Steve Kerr: Big Part Of My Job Is Not Running Stephen Curry Into The Ground
Stephen Curry is 36 and in his 16th NBA season, which necessitates a different approach for his minutes and usage to keep him performing at this best. "The scales have tipped, for sure," Curry said. "It's more of a measured approach now. I feel like I can still get to the same peaks, but is that an every-single-night-type thing? Maybe not, but it's picking and choosing your spots and trying to manage an 82-game schedule and hopefully get to a playoff series where you're fresh." During the 20-21 season, Steve Kerr was criticized for how he was using Curry as they attempted to reclaim their spot as title contender following the exit to Kevin Durant coupled with injuries to Curry and Klay Thompson. "I've been doing this for years," Kerr tells ESPN. "I took a lot of heat during the pandemic season because I was sticking to my guns and playing Steph 34 minutes a game, giving him about an eight-minute break in each half. And I used a line that became infamous around here when I said, 'We're not chasing wins.' And people were like, 'Then what the hell are you doing?' and the answer was, 'We're saving Steph. We're preserving him for his career.' I probably shouldn't have said the quiet part out loud, but I'm fine with admitting a big part of my job is not running Steph into the ground." The Warriors started the season 12-3, but have struggled badly since then. "I'm not going to do it," Kerr said of increasing Curry's minutes to win more regular season games. "For me, it's more like this: We want to put ourselves in position to give him a chance in the playoffs. We did that when we won the title in '22; we caught lightning in a bottle and the matchups worked our way and Steph does what Steph does. We want to give him that chance again. We want that at-bat." The limit on Curry's minutes comes from collaboration. "Every day," Kerr says. "We discuss it every day." And Curry says, "That's his job. He saves me from myself a lot. There are times when I'll push the envelope, and those conversations go one of two ways: either it's no conversation at all because of his feelings about where we are that night, or there are times when I can sense an opening. When I hear, 'Tell me how you feel,' I think we can be a little aggressive here. It's kind of unspoken. It is frustrating at times when you feel you can play more, but that's why we've been successful. We all feel like we're Superman every time we go out there."
Stephen Curry is 36 and in his 16th NBA season, which necessitates a different approach for his minutes and usage to keep him performing at this best.
"The scales have tipped, for sure," Curry said. "It's more of a measured approach now. I feel like I can still get to the same peaks, but is that an every-single-night-type thing? Maybe not, but it's picking and choosing your spots and trying to manage an 82-game schedule and hopefully get to a playoff series where you're fresh."
During the 20-21 season, Steve Kerr was criticized for how he was using Curry as they attempted to reclaim their spot as title contender following the exit to Kevin Durant coupled with injuries to Curry and Klay Thompson.
"I've been doing this for years," Kerr tells ESPN. "I took a lot of heat during the pandemic season because I was sticking to my guns and playing Steph 34 minutes a game, giving him about an eight-minute break in each half. And I used a line that became infamous around here when I said, 'We're not chasing wins.' And people were like, 'Then what the hell are you doing?' and the answer was, 'We're saving Steph. We're preserving him for his career.' I probably shouldn't have said the quiet part out loud, but I'm fine with admitting a big part of my job is not running Steph into the ground."
The Warriors started the season 12-3, but have struggled badly since then.
"I'm not going to do it," Kerr said of increasing Curry's minutes to win more regular season games. "For me, it's more like this: We want to put ourselves in position to give him a chance in the playoffs. We did that when we won the title in '22; we caught lightning in a bottle and the matchups worked our way and Steph does what Steph does. We want to give him that chance again. We want that at-bat."
The limit on Curry's minutes comes from collaboration.
"Every day," Kerr says. "We discuss it every day."
And Curry says, "That's his job. He saves me from myself a lot. There are times when I'll push the envelope, and those conversations go one of two ways: either it's no conversation at all because of his feelings about where we are that night, or there are times when I can sense an opening. When I hear, 'Tell me how you feel,' I think we can be a little aggressive here. It's kind of unspoken. It is frustrating at times when you feel you can play more, but that's why we've been successful. We all feel like we're Superman every time we go out there."
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