Stephen Curry's future was in question.
Unproven, undersized, and injury-prone, Curry's rocky start to his career forced the Golden State Warriors to decide whether he was worth taking a chance on. And in 2012, the Milwaukee Bucks were eyeing one of Golden State's young players. Facing a big decision, the Warriors had to choose which of their two guards — Monta Ellis or Stephen Curry — was worthy of shaping a franchise around, and which needed to be traded away.
According to Marc Lasry, who became a Bucks owner a couple of years later, the Warriors were willing to trade Curry to Milwaukee for Andrew Bogut:
“That was the deal. But the Bucks' medical staff didn't think Steph's ankles would hold up. That killed the deal.”
While the truth of the proposed Steph Curry trade is in question to this day, it's not too far-fetched to think the Bucks may have been scared of Curry's injury history. After being drafted in 2009, Curry sprained his ankle multiple times in the 2010-11 season, requiring surgery. He then re-injured the same right ankle in 2012, prompting a second surgery. He played merely 26 games in that 2011-12 season.
While Curry had the promise and potential to be a solid pure shooter in the league, it was very plausible that injuries might derail his career.
Ultimately, the Warriors traded Monta Ellis for Andrew Bogut, putting their faith in Stephen Curry's ankles. While their bet paid off in the long run, the risks were incredibly high. To most, a small guard with wobbly ankles doesn't exactly scream “franchise player.” An inside look at his road to recovery sheds some light on how he went from someone not worth trading for to a two-time MVP and three-time NBA champion.
At the end of the 2011-12 season, Curry re-injured his surgically repaired right ankle. While the Warriors held their breath, the MRI “revealed a stable ankle with no structural damage,” according to Dr. Richard Ferkel, who treated Curry's sprains. The subsequent surgery merely “consisted of cleaning out loose debris and scar tissue,” via ESPN.
Curry called it the “least intrusive outcome,” and it was the best possible news for the Warriors. Recovery time was three to four months. Curry spent the next few months in rehab, yet again, and he himself admitted this about it:
“I feel like I've been doing nothing but rehabbing for two years. I feel like I'm never going to be able to play again.”
Spraining an ankle isn't uncommon. Ankle sprains, which occur frequently when cutting or changing direction, account for about 15 percent of all injuries in the NBA, which is more than double the frequency of any other NBA injury. Frequent sprains also makes the ankle easier to re-sprain and can potentially lead to more serious long-term injuries.
Keke Lyles, who became the Warriors' performance director in 2013, had a new idea. Players often put far too much pressure and weight on their ankles. So for Curry, Lyles wanted to focus instead on the hips.
“Shiftiness is an ankle strategy, but power comes from the hips,” Lyles asserted. “We wanted to teach Steph to load his hips to unload his ankles.”
With the help of Lyles, Curry focused on utilizing his hips more and strengthening his core. A majority of his lower body workouts were on one leg, in order to focus more on the core.
As a result, Steph grew stronger than anyone ever thought he would. When he first entered the league, Curry could deadlift about 200 pounds. But after his intense workout sessions where, according to Klay Thompson, “the man was always in the gym,” Curry could deadlift 400 pounds. That was more than twice his own weight. On the team, only Festus Ezeli, the backup center at the time, could deadlift more.
The work paid off. Over the next several seasons, Curry's ankle injuries popped up again only scarcely. In the 2012-13 season, he played 78 games, followed by seasons of 78, 80, 79, and 79 games played, respectively. While he occasionally had mild sprains, the ankle issues never became anything more serious over the years.
And today, Curry boasts lightning-quick reflexes, the ability to stop on a dime, change directions in a flash, and can finish down low better than a majority of NBA guards.
In the 2015-16 season, which was arguably Curry's best and most aggressive regular season as a player, he finished fifth in the league among guards in field goals made within five feet of the basket. Of the top 20 guards in that category, Curry owned the highest field goal percentage in the five-foot range at 65 percent.
What that translates to is a man unafraid to attack the basket, even knowing there are 7-foot trees waiting to knock, bump, shove, and push him out of the lane.
No longer was Curry afraid to drive to the rim for fear of his ankles. He had full confidence in his strengthened body and his new techniques:
On this play, Curry passed up the corner triple in order to attack the basket. He went right after the 6-foot-11 Mason Plumlee. The lack of fear unleashed his creativity on the play, and he came up with a crafty finish at the basket.
The fearlessness driving into the forest of big men each and every game stemmed from his confidence about his body. His hard work and endless hours in the gym were finally paying off.
In addition to attacking, he could also change directions in a flash, as demonstrated on this play:
Curry got the ball with the Warriors running their post split action. And even though all of his momentum was carrying him towards Jazz center Rudy Gobert, Curry suddenly changed direction to cut middle, losing the shot-blocking Gobert, and finishing over the outstretched arms of Gordon Hayward.
There is no shortage of Curry's clever and crafty plays at the basket. After at least 17 recorded sprained ankles in his career, Curry now stands as one of the best in the league at ball handling, moving without the ball, finishing at the rim, and in perfecting his footwork on catch-and-shoot 3s.
Players sprain ankles all the time. Some even sprain them again and again. Players almost always come back from them, as ankle sprains typically aren't of the career-ending variety. But the players are usually merely the same players they've always been, just more careful and more cautious.
Curry, though, represents the outlier. The lone instance of multiple ankle sprains and two surgeries actually making a player grow and forcing him to be better. Because of the injuries, Curry, with the help of Keke Lyles, learned to focus on his body more — on his hips and on his core strength. The result is a strong, fearless player playing as if he's invincible: his feet constantly on the move in a never-ending symphony of cutting to the basket, changing direction, and squaring up to shoot.
If you want to witness what years of hard work and determination culminates in, watch Curry's feet for an entire NBA game. Watch the quick movements, the light bounces on which he floats throughout a game. Watch the changes in pace, the changes in direction, and the ability to stop his own momentum suddenly to lose a defender.
And think that it all could've, and maybe should've, ended with an onslaught of injuries and two surgeries on weak ankles — ankles that seemed to shatter just by running up the floor.
Seven years later, now Stephen Curry is running down the accolade of being one of the best to play the game. And no one may be able to catch him, weak ankles and all.
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