Bruce Fraser, a technical assistant to the Warriors, who works closely with Curry like anyone else in the organization. “I think he just wants to be great. I saw him chasing greatness last summer when no one was looking. The centerpiece of his success is the time he invested and his effort last summer. “
Eight months off, as part of one of eight teams that did not qualify to finish last season in the NBA bubble at Walt Disney World, led to the most productive off-season in Curry’s career. It was the ideal tonic after the Warriors played in June for five consecutive months. Curry was in the gym constantly, with his longtime personal trainer Brandon Payne, as well as Fraser, adding muscles to play through contract and avoid grabbing and grabbing the ball, and getting ready to enter when defenses made him too tight. Defenders chase Curry so close to the perimeter that he’s been driving the ball more than since 2015-16; almost 30% of Curry’s shots this season reach 3 meters from the basket.
“I always started late,” said Curry of the increase in strength, “so it’s not a surprise.”
When Curry was losing control at the start of the season, Fraser refused to worry. He was sure that Curry was up for the challenge of leading an almost entirely new team, in addition to Draymond Green, tested for the title. After all, it was Fraser who gave the passes in a post-training shooting session on December 26, when Curry had 105 consecutive points from 3 points – 103 of them on camera.
The purity of Curry’s stroke told Fraser that the real question was how Curry was adjusting to a series of new defensive coverings. With Durant now on the Nets, Thompson unavailable and with few reliable shots elsewhere in the lineup, Curry needed to get used to the opposing teams trapping him like never before.
“At the beginning of the season, it was very difficult for him,” said Fraser. “Box-and-one, double teams, traps, triple teams. In transition, I saw occasions when Steph was coming down the room and there were four guys around him. “
Fraser’s recap touched on one of Curry’s favorite subjects. At this stage in his career, Curry seems to enjoy talking about the nuances of reading the game as much as his actual shot.
“My patience is much better now, if I had to choose one thing,” said Curry. “How I see the game when I’m on and off the ball, seeing what the defense is doing and knowing that I will find a way to get space. I’m enjoying this race, for sure. “
The intensity and variety of the toppings “keep me sharp,” said Curry.
The benefit and wisdom of keeping an ear open for the latest critical conversations is much harder to see – So how much prime do you still have, Steph? – but that could be another green light that Curry has earned.
“If you occupy spaces that people never thought you would, there will always be attempts to try to explain it,” said Curry. “It kind of comes with the territory. I like to have fun with this, though. “