Listen Now: Mind the Game - The Stephen Curry Interview

-To all the 92%ers we're dropping something in the feed today. -We think you basketball fans are gonna love. -All right, if you haven't heard it yet, LeBron James and Steve Nash have an incredible podcast. That's right, it's called "Mind the Game" and I'm not gonna lie, it's pretty next level. -I would assume it would be unbelievable as I am a fan of both of their games. Yeah, this is for students of the game though, LeBron and Nash are legends and on mind the game they get into the X's and O's and tactical breakdowns that really help you appreciate the game. -I mean, when LeBron James is breaking down plays, you're talking strategy with Steve Nash, you're gonna get deep into the brains of two actual basketball geniuses. So it's pretty much a masterclass in basketball. -And here's the thing, they also talk about mindset, preparation, and the mental side of the game that applies to basketball, football, and your life. -Exactly whether you're a basketball fan or just someone who wants to understand what it is like to compete at the highest level, this show has got something for you. -So do yourself a favor, go check out Mind the Game. You're gonna learn something, I guarantee it. -All right, and here's Steve Nash to tell you a little bit more about the show. -Hey 92%ers, Steve Nash here. Here's a clip from one of our latest episodes to give you a taste of what LeBron and I get into. If you like what you hear, check out Mind the Game, wherever you get your podcasts, or you can watch on YouTube or Prime Video. -You're doing this way? -Yeah, you're doing this way. -Thank you for doing this. -Mm-hmm. It's our first official golf podcast. -Yeah, they heard Mind the Game. They thought the game was best. -The water day was actually not Mind the Game. -We say Mind the Game. -I was watching the. -Depression de Shembo. -Break 50? -Break 50? I mean, I knew you were good. I was losing my mind. I only watched half. -Yeah. -You matched him. -I watched the whole thing. -Yeah, yeah. -I mean, that's being mind. -As you could, I lose my first shot. I lost my mind too. There's like a little small gallery behind. -Oh, there was. -That was following us. And so I knew the whole concept. I knew it was Bryson's a week before the Radar Cup. I'm like, "All right, it's no time." And that's the best. I think the best golf I've played in my life. -I mean, it's so funny I was watching one of the holes. I don't know what hole it was. And he was like, "I'm gonna give it a little grunt." One of his drives and. And he got him on the drive. And you can. And Bryson, obviously, this is what he does. -Yeah. -It's like, just he's a. -Oh, I could tell. That's the world. -When they got up to the ball, he was like, "I think that's your ball." -Yeah. -He was like, "Oh, man, I'll drop him." Like, it was crazy. -You didn't want to give it to him. -I think one of the good parts, too. I was watching, too. And I think Bryson asked your question, like, "Who's your inspirations?" Like, you know, obviously, you know, in the game that we all know. -Oh, yeah, yeah. -You know, and you mentioned Steve, and you mentioned Reggie, you know? And obviously, Reggie makes so much sense and is terrifying to competitors like myself. -Mm-hmm. -And all the competition over the years, how did that, what made you kind of watch those guys from the beginning? You know, it's funny that I'm sitting across from talking about the life. -So, that's, I mean, we all got history in the game, playing against each other the whole deal. But my rookie year, we played in the preseason game, outside in Palm Springs. -Indian Wells, Tennessee. -Indian Wells. This is my first time, like, actually seeing them, you know, on the court and to the point of the end. -Superprincipited. [ Laughter ] -I still do, you know, some of your, when you're in the start line, or the National Anthem line. -Yes. -You do, like, the little legs, though. -I still do. [ Laughter ] -I was watching everything you did from across the court. But growing up, like, I knew -- I was a past first type of punker. Like, my dad had to actually tell me -- -Oh, shit. -No. -Oh, God. -I called Dale Curry right now, and he'd tell you, they actually had to tell me to shoot. -You must have known that. -Because I was -- -Not in this house. -Not in this house. You didn't even beat that. -But I always, like, just love the creativity, being, like, I felt like we had similar stashers, where, as a point guard, being able to, you know, handle, being in the trees, getting the ball where you needed to, you saw angles that didn't even make sense. Your change of speed, you could control the tempo, got everybody involved. Like, there was just something fun about that. That was the way that I, you know, wanted to play fast forward to Davidson, I was a two-hard, and did that kind of expand. I mean, I always -- there was a video of me as a 10-year-old running around with a Reggie Jersey, just because, you know, I just love his competitiveness, the way he moved off the ball. I didn't know, like, that would be a huge part of my game, once I got to, like, how am I going to actually make it to the lead type