“I didn’t know I was really dealing with crazy blurred vision or distorted images — it was just the way that I saw things and we compensated around it,” the Golden State Warriors star tells PEOPLE
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NEED TO KNOW
- Steph Curry recalls the time Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers encouraged him to get his eyes checked after noticing he was squinting hard on the bench during a 2018 game
- Curry tells PEOPLE how he adjusted to playing with contacts after being diagnosed with Keratoconus, a rare eye condition
- “I joke that when I’m all done, my memoir should be called The Whole Time I Couldn’t See,” Curry says
Stephen Curry won two NBA championships with the Golden State Warriors — and was on his way to a third — before anyone noticed an issue with his eyesight.
“It was 2018, and I didn’t know I was really dealing with crazy blurred vision or distorted images — it was just the way that I saw things, and we compensated around it,” Curry, 38, tells PEOPLE.
But one day, Warriors general manager Bob Myers was watching his star player on a road game broadcast when he noticed something odd.
“He texted me after the game because apparently the telecast kept showing me when I was on the bench, and he was like, ‘You’re just squinting, looking like you couldn’t see anything. Have you gotten your eyes checked? You should probably go do that because that wasn’t normal,’” Curry recalls.
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Curry says he “thought it was going to be nothing” when he met with an optometrist shortly after Myers’ request. “They told me that I had a rare condition called Keratoconus, the irregular-shaped cornea that obviously leads to blurriness, distorted images. What I found out about it was it’s a progressive condition that can deteriorate your vision over time and it’s irreversible if it goes in the wrong direction.”
As it turns out, the NBA superstar couldn’t see clearly while he was winning those titles. “I joke that when I’m all done, my memoir should be called The Whole Time I Couldn’t See,” Curry says with a laugh.
“You’re having to process more than you probably need to without that clarity of focus,” he adds.
Credit: Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty
Eight years later, Curry — who gets his eyes checked every six months — says he’s a “trained professional” at putting in his contacts, and thanks to Glaukos, he’s been able to get on a treatment plan that’s “curbed all the anxiety around where this could head.”
Adjusting to playing with contacts was a process, says Curry. “That first year or two, and that was me being stubborn at that time because it was a part of my job to be able to see the rim, see the court, even if it was blurry. I was like, ‘I’m used to this,’” he says. “But to that point about wearing the contacts, finding the right fit and the right prescription, ones that stayed stable while I was playing.”
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The Warriors star says he “can only imagine” what his eyesight would be like if Myers hadn’t suggested he get them checked. “It’s more that transformation has helped a lot, just give me peace of mind, clarity and help performance in a way that it’s not going to tell me I can shoot better, but it just gives me a little bit more energy knowing I can see.”
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Now, he wants to “encourage people to go get checked” and “have those conversations with the eye doctors” if they’re experiencing any symptoms of the condition. “I think that process is important to share,” says Curry.
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