Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry is widely considered to be the greatest 3-point shooter of all time, but that doesn’t mean he’s immune to nerves before a game.
“He plays with such freedom, ebullience and unflappability that it might come as a surprise, as it did to me, to learn that Curry suffers from performance anxiety, that he approaches every game with an unsettled fear of what lies ahead,” ESPN’s Tim Keown wrote. “He does not appear to be suffering from any existential angst as he’s scoring 17 points in the fourth quarter against the [Los Angeles] Lakers on Christmas Day; he looked equally unaffected hitting eight 3s against France in the Olympic gold medal game; same for the countless times he has tossed his conscience aside and led his team by making shots from previously unimagined distances.”
Curry revealed that the expectations for him to perform at a high level every night give him anxiety, although he believes that is part of what keeps him going.
“Oh, for sure I have anxiety,” Curry said. “A lot of it is baked into the expectations I’ve set and the level I want to play at. It’s your own expectations and awareness of what a good game is. It’s a healthy insecurity of having to prove yourself every single night, which is cool. It keeps you going.”
A 10-time All-Star, four-time NBA champion, two-time league MVP and one-time NBA Finals MVP, Curry has accomplished just about anything one can imagine at the NBA level.
He led the Warriors to the NBA Finals in five straight seasons from the 2014-15 season through the 2018-19 season, winning three titles. Then, in the 2021-22 season, Curry and the Warriors made it back to the Finals, knocking off the Boston Celtics to secure the fourth ring in Curry’s storied career.
While the 36-year-old is getting closer to the end of his career, he’s still producing at a high level just about every single night. This season, Curry is averaging 22.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game while shooting 45.2 percent from the field and 42.0 percent from 3.
No player has made more shots from beyond the arc in NBA history than Curry, and he still is shooting the 3-ball at an extremely efficient rate.
Curry, LeBron James, Kevin Durant and some other older superstars certainly have dealt with lofty expectations for years on end during their careers. It certainly could weigh on a player, but it appears that Curry has turned that anxiety into a way to motivate himself to play at a high level as often as he can.
This season, Curry is looking to lead the Warriors back to the playoffs after they missed them in the 2023-24 season. Golden State was knocked out in the play-in tournament by the Sacramento Kings last season.
So far in the 2024-25 campaign, Golden State is 18-17 and holds the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference. Curry and the Warriors will have a chance to build on that record on Tuesday night when they host the Miami Heat at Chase Center. That game is scheduled to tip off at 10 p.m. EST.
