LAIE, Hawaii — Steph Curry is no stranger to the taxing but refreshing grind of NBA training camp. Entering his 18th such event, and his second located on the beautiful BYU-Oahu campus in a town 30 miles north of Honolulu, the Warriors’ superstar has his camp routine down.
Sort of.
Curry is managing an aging and sometimes aching right knee, worn down by almost two decades of ripping around professional shots at breakneck pace. That malady cost him 27 games last season and necessitated the 38-year-old rework his offseason schedule.
With a game that involves as much, if not more, running than any other player in NBA history, maintaining his supremacy was a top priority. Enter some good, old-fashioned H2O.
“I did a lot of underwater treadmill stuff to keep my aerobic capacity, but no have the pounding on my joints,” Curry said. “So you’re just working different, even though the volume of work was pretty much the same. Then in the tail end at the end of the summer, you’re able to safely ramp up.”
Curry said he had used liquid exercises during previous rehab stints, but never as part of his regular offseason workout regimen.
That was just one aspect of a reworked routine that had Curry learning that sometimes “less is more.” His training staff had a straightforward message: Wearing down his body with intense offseason training was no longer the best plan for a star approaching 40.
By being judicious with his workload in the summer months, Curry is hoping that he can go at full speed once the season begins. That ramp-up to the real games is also a gradual process.
“(It was about) having a detailed plan to build my body, the foundation, get my knee a rest, and still be prepared for training camp,” Curry said. “It’s kind of a constant through line from the beginning of the offseason to through this year, where I’ll hopefully stay ahead of it.”
He and the team have five days in northeast Oahu to build up to something resembling game shape. Then they play the Clippers at the University of Hawaii’s Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu.
When the teams last held their training camps on the Islands two years ago, the Warriors won a Lindy Waters buzzer beater. Curry hoped he would play better in the encore.
“I only played the first half, and I was out there chucking, missed them all,” Curry said. “I’m trying to make up for that on Sunday.”
Warriors stay mum on Porzingis
Kristaps Porzingis did not make the five-hour flight from San Francisco to Honolulu with the team as he continues to deal with an undisclosed health issue.
Head coach Steve Kerr said he did not know if Porzingis’ current condition is linked to postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, a diagnosis the big man disclosed publicly in 2025. Porzingis played in only 15 games after being traded to Golden State at the trade deadline in February.
Kerr also said he did not know if the team’s medical staff was in contact with Porzingis, or had any timeline for his return.
“I talked to Mike yesterday and the night before, and he made it pretty clear that we’re just going to support Kristaps every way that we can,” Kerr said, later adding, “Whenever he’s ready, he’ll be ready.”