Rest is the prescription for what’s ailing Curry
With his 3-point shooting at a career low, he’s trying to catch his breath and monitor demands on his time
Late Saturday night, during dinner at Supper restaurant in San Antonio, Warriors guard Stephen Curry broke away from his teammates to sit with assistant coach Bruce Fraser.
The man who works closest with Curry on his shooting had a request: In the two days before Golden State’s next game, could Curry prioritize rest over basketball? Perhaps play a round of golf or simply relax with his family at home.
“He just smiled,” Fraser recalled. “Steph and I have such a good relationship. He knows it’s never like, ‘Oh, he’s getting on me.’ ”
It was Fraser’s way of helping the two-time reigning MVP end one of the most prolonged slumps of his career. In his past eight games, Curry is shooting 23-for-89 (25.8 percent) from beyond the arc. The rut has dropped his threepoint clip this season to 39.3 percent, which would be a career worst by more than three points if it holds.
Most vexing to Curry is that his mechanics remain sound. The same shots he has long drained are clanking off the rim, leaving many to scapegoat him for Golden State losing five of its past eight games. Fraser, in his third season as Curry’s personal shooting coach, reckons the mounting misses are rooted in mental and physical fatigue.
“The overall accumulation of responsibility has probably worn him down,” said Fraser, who couldn’t remember Curry laboring through a more pronounced shooting slump. “He just needs some rest. This will be good to get home, get some
family time and just get back into a routine. He’ll be back on track.”
Because of the standard he set during his unanimous 2015-16 MVP season, even Curry’s most subtle struggles have been buzz-worthy. In the first couple of months of the season, when he deferred mostly to Kevin Durant, many wondered what had happened to the aggressive shooter who regularly netted 30-foot jumpers.
A breakthrough came after Curry finished 4-for-11 from the field in the Warriors’ Christmas loss to Cleveland. He met with head coach Steve Kerr, got involved in more pick-and-roll situations and was named co-Western Conference Player of the Month for January, along with Durant.
In Golden State’s Feb. 27 win at Philadelphia, Curry shot 0-for-11 from three-point range to tie Utah’s Trey Burke and Boston’s Antoine Walker for the NBA record for three-point misses without a make. Durant endured a left knee injury the next night in Washington that would sideline him at least four weeks. Without the four-time scoring champion to help shoulder the offensive load, Curry’s errant three-point tries became even more glaring.
“There’s nothing I’m searching for or wondering about,” Curry said. “It’s more just you get a wide-open shot, you’ve got to knock it down. It’s a make-or-miss league. I’m not immune to that at all, either.”
It hasn’t helped that, during their recent eight-city, 13-day odyssey, the Warriors held only two practices. Because he was nursing a couple of minor injuries, Curry cut short his shooting routine after shootarounds to meet with team trainers.
Sponsorship events and meetings were crammed into Golden State’s stops in Washington, Chicago and New York. By the time Curry went 1-for-8 from beyond the arc and missed what would have been a go-ahead jumper late in Friday’s loss to Minnesota, Fraser knew Curry was exhausted.
It was around this time last year that Fraser pulled Curry aside after an afternoon practice to ask how often he said “no” to charity events, autograph signings or endorsement meetings. To avoid burnout, Curry needed to better manage his off-the-court obligations. The price of being a newfound cultural phenomenon continued to take its toll as he wore down during last year’s playoffs.
After pushing through ankle, knee and elbow injuries, Curry averaged 22.6 points — 7.5 points below his leagueleading regular-season output — as the Warriors squandered a 3-1 NBA Finals lead to the Cavaliers.
It was enough for him to craft a plan in the offseason not to overburden himself: rebuff a chance to play in the Olympics, trim his in-season sponsorship responsibilities and spend most off days unwinding with his wife and two daughters.
But outside of perhaps Durant, Curry’s contractual duties outpace those of his teammates. An endorsement portfolio that includes — among others — Under Armour, Brita and JP Morgan Chase puts him among the NBA’s top three players in off-court earnings. Often after practices, he is sitting in on conference calls or donning his in-game uniform for photo shoots.
“There’s a high demand on my time,” Curry said, “and you try to protect it at all costs.”
After sitting out Saturday’s loss to the Spurs alongside Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala, Curry had a rare off day. By Tuesday morning, after shootaround at Golden State’s practice facility in downtown Oakland, he was cruising through a personal game of “Around the World.”
When he swished one of his signature 30-foot jumpers from the right wing, Curry raised his arms and, seemingly to himself, said, “That’s what I’m talking about.” Minutes later, after reviewing the shooting session with Curry, Fraser told his prized pupil to “put it on them tonight.”
Through the first three quarters of Tuesday night’s game against the 76ers, Curry was 2-for-8 beyond the arc. Then, staring down a possible fourth straight defeat, he made three of his five three-point attempts in the fourth quarter to help lift the Warriors to a 106-104 win.
“What I love about Steph is that he’s never going to stop shooting,” Kerr said. “That’s the mark of a star.”