<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Get all of Chris Ballard's columns as soon as they\u2019re published. Download the new Sports Illustrated app (iOS&amp;nbsp;or&amp;nbsp;Android) and personalize your experience by following your favorite teams and SI writers.&lt;/em&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;OAKLAND, Calif. \u2014 Earlier this season, Warriors coaches were finishing up practice when they noticed an elegant, older woman standing behind the baseline. After some discussion, they realized it was Danielle Steel, author of many books, none of which are about basketball. She\u2019d come, along with her youngest daughter, to meet&amp;nbsp;Stephen&amp;nbsp;Curry. As a gift, she\u2019d brought one of her novels.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;If this seems a bit odd, well, that\u2019s just life around the Warriors these days. Recently, Lydia&amp;nbsp;Ko, the top-ranked&amp;nbsp;LPGA&amp;nbsp;golfer, came&amp;nbsp;by&amp;nbsp;the practice facility in downtown Oakland on a weekday morning. After the Warriors finished&amp;nbsp;shootaround, she giddily talked with Curry&amp;nbsp;before engaging in a putting contest&amp;nbsp;across the gym floor. She also broke down the&amp;nbsp;LPGA&amp;nbsp;with Andre&amp;nbsp;Iguodala, who proved knowledgeable on the topic.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;These were unplanned visits, at least by the Warriors, but other guests are&amp;nbsp;specifically invited. Some, like author Michael Lewis, address the team. All contribute to what is, by design, an unusual practice atmosphere, one based around a simple concept: Athletes are more productive, and&amp;nbsp;happier,&amp;nbsp;when they're not bored.&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;*****\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;When Steve Kerr took the Warriors coaching job in 2014, he brought files of notes with ideas on everything from analytics to personnel to conditioning to the value of yoga. Among his beliefs was that this is a players\u2019 league, and players need to be happy. And when you spend roughly two\u2013thirds of the year together, seven days a week, sometimes your greatest opponent is monotony. As assistant coach Bruce Fraser, Kerr\u2019s longtime friend, puts it, \u201CFor Steve, the joy of the game is a core principle.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;So when training camp began that fall, Kerr endeavored to keep it interesting. He famously introduced music to practices\u2014a tactic gleaned from a visit with Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll. He inserted movie clips into film sessions and held impromptu competitions, including a 2-on-2 route-running game in the gym, pairing&amp;nbsp;QBs&amp;nbsp;and receivers.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;\u2022&amp;nbsp;MORE NBA:&amp;nbsp;Almost a champ: Jermaine O'Neal reflects on leaving Warriors&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This season, the vibe has carried over. Here\u2019s the team on a recent weekday morning.&amp;nbsp;Outkast&amp;nbsp;thunders from 14 black speakers that ring the two full courts. As the media walk in, players shoot at baskets under enormous images from the past: Rick Barry, Baron Davis face-dunking Andrei&amp;nbsp;Kirilenko, Nellie in mid-command,&amp;nbsp;Steph&amp;nbsp;kissing the trophy (within a week, a banner reading Pacific Division Champs 2015\u201316 will go up). Under one basket, center Andrew&amp;nbsp;Bogut&amp;nbsp;talks politics with a reporter. In the far corner, assistant coach Ron Adams cranks away on a stair stepper.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sadly, one staple of last season\u2019s practices\u2014Kerr versus Curry in a modified free-throw contest\u2014has been tabled on account of Kerr\u2019s back surgery. Instead, Curry entertains a crowd of media and onlookers with&amp;nbsp;an elaborate shooting routine&amp;nbsp;run by Fraser and Nick&amp;nbsp;U\u2019Ren, whose title is Special Assistant to the Head Coach and Manager Advanced Scouting but who\u2019s really a jack\u2013of\u2013all\u2013trades, involved in everything from video breakdowns to Kerr\u2019s scheduling to team strategy.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;To watch Curry, mock\u2013wrestling with Fraser, taking crazy shots as&amp;nbsp;U\u2019Ren&amp;nbsp;closes out, and, at one point, intentionally sidestepping a pass so it hits local columnist Marcus Thompson, who had momentarily stopped to check his phone, is to understand part of the Warriors\u2019 secret sauce. \u201COne reason our chemistry is so good is because&amp;nbsp;Steph&amp;nbsp;is who he is,\u201D says Kerr. \u201CNot to take anything away from the other guys but it\u2019s the leader who sets the tone.\u201D And if the leader has fun, then his teammates have fun.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;U\u2019Ren&amp;nbsp;sees it every day. \u201CA lot of NBA guys would be like, give me my 10 shots and my 10 spots, let me get out of here and go home to my family,\u201D he says. \u201CDon\u2019t waste my time with this B.S. It\u2019s probably indicative of who&amp;nbsp;Steph&amp;nbsp;is as a person. He\u2019s so anti what we've come to learn about what an NBA player is, in his ability to be spontaneous, almost child-like in terms of his enjoyment. It\u2019s pretty cool that the best player in the world is allowing small staffers to have fun.