The Golden State Warriors shared an astonishing video the day after Christmas. In it, star guard Steph Curry is shown in the foreground, his feet just outside the 3-point arc a few yards from where it meets the baseline.
He proceeds to shoot and *make* 105 3-pointers over the span of five minutes. His miss comes around the 5:08 mark, and he turns to scream in frustration.
There’s a lot here, obviously. Lessons about just how precise an athlete’s body can become, and the work that leads them there. Also, raw look at the drive required to reach that point.
5+ minutes without a miss.
Stephen. Curry. pic.twitter.com/8DV0z5gtib
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) December 26, 2020
(The video shows 103 makes; he made two before the recording started.)
The first time through this video, you’ll probably watch incredulously. And then you might be bored at some points. But keep watching and you’ll find yourself noticing things; I’ve done a few run throughs where I’m just focused on his footwork. It’s mesmerizing.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr — who is actually the only player in NBA history to have a higher career 3-point shooting percentage than Curry (.4450 to .4429) — had a joke:
Steve Kerr on Steph Curry's 105 straight 3-pointers from the right corner after practice: "He choked. Couldn't make the 106th one."
— Drew Shiller (@DrewShiller) December 26, 2020
I’ve seen several people suggest this is the greatest sports accomplishment ever and I’m not here to tell them what to think about that, but I’d probably re-frame it a little bit to say: This is indeed absolutely breathtaking but also the sort of thing that elite athletes do as a matter of routine.
Perhaps we were lucky to catch a glimpse of Curry at his best here, when usually those moments happen in the midst of some quiet, grueling practice that few people are paying attention to. I often wonder: Did we get to witness Tiger Woods’ greatest round, or did it happen one afternoon when he just went to work out his game away from the cameras? Have we seen Serena Williams at her absolute pinnacle or did that moment come one day in a practice meant to push her through the rigors of Wimbledon?
We as sportswriters probably don’t do as good a job as we could of explaining just how hard athletes work, because that work occurs so incrementally. A few years ago Curry might have been stuck at 50 in a row, and nothing magic has occurred since then and now. He just kept shooting and fine-tuning.
The lesson here is that the next time you get frustrated with an athlete for not making it look easy in a game — Curry himself is 2-for-10 from 3 in games this year — don’t for a second believe that somehow you’d do better unless you happen to be putting in this sort of work, too.
[vertical-gallery id=975112]