Stephen Curry has been one of the league’s deadliest sharpshooters for year’s, but recently his shot looks off.
The Golden State Warriors superstar, Stephen Curry, is already considered the greatest shooter of all-time by many. His resume is filled with countless 3-point records as he continues to be a threat to opposing defenses every time he steps on the court.
This is why many fans were shocked when news broke earlier this year that Curry had received eye contacts to fix vision that has been impaired his entire career. If he was capable of shooting so accurately with blurry vision, what would we see from Curry now with 20/20 eyesight?
Well, for a brief moment, it looked like perhaps Curry would transform into an even greater shooter. In his first game since he gained new sight, Curry shot 9-for-12 from the 3-point line and looked like his usual self.
However, things have taken a deep dive off a clip since then. In his final two games of the regular season, Steph shot 4-of-12 from deep. This has since gotten even worse in his series versus the Houston Rockets where he is now shooting just 25.7 percent on 32 attempts from deep.
This stretch included what was likely the worst game in his career. A 7-for-23 performance from the field led to the Warriors squandering a perfect opportunity to take a 3-0 lead in the series. I believe Curry’s new contacts may have played a role in this.
To keep it simple, Curry had grown comfortable with his former eyesight. While it might have been blurry, it was what he worked with for years and years as he developed the most potent jump shot in NBA history. The muscle memory of shooting thousands of shots is already burned permanently into his body and changing his vision could realistically have impacted his accuracy.
Muscle memory is something that is critical for all professional athletes. When the pressure is on, it is important for a player to be able to count on those hours of practice they put in to take control and bring them home. Now that Curry has improved vision, it might take a while for his muscle memory to make adjustments.