Why Stephen Curry Keeps Chewing His Mouth Guard and What’s Wrong with It?

The regular players turn legendary by putting in several hours of consistent daily practice on a ‘decade’ basis. While doing so, they tend to stick to a certain regimen/habit which they continue even to the game-days. For instance, Rafael Nadal does it with his water bottles, what Stephen Curry does with his mouthpiece.

The world knows Stephen Curry for being short at height but tall in character. He is a magical three-point shooter who craves possession of the ball in dying moments. However, one thing that sets him totally apart is his mouthpiece. Whatever be the dynamics of the game, one can find a frustrated/excited Curry chewing his mouthpiece as if it’s marshmallow candy.

When did Stephen Curry start wearing a mouthpiece?

Rewind back to 2007 when Steph was just a 19-YO. He was playing in his sophomore year when The Citadel’s Jon Brick elbowed him down. This defense work from Jon led to seven medical stitches for Curry. Ever since then, the young Golden Boy made a promise to himself that he’ll never distance himself from a mouthpiece.

Interestingly, midway he began to get creative with his guard. He would pull half of it out from his mouth, chew it, allow the cameramen to capture the stunt, then make a free throw, and pull it back again. To some, this might appear gross, but to others, it might make perfect sense because that habit leads to him performing better. 

This comment can raise many eyebrows, but its pure data analytics talking. As per a study by the Wall Street Journal, Curry’s FTs improve by 3%, from 89% to 92% when he chews his toy. In fact, other such peculiar data suggests that Curry increased his chewing time by a large percentage from 2014-15 to 2015-2016. 

How does this chewing-gum serve the Warriors’ great and what are the consequences?

Perhaps it works like music to his ears, making him extremely focused on his art, cutting distraction from the crowd and rivals. A very vivid memory comes from Game 6 of the 2016 NBA Finals where a frustrated Curry was ejected for the first time in his career after a technical foul.

He threw his mouthpiece in anger at a spectator, with a crazy speed of 49.4 mph. He later apologized to the fan by hugging him. That, he pulled against LeBron James’ Cavaliers.

As another consequence of this strange habit, a report suggests that he chews and damages his mouthpiece. This ensures that the guard will not be able to defend any blow as effectively as Curry would like it. Funnily, Curry lets neither his opponents nor his mouthpiece guard him. 

Today, his mouthpiece is so popular that it has several Twitter accounts to its name. Now that it has a celebrity status, are you going to purchase one such used mouthpiece at $3000 or more?