What's behind Stephen Curry's amazing start to the season?
Stephen Curry is averaging a league-leading 32.5 points per game, is making an NBA-leading 5.9 3's per game, and has his Golden State Warriors off to a torrid 9-1 start to the season.
Curry, who is already a 2-time NBA MVP, looks to be sharper, more focused, and more efficient on the court than ever before.
What's the cause of Curry's on-court dominance through the first 10 games of the season?
One factor is that Curry has had a productive off-season. While past summers have been hectic, Curry noted that this summer was "one of the best summers" he's had, according to The Mercury News.
Curry has been working on conditioning throughout the off-season, believing in the importance of staying in shape, especially now that he's reached 30 years of age. The improved conditioning reveals itself through Curry's shooting on the court, as he is shooting more efficiently than he ever has before, with a true shooting percentage of 68%.
To put that into perspective, the all-time leader in true shooting percentage is Tyson Chandler at 70.8%. Through 10 games, Curry sits not far behind.
Currently, Curry's 32.5 points per game lead the NBA, and is a 6-point increase from his 26.4 points per game last season. A 6-point uptick the following year is a large improvement, even for the 2-time MVP and 3-point record holder. Though we've only seen 10 games, Curry's aggressiveness on offense and his higher 3-point shooting percentage is evident.
He's also on pace to crack an insane 500 3's in the season. His 402 threes in the 2016-17 season currently holds as the NBA record, with Klay Thompson in a distant 2nd place with 276 3's.
Most players start the season a little out of shape, and take a bit of time to get back into game shape as the season progresses. Curry, however, looks to be in mid-season form and conditioning early on.
In addition, his coach Steve Kerr notes that Curry is "happy in every aspect," entering his 10th year with the Warriors. In Curry's five years under head coach Steve Kerr, he has won three championships. Curry also welcomed his son, Canon, into the world this past July.
Along with playing basketball alongside his good friends, and having solid chemistry with his teammates, there's not much to complain about as Curry starts the 2018-19 year.
It remains to be seen whether Curry can retain this level of play throughout the course of a grueling and monotonous regular season.
But his MVP-level start to the year seems to be a good indicator that complacency and boredom, which have plagued the Warriors in the past, won't be issues this season.
It's only scary to see that an already all-time great player seems intent on being even better this year.