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New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce
Listen Now: Mind the Game - The Stephen Curry Interview
00:14:11
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Transcript75 lines
- [00:00]
A
To all the 92 percenters, we're dropping something in the feed today we think you basketball fans are going to love.
- [00:08]
B
All right, if you haven't heard it yet, LeBron James and Steve Nash have an incredible podcast. That's right. It's called Mind the Game. And I'm not going to lie, it's pretty next level.
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A
I would assume it would be unbelievable, as I am a fan of both of their games.
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C
Yeah.
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A
This is for students of the game, though. LeBron and Nash are legends, and on Mind the Game, they get into the X's and O's and tactical breakdowns that really help you appreciate the game.
- [00:34]
B
Yeah. I mean, when LeBron James is breaking down plays, you're talking strategy with Steve Nash, you're going to get deep into the brains of two actual basketball geniuses. So it's. I mean, it's pretty much a masterclass in basketball.
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A
And here's the thing. They also talk about mindset, preparation, and the mental side of the game. That applies to basketball, football, and your life.
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B
Exactly. Whether you're a basketball fan or just someone who wants to understand what it is like to compete at the highest level, this show has got something for you.
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A
So do yourself a favor, go check out Mind the Game. You're going to learn something. I guarantee it.
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D
All right.
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B
And here's Steve Nash to tell you a little bit more about the show.
- [01:14]
E
Hey, 92 percenters, Steve Nash here. Here's a clip from one of our latest episodes to give you a taste of what LeBron and I get into. If you like what you hear, check out Mind the Game wherever you get your podcasts or you can watch on YouTube or Prime Video.
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C
Cheers. Going this way and one this way.
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D
Yes, sir.
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E
Thank you. Thank you for doing this. It's our first official golf podcast.
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D
Yeah, they heard Mind the Game, and they thought the game was basketball. Today was actually not. We say Mind the Team.
- [01:55]
E
I was watching the Bryson DeChambeau.
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C
Oh, the break 50.
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E
Break 50. I mean, I knew you were good. I was losing my mind. I only watched half. You matched him.
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D
I watched the whole thing.
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C
Yeah. I mean, that's being kind as you could. My first shot. I lost my mind, too. There's like a little small gallery behind.
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E
Oh, there was.
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C
That was following us. And so I knew the whole concept. I knew it was Bryson's. A week before the Ryder Cup. I'm like, all right, this go time. And it's the best, I think, best golf I've played in my life.
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D
And it's so funny.
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C
I Was watching one of the holes,
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D
I don't know what hole it was. And you was like, I'm gonna give it a little grunt. One of his drives. And he got him on the drive and you can. And Bryson, obviously, this is what he does. Like this.
- [02:43]
E
He's a. Oh, I could tell in
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D
his voice when they got up to the ball, he was like, I think that's your ball. He was like, oh, man. I out drove him like it was crazy.
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C
He didn't want to give it to me.
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D
I think one of the good parts too, I was watching too. And you was. I think Bryson asked you a question like. Like, who was your inspirations? Like, you know, obviously, you know, in the game that we all. Oh, yeah, you know, and you, you mentioned Steve and you mentioned Reggie, you know, and obviously Reggie makes so much sense and it's terrifying to competitors like myself and all the competition over the years. How did that. What made you kind of watch those guys from the beginning? And it was funny that I'm sitting across talking about the life.
- [03:25]
C
So that's. I mean, we all got history in the game, playing against each other, the whole deal. But my rookie year, we played in a preseason game outside in Palm Springs, like Indian Wells, Tennessee, with Indian Wells. It was my first time, like, actually seeing him, you know, on the court and to the point of inside, super
- [03:44]
E
intimidating,
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C
just seeing him across. I still do some of your. When you're in the starting line or the national anthem, the line, like you do like the little leg stuff. I still do it. I still do it. I was watching everything you did from across the court. But growing up, like, I knew I was a pass first type of point guard.
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D
Yeah.
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C
Like, my dad had to actually tell me, call Dale Curry right now. He'd tell you. They actually had to tell me to shoot. He was like, no, because I was
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E
not in this house.
