Curry Your Craft: 6 Things ALL Creatives can learn from Stephen Curry
There’s so much that could have been said about the “Baby Faced Assassin” but allow me to paint the scene and bring you up to speed if this is catching you off-guard. In recent news, we’ve determined that Steph can twist an ankle on the road against two perennial MVP candidates, return to the game to not only set the NBA record for 3’s made in a single season (a record he broke last year but has broken again with 25 games still left to go in the season) but also the NBA single-game record for 3’s made (a dirty dozen) in the same game including a video-game-esque shot from just in front of half court to win it in overtime. Oh yeah and speaking of which, we also found out that he’s become too good to accurately (yet fairly) recreate for video games.
Greatness has become personified in our culture by Stephen Curry, I jokingly said that Curry has now become a VERB. I defined it as:
Curry (v): to put in so much time into a craft that when the stage is set, you make people question what is real and what is possible.
Every single night, he does things that make us question reality. His performances alone are the catalysts to conversation which leads to connection. He literally has become the bridge between ordinary fans and elite company. Curry has taught me a lot about handling spotlight and being excellent with a craft and I figured I’d pass along what the world’s most prolific shooter has taught me about being a Creative Director.
1. Peace of Identity
Before you ever know what you want to do or where you want to go, it would help to understand the tools that you are working with. When Steph entered the league, he was viewed as undersized and a liability in the draft because of it. Many felt that his strengths weren’t strong enough to bypass his weaknesses on the court. What he did was show that not only was he able to maintain in this league but that he’s slowly changing the narrative surrounding it. Everyone used to want to be 6'8 270lbs running faster than a speeding bullet like LeBron James (and to some degree that still hasn’t left), but even growing up, you knew that LeBron was playing with a loaded deck compared to his peers because of his physical frame and attributes at his age.
Steph’s meteoric rise happened because he took his strengths and worked on it. He played HIS game which is all he can do. Comparison is the thief of all JOY. There will always be someone that you look to inspire you creatively and that’s good because we constantly need to have a bar to reach for but at the end of the day, know who you are because you can’t be anyone other than who God has created you to be. We should strive to create to inspire just as we were inspired to create. Remedial replication is an inspiration to no one. When we have peace in knowing our experiences and identity have prepared us for this moment we are in, that’s when we create the space to expand our skill set and perspective.
2. Snowball of Preparation
I believe that Stephen Curry has made the art of preparation a desirable trait. I don’t think we’ve seen as wave so strong since the movie series Rocky was at it’s peak (the training montages would make you want to pause the movie and go run a marathon). There are a flock of people who show up to NBA arenas early just to see Curry go through his own personal pre-game warm up.
Reps on reps at game speed. Putting himself in situations more difficult than ones he’ll face on the court but only so he’s prepared for the situations he actually will face on it. The problem with some trainers and drills especially in basketball is that some don’t have purpose behind their training. Quantity of time is never a substitute for QUALITY of time. It makes no difference if you go to the gym to shoot 500 shots if they aren’t game speed shots and/or shots you would actually take in the game.
Also you can’t make gains if you don’t evaluate afterwards to see the growth. Growth doesn’t always come after a day or a week. Over the course of a month, you begin to see significant growth especially when you are consistently creating. I looked back and found the highlight videos I put together for camp 2 years ago and it’s intriguing to me how far I’ve come and knowing that the best is still yet to come, I’m encouraged to keep working to see more fruit from my labor.
3. Plethora of Expectations
There are three distinct factors with the plethora: preparation, opportunity and execution. We often set our own personal expectations based on the potential that an opportunity can present us. Our personal expectations bleed into our preparation because our beliefs soon becomes our actions. There’s a chance that someone with mid-to-low expectations could do great things because of great preparation. There’s often instances of someone with high expectations doing mediocre due to poor preparation. Finding that balance in your life, based on the hand you’ve been dealt, is quite the scientific experiment (and keep in mind, these are only your own personal expectations).