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;U\u2019Ren&amp;nbsp;may refer to himself as a \u201Csmall staffer\u201D but he\u2019s a key figure at practices. Twenty-nine years old, soft-spoken and baby-faced\u2014while in Phoenix with the Suns, he was named one of the city\u2019s Most Eligible Bachelors by a local magazine, something he loves to be reminded of\u2014U\u2019Ren&amp;nbsp;holds two important jobs: helping run Curry through shooting drills and picking the music. Last season, the latter task proved both time-consuming and anxiety-provoking. \u201CI was always worried about if they were going to hate the song,\u201D says&amp;nbsp;U\u2019Ren. Sometimes, one would begin blaring and Fraser would look at him and shake his head.&amp;nbsp;&lt;em&gt;No, no, no, not that one&lt;/em&gt;, leading to a hasty switch.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022&amp;nbsp;MORE NBA:&amp;nbsp;Golden Season: Chronicling the Warriors' pursuit of history\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;By now,&amp;nbsp;U\u2019Ren&amp;nbsp;has built a 250\u2013song playlist of suitable tunes, which he runs off his laptop, plugging directly into a sound system on the near side of the court. When the team goes on the road, he tries to mix in local acts: Jay-Z in New York, Motown in Detroit, local rappers in Atlanta. He does, he says, take requests.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;U\u2019Ren&amp;nbsp;also assists in another Kerr tactic: guest speakers. Last year, Kerr invited two Navy Seals to speak (their message was about teamwork and preparation). Earlier this season, Kerr asked Blue Angels pilots to come in. Gathering in a far corner of the practice gym, the Warriors viewed a short video of the Angels and then Kerr led a conversation. His approach was low\u2013key. \u201CThere are obvious parallels,\u201D says&amp;nbsp;U\u2019Ren. \u201CSteve brings those up but he never clubs guys over the head with them. It\u2019s equal parts the obvious and the general human interest, like the world is bigger than basketball.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;More recently, players gathered to listen to Michael Lewis, author of \u201CMoneyball,\u201D&amp;nbsp;\u201CThe Big Short\u201D and \u201CThe Blind Side\u201D. (Originally, both Lewis and Bob Melvin, the manager of the Oakland A\u2019s, were supposed to come but Melvin couldn\u2019t make it). Kerr primed the players, telling them about Lewis. Here was an author whose movies they\u2019d surely seen, who\u2019d written an in-depth story for&amp;nbsp;&lt;em&gt;Vanity Fair&amp;nbsp;&lt;/em&gt;on Obama, whom the players had just met during a White House visit. Kerr acted as moderator again, asking Lewis about the process of writing a book. \u201CHe talked about how you\u2019re really starting over every single time, no matter how experienced you are,\u201D says&amp;nbsp;U\u2019Ren, who ended up chatting with Lewis afterward, yet another in what he calls \u201Ca series of life memories.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 MORE NBA:&amp;nbsp;Ballard: How to shoot like Stephen Curry (or at least try...)\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lewis also spoke about how a book becomes a movie\u2014an awkward situation where people have to pretend like they care what the author thinks. But it was his discussion of his editor\u2014\u201Cwho still looks at [Lewis] like a 26-year-old kid who sucked, and is wiling to tell him when he\u2019s not good,\u201D as&amp;nbsp;U\u2019Ren&amp;nbsp;relates\u2014that struck a note with Curry in particular. After practice, as Lewis, wearing gray jeans and a pink button-down, lofted a couple shots, Curry spoke to reporters about Lewis\u2019s message. \"He said the more he became successful, the less people wanted to tell him that,\u201D Curry said. \u201CSo he really cherished the couple voices he had around him that would keep it straight with him, no matter how big his name got, no matter how many awards he won, no matter how many best sellers he had. He had one editor in particular, but always a couple voices he can rely on to shoot him straight, which is great advice for anybody in our profession.\"\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Indeed, in a season in which road games have turned into home games for the Warriors and the media crush grows by the day, perspective is a precious commodity. Staying loose and seeing the big picture become paramount. \u201CAt the most simplistic, it breaks up the day to day,\u201D says&amp;nbsp;U\u2019Ren&amp;nbsp;of the practice atmosphere, music and guests. \u201CBut they\u2019re also these subtle reminders that I think are healthy for the players and the staff.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;U\u2019Ren&amp;nbsp;continues. \u201CSteve rarely says this flat out, but the general tone is, the world is a big place and basketball is great. But there\u2019s so much more to the world and life.\u201D\r\n&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/nba/2016/03/23/golden-state-warriors-practices-stephen-curry-steve-kerr>