What Stephen Curry worked on to help improve ‘different element’ of his chemistry with Jimmy Butler

Stephen Curry working on decision making to better distribute the ball

Stephen Curry’s personal trainer, Brandon Payne, spoke to Mark Medina of RG Media about what he has worked on this offseason.

He reveals that Curry’s decision-making, ball distribution, and reaction plays have been a point of great emphasis, with the superstar working on these aspects while still maintaining some of his physical gifts.

“Processing speed and making decisions faster. We’ve really made a big effort to stay completely away from patterns in any shape or form this offseason and make everything a read and make everything a reaction.

“Even with his shooting, there has been a lot of reactive shooting… That has been a big point of emphasis for us this year – to continue to be able to react faster and be able to execute better.

“His first-step quickness and explosiveness is the fastest that it’s ever been, if not faster. But as players age, the one thing they can do is continue to work on processing information fast and make faster decisions to offset any gap that is created with losing a step.

“That hasn’t happened with him yet. So when you combine the fact that physically he’s still at a peak and now he’s making decisions faster, we have a very quick player out there.”

Stephen Curry adapting to ‘different element’ that Jimmy Butler brings

Further in the interview, Payne admitted that Stephen Curry’s decision to work on his decision-making was heavily influenced by his chemistry with Jimmy Butler.

“There is also a different element where Jimmy plays in spaces that other teammates may not have played in spaces. So it’s about being able to play off of a different type of spacing.

“That is going to be important for Steph. They got a little bit of that last year. They got a little bit of a feel for it. But it’s going to continue to get better as they play more games in the regular season.

“Steph will start to recognize where the opportunities are to play off of Jimmy and play in that mid-range area with his back to the basket a little bit. I think that is certainly something that can continue to get better.”

It’s clear that Stephen Curry is driven to make the partnership with Jimmy Butler work. And if he has done the work to help Butler’s game fit better, that is a very positive sign.