Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry says he is motivated by the pursuit of 43-year-old Tom Brady, who is leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers back to the Super Bowl.
“It’s a different sport, a different position, but it certainly is – the little things you can do, that I’ve done, that I do now, that I can do in the future to make sure your body is able to recover, able to stay in great shape, so give yourself the best chance to be ready season after season after season, “Curry said Monday. And then make the necessary adjustments in what needs to turn your game or things like that … The approach and discipline you have shown to what it means to be a professional athlete at that level with that longevity, it doesn’t happen by chance. So there are things you can do. to put you in a position to extend them further. “
On Sunday, Brady will face the Kansas City Chiefs in the 10th Super Bowl. He has won six championships, the most by any NFL defender. Curry is a three-time NBA champion, but he met Brady in 2014, before winning his first NBA title.
“We just lost to the Clippers in the first round, so we had some free time,” Curry said of their Preakness meeting that year. “… He always seemed to be trying to get nuggets 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. Appreciate the greatness. It’s amazing. Seven years later and he’s still watching the Super Bowls and he’s one of them [situations] every time you see him in the bright stages, you can’t help but look. You expect greatness to happen. So we’ll be careful [Sunday] and see if he can do it. “
Brady’s longevity and ability to play at such a high level for a sustained period of time is something that many athletes have praised Bucs’ quarterback during his career, but Curry’s praise of Brady has came on a day when Curry admitted that he often thinks about his own title window.
“There are things that are under your control and things that are not,” Curry said. “But all the little things you do every day, all the work you put in, it’s built to get back to that stage and understand – live in reality, so you know if you’re not playing quarterback for the Tampa Bay Bucs right now, there’s a fine line between when you are at the top and when you need to make the most of what you have achieved on the field. That’s kind of perspective, so think about it for sure. “
Curry’s perspective on his future was more focused last season after suffering a broken left hand in the fourth game of the year. Between that injury, Klay Thompson’s consecutive injuries at the end of the season and Kevin Durant’s injury to Achilles in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals and his subsequent decision to sign with the Brooklyn Nets, Curry is extremely aware of how quickly things can change. for any team. When asked how long he felt his own title window was open, Curry hoped it would stay operational for a while.
“You think about it this year and next,” Curry said. “You think about Klay coming back, you think about all those different things, but right now who’s going to say we can’t put pieces together? I’m in the middle of my first and I think about all the things I’ve been through for the last four or five years. “It’s hard to say what the real number is, but I think we’re in a good place, so to speak.”
Curry, who will turn 33 in March, was then asked how far he could stretch for the first time, given that he had just said he felt in his mid-peak years.
“We’ll find out,” Curry said.
Extending the peak years is something Brady is too familiar with. Brady is the oldest QB to win a Super Bowl – and came two seasons before this championship.
After five consecutive years of going to the NBA Finals between the 2014-15 and 2018-19 seasons, Curry saw the Warriors become the worst team in the league last season at 15-50 and struggling through a season up and down 11-9 heading to Tuesday’s game with the Boston Celtics. Despite all the wear and tear on his body, Curry was asked how old he felt in his basketball years.
“It simply came to our notice then [after] over the course of five years, I 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 the middle of the ’20s right now. I do not know what this means. Maybe I’m just kidding … I think the mind needs to be strong to tell the body how young you are or how young you feel. So, just go through that. I have no worries about the fall soon. “