© Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
The key to Stephen Curry’s improved shooting over the past five games? He can see more clearly.
On Wednesday morning, the Athletic‘s Marcus Thompson published a fantastic piece on Curry and his lifelong troubles with his eyesight.
From Thompson’s story:
“For all of his career, his life even, Curry has had issues with his eyes. He said he has a condition called Keratoconus, known in the ophthalmology field as KC. Technically, it’s an eye disease in which the cornea, normally a circle, progressively thins and takes on a cone shape. This distortion has given Curry what is known as an astigmatism, which is a type of error in the way the light bends when entering the eye. It doesn’t distribute the light equally to the retina and leads to blurred or distorted vision. It’s a genetic condition Curry was probably born with, though scientists don’t know how it is acquired.”
Curry had overcome the impediment throughout his life and Hall-of-Fame career. Still in the prime of his career, Curry is widely considered the greatest shooter in NBA history, despite playing with poor eyesight. So, imagine what he can do when everything is clear.
In a small sample size, the results have been eye-popping.
Curry went 38 for 115 from three over a nine-game stretch following the All-Star break, which equates to a 33-percent shooting clip. For most NBA players, that’s subpar. For Curry, a lifetime 43.6 percent three-point shooter, that’s egregious.
The Warriors gave Curry a rest day on March 23 against the Dallas Mavericks. Around that time, he tried wearing contacts for the first time in his life. According to Thompson, Curry “had gotten used to squinting for so long” that he finally confronted the issue. He told Thompson he should probably be wearing glasses. Thompson said Curry won’t consider LASIK surgery during his career because the procedure reshapes the cornea, which could potentially lead to some issues, or at the very least, some serious adjustments.
Since returning to the court after using contacts, Curry is 32 of 59 (54.2 percent) from three-point range. He has made at least five threes in all five of those games. He connected on 11 of 19 three-point attempts last week at Memphis.
Supplementing Curry with better eyesight is like attaching springs to LeBron James’ legs. Curry’s greatest strength, arguably the greatest strength of any player in the NBA, could potentially improve even more — all because of a common change.
Look out, NBA.