vibe. But that was -- your style was, like, exactly. I was trying to alter behind the back pass of this day. One handed, left handed, like, all that type of stuff. Just seeing the floor a little different, you know. It felt like he was kind of the model for that. And what about your pops, too? I mean, obviously, the inspiration that you saw every day, but, like, as your pops being a pro itself, and then, like, you took from his game, like, I mean, the quick -- quick release. The quick release, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Every video you see in a set in the corner, one, like, here, one dribble, and then the quick release. He had the high arc and release, too. Yeah. I couldn't get that. So, it was, like, almost comparison and contrast. Right, right, right. I wanted to be a great shooter, I wanted to have a quick release, but I also had to own my own form, like, I can't really -- It has to go in at the other day. Yeah, you know what I'm saying? We had to feel comfortable with what you're doing. Did you guys ever talk about it? Like, quick release? Yeah, we talked about that a lot. When I was in high school changing my form, I used to do, like, the little slingshot situation, and to the point of seeing -- when I was watching myself on camera, it was, like, that thing looked like it'd take forever to get up there. But I -- was here a point that went in, but I got the varsity, I was, like, you know, it's probably not going to -- that thing's getting swatted to the eighth row. And you was able to dissect that? No, my dad. Your dad, okay, yeah. Yeah, he called it out. That's all I'm making that transition. I wasn't with it at first. Right, right. Like, I was -- because I knew he was going to have to break down all the fundamentals of everything that I felt comfortable with to then master, like, a new form. It felt like it too much. Yeah. It was, like, I don't want to do extra credit on home. I'm going to home -- I already know the formula, like, you know, I got to recreate it, and obviously, it worked. But I feel like someone who loves shooting, shot a million shots, always, you know, obsessed with it, watching you shoot, like, I think I have a bit of a classic shot. I get it to, like, claim. Yeah, yeah. It's a pocket of shoot. What I think you brought to the game, and I love for you to tell me I'm full of it, is you don't really stop. So, like, you talked about this shot as a kid. Now, it's the same shot, but up here. Like, I don't really feel like you stop. And if you do, it's, like, the split second. Only probably on, like, just standard catch and shoot, where, to -- I always tell people, like, I would teach Clay's form to anybody who said, "Hey, how do I shoot a bass?" Where I would, like, pull up or clip a clip of Clay, and it's just, that's freaking perfect. 10 out of 10, every -- no notes, right? But, to your point, it helped me off the dribble, because it's kind of -- I don't call it unorthodox, but it is a one-piece shot, that, no matter if you're really all the way on balance, or just off, or if you got it on the right hand left, and off the dribble, like, whatever it is, I kind of can get it here quick enough that -- - Through the zone. - -- and I still have all my power, you know, I don't lose anything through that. So, that's helped me. Especially at 6'3, like, in the lead. No matter who's in front of you, you really feel like I have a chance, as long as I get them to drop their hands a little bit, I can get it up there quick, and I don't want to have any wasted motion. - Was that by design, or was that just happened? - That's just how -- - Yeah. - Shot it. There wasn't much thought to that part, other than when I was in high school doing that transformation, I guess you call it. - Because I also feel like that is a part of your range, is that you, like, instead of stopping and having to use all your, like, you're using it all in one motion. So, like, he just kept backing up. - Where's this going? - And it's like a flick. Like, I don't know how I'm trying to see it just, you know, last summer, first time I was joining forces, I've got to see it have to practice every day, just like a flick. It didn't matter, you know, certain guys in our league, or certain, you know, basketball players all over the world, they have to get in a certain pocket, in order for them to even get to here, or how -- It's like, when he touched the ball, by the time he does what he needs to hear, it doesn't matter where's coming from here, come from here, quick, quick, quick, like, and that's a great question. Like, did that, did that, did you learn that, or it just kind of happened, and it's like -- - It's kind of, that's what it is. - It's just natural. - It's just natural. Like, there's always a reset, like, summer time, and you work on mechanics, like, my guy, Brandon Payne, who we'll talk about, and if I was in this two or three in the row, he started looking. I'll know it's because I don't have the ball, like, if he's talking in the middle of the frame. I don't have it more middle to right, like, I'm more kind of doing that. It's just a, you get a little lazy. