This week, Steph Curry proclaimed that he still feels like he’s in the prime of his career after 15 seasons in NBA and his stats back that up.
The point guard averaged 29.4 points on 49.3 percent shooting from the field and 42.7 percent shooting from three last regular season.
In 2016’s regular season, he averaged 30.1 points on 50.4 percent shooting from the field and 45.4 percent shooting from three.
The man seems to be ageing like a fine wine.
So how can he remain consistently good for so long?
Some NBA fans won’t like the answer, because it’s load management.
Steph described how he and Warriors director of sports performance and medicine Rick Celebrini have had many discussions about the process.
The prolific three-point shooter was quick to praise Celebrini’s impact on his career and how load management helps to extend player’s NBA careers.
“We’ve had a couple run-ins at times because I wanna be a lot more aggressive—like when I tore a labrum in my shoulder, ankle sprains and all that—I’m thinking about the shortest timeline for me to get back on the court,” Steph said of Celebrini on Hot Ones. “He’s more realistic and more player-friendly in terms of being on the conservative side of like let’s take all the variables into play, let’s make sure we’re talking about longevity and not just the here and now. That’s why you see guys playing a lot longer.”
Every season, the load management discussion among fans and the media seems to get more and more heated but Steph explained that it’s certainly not the enemy.
“I know there’s this load management conversation, and a lot of that falls from the narrative perspective on the players like they don’t want to play 82 games. That’s not it,” Curry continued. “There’s smart, professional, well-studied individuals that prepare athletes to play not just now, but for years and years and years and years, and perform at a very high level. That’s why going into my 15th year, I feel as fresh as I’ve ever been.”
Celebrini will be sure to have his work cut out for him at Golden State this season due to the sheer amount of veterans on the team, which now includes Chris Paul.
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