Steph Curry is entering his 17th season in the league. With most of his glorious career behind him, it is evident and unstoppable that questions will arise regarding his fitness, availability, and the NBA’s most famous superstar term: load management. Curry’s played three out of their four preseason games, averaging 17.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 3.3 assists, while playing 19.1 minutes in every game.
Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr spoke at length about managing his workload and how the team looks going into this season. Appearing on the Willar and Dibs radio show, Kerr revealed his outlook.
“He (Steph) just always looks great… I thought the other night, did you guys get a chance to see the game? I mean, he looked like Steph Curry always has. He’s still got it. I think the biggest thing when you’re 37 is maintaining the level over the course of 82 games.” Kerr noted.
However, he mentioned that even the amazing Stephen Curry is not immune to every athlete’s worst enemy: Father Time.
“And it just gets harder and harder, and at some point, everybody runs into Father Time. And the important thing this year is for us to really navigate the season.” Kerr added.
It isn’t just about Curry either. The Warriors could become a contender in the West, but they are running on a lot of aging talent. Draymond Green is 36, Jimmy Butler is 35, and Al Horford is 39. So, if they are unable to create a manageable workload for these stars, they will have a rough time in a season they want to excel in.
“They are all incredible players, but they got a lot of mileage on them. We gotta collaborate with them, and the performance staff, and make sure we put them in the best position possible to maintain that level.” Kerr said about the 35-plus players on his roster.
It comes down to which games the older players will play and which ones they will miss. At that age and stage of your career, you aren’t going to go all out in a preseason or even a regular-season game. They have to keep themselves ready for the playoffs, but also play well enough in the regular season that they make it there.
“It is a little tricky, because we have to comply with the league and the rules they have for the stars. The back-to-back rules, the National TV rules. But there’s no question that those guys are all going to miss games, whether due to injury or because they really need the rest,” Kerr candidly noted.
It extends into practice and training as well. They aren’t working on technique as much as they are working on team chemistry and flow. So even when it comes to the other physically draining parts of the process, they will have to take it easier.
“Certain stretches of the schedule get more difficult, whether because of the players being banged up or because of the travel, sometimes we’ll have like a four-game trip back east, come back home, play one game, then go back out on the road. Then our performance team is like our players are way more vulnerable because of the schedule. So we have people all over that.” Kerr added.
The Warriors are towards the latter end of their historic run with Curry. Kerr’s contract is concluding this season, and they are highly dependent on a roster that could fall apart with one wrong incident. So indeed, navigating the season with extreme care is priority No. 1 for the Western Conference giant.
