The Los Angeles Lakers had an epic battle with the Golden State Warriors in the playoffs.
Darvin Ham’s team’s switchable defenders put the Warriors against the wall multiple times throughout the series, but Stephen Curry still managed to do his thing.
That’s why Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt had no choice but to tip his hat off to the former MVP.
In his latest appearance on the “Run Your Race” podcast, Vanderbilt lauded Steph’s incredible conditioning, talking about how much he had to run to chase him around and hound him all over the floor (via Tidal League and ClutchPoints).
"Ran like 3 miles [in Game 2 of the 2023 Playoffs vs. Warriors]… I actually got hurt in the 2nd game… Steph [Curry] just nonstop moving… It’s a tough task being the guy that has to chase somebody around.”
—Jarred Vanderbilt
(via "Run Your Race", @TidalLeague) pic.twitter.com/e8W96LlbMT
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) September 19, 2023
Vanderbilt is an excellent defender, one of the few guys in the league who can guard one through five.
But there’s simply no way to stop a player like Curry.
He just needs the tiniest gap of space to pull up, boasting one of the quickest releases this game has ever seen.
He’s constantly moving around, running between, under, and over screens, cutting, razzling and dazzling defenders all over the court.
As crazy as it may seem, defending Curry off the ball might be even more difficult than guarding him one-on-one and that’s a lot to say.
His workout regimes and drills are impressive even to some of his colleagues, and here are rumors of other NBA players not being able to get through five minutes of his workouts without throwing up.
Curry is way more than just a shooter, and his preparation is pretty much unmatched in today’s game.
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