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C
Not in this house. You ain't gonna be there. But I always, like, just loved the creativity. Being like. I felt like we had similar statures where as a point guard, being able to, you know, handle being in the trees, getting the ball where you needed to, you saw angles that didn't even make sense. Your change of speed, you can control the tempo, got everybody involved. Like there was just something fun about that. That is the way that I, you know, wanted to play. Fast forward to Davidson. I was a two guard and had to kind of expand. That's. I mean, I was. There's a video of me as a 10 year old running around with a Reggie jersey just because you know, I just love his competitiveness, the way he moved off the ball. I didn't know, like, that would be a huge part of my game once I got to like, how am I gonna actually make it to the league type vibe? But that was your style was like, exactly. I just tried all the behind the back passes, this thing one handed, left handed, like, all that type of stuff. Just seeing the floor a little differently felt like he was kind of the model for that, so.
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D
And what about your pops, too, obviously? I mean, obviously the inspiration that you saw every day, but, like, as your pops being a pro itself, anything like, you took from his game, Like, I mean, the quick, quick release.
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C
The quick release. Every video you see it has sitting in the corner. One, like, one dribble. And then quick release. He had the high Arkham release too.
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D
Yeah.
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C
I couldn't get that. So it was like almost comparison and contrast of.
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D
Right, right, right.
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C
I want to be a great shooter. I want to have a quick release, but I also have to own my own form. I can't really.
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E
It has to go in at the
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C
end of the day.
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E
Yeah.
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C
You know what I'm saying? You got to feel comfortable with what you're doing.
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E
But did you guys ever talk about it, like, quick release?
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C
Yeah, we talked about that a lot. When I was in high school, changing my form, I used to do, like, the little slingshot situation. And to the point of seeing, when I watched myself on camera, it was like that thing looked like it takes forever to get up there. But to your point, it went in. But as I got to varsity, I was like, you know, it's probably not going. That thing's getting swatted to the eighth row.
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D
And you was able to. You was able to dissect that?
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C
My dad.
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D
Your dad. Okay, okay.
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C
Called it out. As I was making that transition, I wasn't with it at first.
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D
Right.
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C
Like, I was. Because I knew he was gonna have to break down all the fundamentals of everything that I felt comfortable with to then master, like, a new form.
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E
It felt like too much.
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C
Yeah. It was like, I don't want to do extra credit on home. On the home. I already know. I already know the formula. Like, I gotta recreate it, and obviously it worked.
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E
But I feel like someone who loves shooting, shot a million shots, always, you know, obsessed with it, watching you shoot. Like, I think I have a bit of a classic shot. I get it to, like, clay into the pocket and shoot what I think you brought to the game. And I'd love for you to tell me I'm full of it is you don't really stop. So like you talked about this shot as a kid to now it's the same shot, but up here, like, I don't really feel like you stop. And if you do, it's like the
- [07:09]
C
split second only probably on. Like just standard catch and shoot where I always tell people, like I would teach clay's form to anybody who said, hey, how do I shoot a basketball? I would like pull up clip of a clay perfect. And it's just. That's freaking perfect. 10 out of 10 every. No notes, right? But to your point, it helped me off the dribble because it's kind of. I wouldn't call it unorthodox, but it is a one piece shot that no matter if you're really all the way on balance or just off or if you got it on the right hand, left hand off the dribble. Like, whatever it is, I kind of can get it here quick enough that through the zone and I still have all my power, you know, I don't lose anything through that. So that's helped me. Especially at six' three, like in the league, no matter who's in front of you, you really feel like I have a chance. As long as I get them to drop their hands a little bit, I can get it up there quick and I don't want to have any wasted motion.
- [08:01]
E
Was that by design or was that just happened?
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C
That's just how I shot it. There wasn't much thought to that part other than when I was in high school doing the. That that transformation, I guess you call
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E
it, because I also feel like that is a part of your range, is that you like, instead of stopping and having to use all your legs, you're using it all in one motion. So like he just kept backing up. Where's this going?
- [08:26]
D
And it's like, it's like a flick. Like, I had an opportunity to see it just, you know, last summer, you know, first time I was joining forces, I got to see it after practice every day. Just like a. A flick. It didn't matter. You know, certain guys in our league or certain, you know, basketball players all over the world, they have to get in a certain pocket in order for them to even get to here or how it's like when he touched the ball. By the time he does what he needs to hear, it doesn't matter where it's coming from. It come from here, come from here. Quick, quick, quick. Like. And that's a great question. Like, did that. Did that. Did you learn that or it just kind of happened and it's like. Nah, it's just.
