Stephen Curry Lists Lessons He Learned from Both Basketball and Golf: “The Next Shot Mentality”

Stephen Curry usually spends a huge chunk of the offseason hiatus playing golf. This year has been no exception. The Golden State Warriors superstar is currently competing in the American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. During a media interaction for the tournament, Curry recently listed out the lessons common in both basketball and golf.

The results were pretty intriguing. Even though golf and basketball seem to be very different sports, the lessons they teach can be surprisingly similar.

During a recent press conference at the American Century Championship tournament, Steph Curry was asked if he applies any lessons he learned from playing golf to the game of basketball and vice versa.

Curry admitted that two sports often teach the same thing. “The next shot mentality is huge. You gotta have a short memory on both basketball court and golf,” Curry said. “You’d have to have a bit of amnesia out there.”

Steph explained that it’s easier to implement this mentality in basketball because everything is very reactive and fast-paced. On the other hand, it’s much harder to not think about your previous bad shots while taking long walks on the golf course in between shots.

“But also in both sports when you find that flow-just to be able to stay in that space for as long as you can, and enjoy and lock into whatever’s producing the right shots, the right visuals you need to see,” Steph added.

Steph reflects on lessons learned in golf and basketball ⛳🏀 pic.twitter.com/xGH98MFFWt

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) July 14, 2023

To conclude his answer, the four-time NBA champion said, “For me, when that ball’s hitting the net every time, like there’s no better feeling…Golf’s a little bit harder to find it. So you gotta be little bit more patient…the game of golf can humble you.”

These insights prove just how much time Curry spends in the greens and how carefully he studies the game. It also seems like the 2022 NBA Finals MVP finds golf a harder sport to master than basketball, pretty much like Michael Jordan did.