Curry, Durant team up in pursuit of excellence

OAKLAND— Together they worked after practice concluded Saturday afternoon, two of the NBA’s best at their own basket going through their paces, pushing each other, challenging each other and stealing from each other in a never-ending pursuit of excellence and improvement.

It is part of why they are set apart from journeymen and stars of a lesser wattage — this desire to push one another and themselves, a perfect marriage of individual talent and a realization there is always something that can done better.

There were Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, oblivious to the dozens and dozens of cameras pointed their way, the hundreds of interlopers jammed along the practice court sidelines, watching them working on their craft after a season-long journey of taking tips from each other.

A two-time MVP in Curry, and Durant with one MVP award to his credit, have pushed each and taught each other and are now both better off because of it.

“There’s a lot of different footwork drills and stuff that I’ve never done before, that he has learned along the way; that I just sit and watch and I try, from time to time, just to kind of shock your body a little bit and see if you can do it and how it may help you,” Curry said after the Warriors had one last practice before Game 2 of the NBA final with the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday night.

“I do a little Karate Kid-type balance drill on my pre-game warm-ups that I got from KD and (consultant) Steve Nash.

“Just talking about it one random practice and just trying to add that to my repertoire.”

For all the intense examination of the Curry-Durant coupling that consumed most of the regular season, the simplest fact is that they seem to have made each other better. There is no jealousy because each is supremely confident in his skills and his place in the game but what there has been, Curry said, is a welcome jolt that comes from watching someone equally skilled go about his business.

“It’s a long career that you want to have, and you have to find different ways to challenge yourself,” Curry said. “Whether it comes from KD, whether it comes from Steve Nash, other great shooters, any of my teammates, all that input is very valuable for me as I go forward.

“Most guys are self-motivated, selfdriven, we understand what it takes to elevate our game, get better every single year, how to use our practice sessions, our individual sessions, whatever it is, to stay sharp,” Curry said.

“But when you have a culture of guys that work, guys that want to be great and want to put the time in and not cheat the game, it’s huge because you can feed off of that energy.”

Durant said his learning process has been continuous since he joined Curry and the Warriors last summer. Like all fans and all the players in the league, Durant had heard about Curry’s work ethic, but it was a revelation to see it up close.

And it allowed Durant to expand even his game by picking up new techniques, new tricks and by being pushed.

“I think in order for you to be good in this league it has to be an everyday thing, and it is with him,” Durant said of Curry.

“I think that he’s taken it to another level in just trying to challenge himself. And I try to do the same things. We challenge each other as well, so it’s been a great dynamic.”