- [09:02]
C
It's kind of natural. It's kind of just natural. Yeah. Like, there's always reset. Like summertime. You're working on mechanics. Like my guy, Brandon Payne. We'll talk about it. And if I miss two or three in a row and you start looking, I'll know it's because I don't have the ball. Like, if we're talking middle of the frame, I don't have it more middle to right. Like, I'm more kind of doing that. And it's just a. You get a little lazy. Right. But I still have to call that out. But then once you get into the game and the flow, there's not much thought to it.
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E
But it's interesting because, like, necessity is the mother of invention. You kind of invented something like you've gone on to be the greatest shooter of all time by like a long margin, like range, accuracy, dexterity, off the move, left, right, leaning in, leaning back, like you do it all. But like, you. I don't know if you could do that if you had picture perfect form. I'm not saying you don't, but you invented a way of going through the zone. Like you said, off the dribble, like it's up.
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D
Yeah.
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E
And that gave you more range and that gave you more dexterity. Like, by the way, it's not really recreatable. I'm not telling kids, hey, it's so good.
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C
So, Bruce Frazier, we use you as an example a lot. When I'm doing the breakdown drill, like, I'll do like pre game stuff or after practice stuff where to the point of being able to get to my base. Like, he'll bring you up as a demonstration of like, you use. You had such a solid foundation where, you know, get your hips down, get your hips down, get low. Like you're feeling every part of your foot, your feet, and you're using all of that force to kind of get
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E
through pushing in the ground.
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C
That's a, That's a foundation. You have to, have to then build off of that, you know, creativity and that looseness up top. So that's like, that's part of the, the natural progression of foundation to confidence to then, okay, now I can experiment a little bit. So maybe it's not necessarily a thought. It's like you hammer that down so much that now I have the ability to say, okay, what's going to help me in the game? Or if I need to stay out of the trees, I can get my range back. I got. That's in there because I have this. And if I always. I still have to go back to that. Well, though, like, we do our stuff with the free throw line, where you're doing, like, the spins, and you got to be in, you know, in balance. That's your world. Like, that's what I learned.
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D
But I also think one of the most impressive things. I know we're here to talk about a lot of things, but the most impressive thing is that you came in, you know, six, two, whatever, and obviously super skinny. Super skinny. You know what I'm saying? Like, I remember, like, super skinny, fresh out of Davidson, super skinny. And obviously, you know, our league, you know. You know, throughout the course of a season, flights and everything, you know, can be taxing on your body. Yeah, I think one of the most impressive things that a lot of people don't talk about when it comes to you is that the weight and the strength that you've put on and still being able to shoot the ball in that capacity. There's a lot of guys that we've seen come in at a certain weight or a certain body frame, and they're told to put on weight or they're told to put on strengths, and it can affect their shot, you know, and it's actually. There's no way it could have made it better, but, shit, it seems like nothing ever changed. How was that? Like, did that worry you in the beginning? Like, oh, shit, y' all tell me I gotta get stronger now.
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C
I love these stories. So, like, my rookie year in training camp, so I came in as, you know, a shooter in the draft, but Don Nelson was my coach. And going through training camp, sorry, summer league started. I think I probably shot, like, low 30s for three in training or in summer league. And then you're coming into training camp, you know, a couple months later, like, still working, getting through, trying to get comfortable with where shots are coming from. And Don Nelson, he went in the weight room. Cause to your point, I came in 180 pounds. Maybe they were trying to get me in the weight room, doing all these lifts and stuff. I'm shooting like trash in training camp. Like, the first week, he walked in there and cussed out, everybody in the room was like, y' all killing the shot. He's lifting too much weights. And to me, I didn't know that as a concept. Cause, like, I always just wanted to get stronger. Like, most of it was just vanity. Like, hey, look better in New Jersey.
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D
All These mirrors are all here. Y' all telling me I gotta look like this. You know, I'm trying to look.
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C
I didn't even think about it. In terms of shot. I know that there are. There's a range of, like, body composition that matters to making sure everything moves right. So if you're, you know, if you're doing a big transformation, it can change how your body moves. I never thought I could get to that point, but then when he called it out, I was like, wait, are they really messing up my shot? But that balance of being able to appropriately, like, get your body to move efficiently, like, a lot of, to me, is core strength. Like, if we're talking specifics, everything is about the foundation. Like, how does your body move through that range where you have, you know, complete control of, you know, your movement patterns. Not necessarily, like, brute strength, but efficiency, stability.
- [14:03]
E
Hope you guys enjoyed that. You want to hear more? Remember to check out Mind the Game wherever you get your podcasts. And thanks to Jason and Travis for having us on the feedback.