Stephen Curry built his reputation as one of the greatest shooters in basketball history during the Golden State Warriors’ championship years. But as he recently revealed, he was dealing with a vision problem that went undiagnosed for part of that remarkable run.
Curry recalled that the issue came to his attention in 2018, when then-Warriors general manager Bob Myers noticed him repeatedly squinting on the bench during a televised game. Myers reached out afterward and encouraged Curry to have his eyes examined.
“It was 2018… Bob Myers texted me after the game because apparently the telecast kept showing me when I was on the bench,” Curry said. “He was like, ‘You’re just squinting, looking like you couldn’t see anything… You should probably go… get that checked out.’”
The examination revealed that Curry had Keratoconus, an eye condition in which the cornea gradually changes shape, potentially causing distorted or blurred vision. The diagnosis made him aware that his eyesight could worsen over time if the condition progressed.
“They told me that I had a rare condition called Keratoconus,” Curry said. “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.”
The revelation adds an unexpected detail to an extraordinary stretch of Curry’s career. By 2018, he had already won two NBA championships and two MVP awards, including the league’s first unanimous MVP selection in 2016. That same year, Golden State went on to capture another title, with Curry continuing to produce at an elite level.
Curry found humor in the idea that he had achieved so much before fully understanding what was happening with his vision.
“I joke that when I’m all done, my memoir should be called ‘The Whole Time I Couldn’t See,’” he said.
The condition is a serious one, but Curry’s recollection also offers a glimpse of how an everyday observation from Myers led him to seek medical attention. What appeared on television as a player squinting from the bench turned out to be a reason to investigate his eyesight.
