By STEVE REED
By STEVE REED
AP Sports Writer
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A healthy Stephen Curry is looking forward to spending this offseason improving his game instead of than rehabbing from another ankle surgery.
The Golden State Warriors point guard said Monday that he feels great, unlike the last two seasons when he spent months recovering from surgery on his troublesome right ankle.
Curry was bothered by a sore left ankle during the NBA postseason but said he started working out this week and has “no limits.”
“It’s huge,” Curry said Monday during a break from hosting a youth basketball camp at Charlotte Christian, his high school alma mater. “Mentally, that’s the biggest part. You don’t have to worry about the rehab. It wears on you every day knowing you have to wake up and do these mundane exercises to get your range of motion back.”
Curry is coming off a breakout season in his fourth year, averaging 22.9 points and 6.9 assists while helping the Warriors reach the playoffs for the first time in six years.
When the postseason arrived, he stepped it up, averaging 23.4 points and 8.1 assists before the Warriors succumbed to the eventual Western Conference champion San Antonio Spurs in the second round.
Curry said knowing he has three to four months to prepare for training camp is a great feeling — and he plans to take advantage of the extra time.
He plans to use the extra time this offseason to find more ways to get to the free throw line.
“That’s the biggest thing,” said Curry, a 90-percent free throw shooter. “In the playoffs I’ve found your shot can take you a long way but to be able to not let defenders play so tight on you and be able to get those easy points at the free throw line definitely opens the game up for you more, especially in those games where you aren’t shooting the ball so well. You still have a way to get easy points if you can get to the line.”
Curry also wants to get stronger in the coming months and plans to do more self-evaluation through film study to determine ways to work on his drives.
The former Davidson product, who signed a four-year contract extension last November with the Warriors, believes the future is bright in Golden State under coach Mark Jackson.
Curry said a solid core exists and the team is only going to get better with more playoff experience and the fact they were competitive with the Spurs shows they’re on the right track.
“Hopefully keep our team together,” Curry said. “We have a lot of chemistry this year. Going through that experience in the playoffs that is big to build the foundation going forward, especially with a fairly new coach who has got his taste of being in a suit. Once you have those pieces together, you want to keep them together so when we go through those ups and downs of the season and get our taste of the playoffs again we will know how to advance further.”
Curry will be paying close attention to the NBA draft Thursday night, even though the Warriors don’t have a pick.
His younger brother, Seth, who plays at Duke, has a chance to get drafted.
“Whether he gets drafted or not, a team will be making a great decision by bringing him into camp,” Curry said. “The same questions that were brought up about my game and how it transitions to the NBA, he’s going through that same criticism. But I think the way he shoots the ball and the way he can score will be a high value for a team.”