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. - But I've set up to call that out, but then once you get into, you know, the game and the flow, there's not much thought to it. - But it's interesting because, like, necessities of other invention. - All right, yeah. - You kind of invented something. Like, you got on to be the greatest hero of all time by, like, a long margin. Like, range, accuracy, dexterity, off the move, left, right, leaning in, leaning back. Like, you do it all. But, like, you, I don't know if you could do that, if you had picked your perfect form. I'm not saying you don't, but you invented a way of going through the zone. Like, you said, off the dribble, like, it's up. And that gave you more range and that gave you more dexterity. Like, by the way, it's not, it's not really re-creatable. (laughs) I'm not telling kids, so you know. - So Bruce Frazier, we use you as an example a lot when I'm doing a breakdown drill. Like I do like pre-game stuff or after practice stuff where to the point of being able to get to my base, like he'll bring you up as a demonstration of like you use, you have such a solid foundation where, you know. - Get your hips down. - You get your hips down, get low like you're feeling every part of your foot, your feet, and you're using all of that force to kind of get through. - Pushing in the ground. - And that's a foundation you have to have to then build off of that, you know, creativity and then looseness up top. So that's like that's part of the natural progression of foundation to confidence to then, okay, now I can experiment a little bit. So maybe it's not necessarily a thought. It's like, you hammer that down so much that now I have the ability to say, okay, what's gonna help me in a game. Or if I need to stay out of the trees, I can get my rings back. I got, that's in there because I have this. And if I always, I still have to go back to that will, like we do stuff with the free throw line where you're doing like the spins and you have to be, and you know, in balance, that's your world. Like that's what I learned. - But I also think one of the most impressive things, I know we already talked about a lot of things, but the most impressive thing is that you came in, you know, six, two, whatever. And obviously, super skinny, super skinny. You know what I'm saying? Like I remember like super skinny, fresh out of Davidson, super skinny. And obviously, you know our league, you know, throughout the course of a season, flights and everything, you know, can be taxing on your body. I think one of the most impressive things that a lot of people don't talk about when it comes to you is that the weight and the strength that you've put on and still being able to shoot the ball in that capacity. There's a lot of guys that we've seen come in at a certain weight or a certain, you know, body frame, and they're told to put on weight or they're told to put on strength. And they can affect their shot, you know? And it's actually, it's no way it could have made it better, but shit, it seems like nothing ever changed. How was that? Like did that worry you in the beginning? Like oh shit, y'all tell me I gotta get stronger. - But now stories are like a rookie year and training camp. So I came in as a shooter in the draft. Don Nelson was my coach and going through training camp. Sorry, summer league started. I think I probably shot like very low 30s or three in training or in summer league. And then you're coming in the training camp, you know, a couple months later, like still working and getting through, trying to get comfortable with where shots are coming from and Don Nelson, he went in the weight room 'cause to your point, I came in 180 pounds maybe. They're trying to get me in the weight room doing all these lifts and stuff. I'm shooting like trash and training camp. Like the first week he walked in there and cussed out everybody in the room. It was like, he didn't even, y'all killing a shot. He's lifting too much weight. - And to me, I didn't know that as a concept. 'Cause like I always just wanted to get stronger. Like most of it was just vanity. Like hey, I'm just better than Jersey. You know all these mirrors are wrong here, y'all tell me I gotta look like this. - I'm just the pop, like I'm in the sun. But I didn't think about it in terms of shot. I know that there are a range of body composition that matters to making sure everything moves right. So if you're doing a big transmission, you can't change how your body moves. I never thought I could get to that point, but then when he caught it out, I was like, wait, they really messed up my shot. (laughs) But that balance of being able to appropriately like get your body to move efficiently, like a lot of lives. - To me is core strength, like we're talking specifics. Everything is about the foundation. Like how does your body move through that range where you have complete control of your movement patterns? Not necessarily like brute strength, but efficiency and stability. - Yeah, brute strength patterns. - Hope you guys enjoyed that. If you wanna hear more, remember to check out "Mind the Game" wherever you get your podcasts. And thanks to Jason and Travis for having us on the feed.