There’s a known alliteration that says “Proper Preparation Can Prevent Poor Performance” and while that is true, poor execution can still cause poor performance. As creatives we are so territorial and critical of our work but when it’s all said and done, no matter how much someone believes in you, you have to believe in yourself enough to not only prepare and put in the work but to also be confident enough to execute when the opportunity comes.
For as nice of a guy that Curry is, when he’s between those lines, he’s the definition of a savage. He’s confident in who he is as a player and he gets it done by any means necessary. He expects to win and because he does, he puts it all on the line. Maybe as creatives (I know this is the case for me at times), we should put more eggs into that main basket. Yes, there are always projects down the road you want to consider doing but I tend to work the fastest and the best when I’m solely focused on one task and I believe that I can accomplish it.
With all of the expectations that surround you, believe that you can and that it’s worth your time and effort and then execute. The worst thing you can do is procrastinate on your potential and let the opportunity pass you by.
4. Sliver of Innovation
When we are presented with profound opportunities, the constant merger between abundant preparation and exceptional execution will create the distinguished space between the good ones, the really good ones, and the great ones. Our culture is infatuated with speed and mesmerized by precision. We love to see the unnatural look natural and the average look extraordinary. Guys like Curry would likely tell you that repetition is often the key to freedom in a craft. It’s often said that PRESENTATION not INFORMATION is what sparks the IMAGINATION. Innovation isn’t a re-invention of something but a re-imagined application.
When your creativity can meet a need of someone or something, that’s innovative. It doesn’t even matter that in your mind, you think there are plenty others that can do what you do “better”, timing and proximity can often be the biggest catalyst for innovation. I will say that the creative who builds for width before they build for depth will not see perpetual growth in their craft and thereby could very well miss their window of opportunity for innovation.
5. Overdose of Joy
Do you love what you create? I’m not asking if you think it’s perfect, not even if you think it’s the best it can be. Do you love what you do? I’m not asking what aspects of it don’t you like, who you don’t get along with, or what you’d like to change about the process. Is there a sense of joy? Joy isn’t always found in what we do, very rarely it is, but rather WHY we do it. Steph has been around the NBA his whole life because his dad played in the league. He loves the game and you can tell that even though the weight of the expectations to deliver every night, he fights for that joy. No amount of awards or recognition can fill the hole in your heart if you don’t enjoy what you do.
Separate from who you create for (which you should know as well by the way), when you know why you create it should propel you through a slump or two. Those do happen but knowing your why instills roots on your vision and purpose that the elements of life can’t sway. Those who create out of obligation usually never experience the freedom that comes from create from the overflow of joy. When it’s an obligation, you find ways to cut corners and your perspective isn’t a life-giving one but when it’s something you find joy in, your perspective will often shift. Joy allows for sustainability and a constant stream of joy allows for bounds of potential that exceeds even your own expectation.
6. Equity of Influence
This is probably the main reason why I wrote this article. When you are great, people want to know your success story. Everyone has some sort of testimony of what they’ve had to overcome. As a Christian myself, my global why is to leave a legacy that will outlive me (concretely through the Gospel but the Gospel overflows from everything I do. Even if it’s not always explicit in presentation, it always is in intention). My experiences allow me to have interactions with people who will influence me and vice versa. Life is full of seasons and setting is just as crucial to the story as plot. Fear has a tendency to isolate us which dilutes our influence. To be present when others want to hear what you have to say is seizing the moment. Impact has a deeper connection than an impression ever will. So many people have an impression of Curry and who he is not only as a player but also as a person but most everyone I hear who has witnessed him in person has left more impacted.
Creativity gives you a sphere of influence, how you use it shows 3 things:
-How you value the PROCESS of creating what you create?
-How you value the PEOPLE who are influenced (or who may not be influenced yet)?
-How you personally value the PLATFORM that creativity gives others?
While many of us may never know how it feels to be in the zone on prime time national television, you have an audience waiting to see how you steward your own craft with a quality beyond comprehension. So be Great…Curry Your Craft!
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