Golden State Warriors star guard Stephen Curry says he is motivated by watching Tom Brady, at the age of 43, lead the Tampa Bay Buccaneers back to the Super Bowl.
“It’s a different sport, a different position, but it’s definitely the little things you can do, that I’ve done, that I’m doing now, that I can do in the future to make sure your body is capable of to be able to stay in top shape, giving yourself the best chance of being season after season after season ready for season, “Curry said Monday. And then you make the necessary adjustments to what your game needs to change into or things like that. … The approach and discipline he demonstrated about what it means to be a professional athlete at that level with that long life span, it doesn’t happen by accident. So there are things you can do to put yourself in a position to stretch it even further. “
On Sunday, Brady will take on the Kansas City Chiefs in his 10th Super Bowl. He’s won six championships, most of them by an NFL quarterback. Curry is a three-time NBA champion, but met Brady in 2014 before winning his first NBA title.
“We just lost to the Clippers in the first round, so I had some free time,” Curry said of their meeting at Preakness that year. “… It seemed like he was always trying to pick up nuggets himself on other guys from different leagues. That competitive fire, even in the middle of his off season, was still – you could see it in his eyes. You appreciate greatness. amazing, seven years later he’s still chasing Super Bowls, and that’s one of them [situations] every time you see him in the bright stages, you cannot see. You expect greatness to happen. So we’ll check [Sunday] and see if he can get it done. “
Brady’s longevity and ability to play at such a high level for a long time is something that many athletes have praised Bucs quarterback for during his career, but Curry’s praise for Brady came on a day when Curry acknowledged that he often thinks about its own title window.
“There are things you can control and things that aren’t,” Curry said. “But all the little things you do on a daily basis, all the work you put into it, is build to get back to that stage and understanding – you live in reality, so you know unless you’re playing quarterback for the Tampa Bay Bucs. Right now, there’s a fine line between when you’re at your peak and when you really need to get the most out of what you’ve got on the field. That’s kind of the perspective, so be sure to think about it. ”
Curry’s perspective on his future came into focus last season after suffering a broken left hand in the fourth game of the year. Between that injury, Klay Thompson’s consecutive seasonal injuries and Kevin Durant’s Achilles tendon injury in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals, and the subsequent decision to sign with the Brooklyn Nets, Curry is well aware of how quickly things can go change for each team. . When asked how much longer he thinks his own title window will be open, Curry hoped it would keep running for a while.
“You think this year and next year,” Curry said. “You think while Klay comes back, you think about all those different things, but who’s to say we can’t put pieces together? I’m in the middle of my best time thinking about all the things we’ve had for the past four or five years. we can build on. It’s hard to say what the real number is, but I think we’re in a good place, let’s put it this way. “
Curry, who will turn 33 in March, was then asked how far he can stretch out his best years, as he had just said he felt he was in the middle of his peak years.
“We’re going to find out,” Curry replied.
Extending peak years is something Brady knows all too well. Brady is the oldest QB to have won a Super Bowl – and that was two seasons prior to this championship round.
After going to the NBA Finals five years in a row between seasons 2014-15 and 2018/19, Curry has seen the Warriors become the worst team in the league at 15-50 last season at 15-50 and fight through an up and down 11-9 season heading into Tuesday’s game with the Boston Celtics. With all the wear and tear on his body, Curry was asked how old he felt in basketball years.
“I was about to say [after] during the five-year run, we played an extra season and a half in those playoffs, but then I got it back last year, “he said.” So I don’t know, I feel like I’m in my mid-20s right away. I do not know what that means. Maybe I’m just missing myself … I think the mind needs to be strong to tell your body how young you are, or how young you feel. So just walk it through there. I am not worried that I will fall off anytime soon. “