Warriors' Draymond Green Praises Steph Curry's Strength, Workouts: 'He Is Strong'
June 10, 2022
Amid concerns about his leg injury heading into Game 4 of the NBA Finals, Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry earned praise from Draymond Green for his physical strength and flexibility.
Speaking to ESPN's Baxter Holmes, Green noted the ways in which Curry is stronger than a lot of his Warriors teammates.
"He is strong," Green said. "And when I say strong, I mean strong. Like, if you go in our weight room, and we're doing dumbbell bench press, Steph is in the hundred [pound] club. Not many people get to the hundred club. His legs [are] super strong. That change happened last year."
Curry's size has been discussed throughout his NBA career. Josh Jackson said in a Vice Sports video released in September 2017 that the Warriors star was "small and unathletic."
Jackson did offer a follow-up explanation on Twitter for what he meant:
Curry is officially listed at 6'2" and 185 pounds on the NBA's official website, but Holmes noted the two-time NBA MVP says his weight is closer to 200 pounds right now.
Even though he's not the most physically imposing player in the league, Curry almost certainly has the best conditioning of any active player.
Brandon Payne, Curry's trainer, told Scott Davis of Insider.com that one of the conditioning drills Curry regularly goes through is the full-court star.
"During this drill, Curry runs to opposite ends of the court: corner to corner, left wing to left wing, right wing to right wing, corner to corner, then back to the top of the keys, shooting three-pointers at each spot. He has to do this in 55 seconds and make at least eight of his 10 attempts," Davis wrote.
Payne noted that Curry "does every drill like his hair is on fire" and he "moves at such an incredible pace."
Warriors assistant coach Bruce Fraser told Holmes that Curry is doing weightlifting workouts "more than he's ever" done.
The results have shown up for Curry on the defensive end of the court this season. He ranked sixth among all point guards in defensive real plus-minus (4.31), ahead of 2021-22 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart (3.56).
Per The Athletic's Tim Kawakami, this was the second straight season that Curry finished with a positive defensive real plus-minus rating (0.10 in 2020-21) after posting negative marks in his 11 seasons.
Curry has been able to increase his defensive effectiveness while still remaining the most dynamic shooter in the NBA. The eight-time All-Star has been the best player in the Finals against the Boston Celtics thus far.
Through three games in the series, Curry is averaging 31.3 points and shooting 48.6 percent from three-point range.
As good as Curry has been, the Warriors find themselves in a 2-1 series hole. They will look to even things up against the Celtics in Game 4 on Friday at 9 p.m. ET.