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Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry poses for photos during the NBA basketball team’s media day, Monday, Sept. 28, 2026, in San Francisco.<\/p>\n
Jeff Chiu\/Associated Press<\/p>\n
LAIE, HAWAII\u00a0\u2014 There was magic to be found, after all, in Dalen Terry\u2019s calves. They are sinewy, and springy, and once buoyed a 6-foot-6 Terry to an 18th-overall selection in the 2022 NBA Draft. And Stephen Curry<\/a> has most everything he could want in this world, but he doesn\u2019t have that. Especially not anymore.<\/p>\n After wrapping a short shooting workout following the Golden State Warriors<\/a>\u2019 first practice of training camp Tuesday, assistant Hilton Armstrong begun to toss Curry a few lobs. It did not work. He clanked a couple. So Curry strolled to midcourt to give a high-five to Terry\u00a0\u2014 a 24-year-old wing on a veteran training camp deal\u00a0\u2014 and bent down to touch Terry\u2019s calf. Then his own. Then Terry\u2019s. Then his own. Transference.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n A bound and a leap later, and Curry sailed to the rim for a now-successful two-foot jam.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard to not have a good day out here,\u201d Curry told reporters later, smiling. \u201cYou wake up, and the air feels a little different. Sun hits a little different.\u201d<\/p>\n Is Curry\u2019s right knee rejuvenated? Not exactly. It\u2019s still, well, juvenating. He used to say, as Curry told reporters at BYU-Hawaii Tuesday, that he could play in a game on Day One of camp. That was three or four years ago, and long before the garble of medical jargon\u00a0\u2014 patellofemoral pain syndrome\u00a0\u2014 that befell his knee last season.<\/p>\n Now, at 38, Curry structured his summer in such a way to be ramping up during camp rather than already bringing in heaps of mileage. And the effect, he hopes, will help him stave off the knee troubles that cost him two months of regular-season time in 2025-26.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n It, at least, has him feeling good enough to be attempting two-foot jams, despite recording a grand total of one dunk in his last seven seasons.<\/p>\n \u201cThis year, knowing what it is, taking advantage of the summer, having a very detailed plan to build my body, the foundation, give my knee a rest, and still be prepared for training camp\u00a0\u2014 that was the biggest win, I felt, so far,\u201d Curry said. \u201cEven coming into Day One, being able to do everything, play the way that I expected to feel, and kinda check that box off. It\u2019ll hopefully transition to a steady\u00a0\u2014 the ebbs and flows of the season, where I know what I\u2019m doing on recovery days, I know what I\u2019m doing in practice, and stay sharp.\u201d<\/p>\n In the last several months, a variety of medical experts have explained to the Chronicle that patellofemoral pain syndrome\u00a0\u2014 sometimes referred to as \u201crunner\u2019s knee\u201d<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 is manageable with a long-term plan. And the theme of Curry\u2019s summer, as he explained, was \u201cless is more.\u201d Less time on his feet. Less pounding into hardwood. Less deceleration.<\/p>\n More, though, of different modalities, including one key ingredient: the underwater treadmill, an increasingly popular rehabilitation device for NBA players<\/a>. The function, Curry said, was to maintain his \u201caerobic capacity\u201d but reduce the wear on his joints from running on hard surfaces.<\/p>\n Klay Thompson<\/a>, for one, made use of an underwater treadmill in his rehab from an Achilles tear years ago<\/a>. And Curry said he\u2019s used such treadmills for in-season rehab work, but the offseason focus here is new.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cI did it more this summer than I\u2019ve ever done,\u201d Curry said.<\/p>\n Of course, Curry still got in the gym this summer, as trainer Brandon Payne has attested to the Chronicle<\/a>. The workload, and functionality of such workouts, has simply changed.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really more, \u2018How are you feeling? How does this? \u2019 It\u2019s not necessarily, changing a whole lot,\u201d Payne explained. \u201cWe might take the amount of time that we spend doing something\u00a0\u2014 it might be down, and we\u2019re more focused on quality over quantity. Meaning, we want high-quality reps, versus a lot of reps. Like, we\u2019re a little bit more aware of that.<\/p>\n \u201cBut in terms of, like, how he plays? No. None of that\u2019s changed.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a>
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