While much of Stephen Curry's incredible on-court performances stem from the hours he puts into practice, the Golden State Warriors' No. 30 recently disclosed how his on-court breathing also plays a significant role in his performance.

The Warriors star turned 38 last month, but he continues to awe fans with what he can still do on the basketball court. For Curry, the control of his breathing has played a big role in keeping him impactful even at this age.

“The deeper you get into your career, you can be able to control your breathing, like recovery, controlling your nerves, all those types of things," Curry told SLAM about what separates him from other athletes. "I've really tried to master that in the last five, six years."

The four-time champion's training never stops. Irrespective of where the season is, Curry continues to prioritize the long-term goal.

“But that's probably, nobody would really know you're doing it when you're doing it. Physical and mental at the same time….And that's like an all the time thing. It doesn't matter if it's in my training sessions, training camp, preseason, regular season, or finals. Whatever it is, like, that's always a fine detail of kind of mastering the game.”

“My skills coach, Brandon Payne, always talks about breathing being a skill,” Curry added. “And I think for the young kids, like, it's beneficial, but they can kind of get away with it just because they're, you know, so energetic and young, and they don't even need to warm up these days.”

Curry’s training falls in line with how he plays the game. It involves a lot of running and endurance training that is hard to match even in the NBA.

NBA player quits trying to match Stephen Curry in training

The stories about guarding Curry always have one thing in common. It takes away the defender’s energy, and eventually, the Warriors' star takes over. Curry’s intense endurance training has given him an insane edge to continue impacting even the most fast-paced games. 

In 2022, a trainer revealed that one of the NBA players that he refused to name and was still in the NBA once tried matching Curry’s endurance training and threw up in the first five minutes.

“We’ve had a player, who’s still in the NBA, go through the first five minutes, sat down on the floor beside the door for about 30 seconds, stood up, went outside and threw up, and was done," a trainer said in an episode of the Basketball Illuminati podcast. 

As great as Curry has been, along with changing basketball forever, there is more to his greatness than just being a magician with the basketball. He is meticulous and trains as hard as anybody in the league. At age 38, he is playing the same brand of basketball, and he is still undisputed. 

So, for how many more years do you think Steph Curry will continue taking to the court? Let us know in the comments.

Written by

Nandjee Ranjan

Edited by

Souvik Roy