NBA Accessories Week: Stephen Curry’s mouthguard, talisman or tic?

Stephen Curry is infamous for chewing his mouthguard incessantly throughout games. Why does he do it and why are we so intrigued by it?

It’s like an extra limb, it is so omnipresent — an additional body part that is removable but still essential to his image and persona. It feels certain that this mouthpiece does not add any special powers or anything like that to his already potent arsenal, but it has been there throughout all the successes. Now, it feels somehow essential to the whole enterprise, like just maybe it is a working talisman instead of just a piece of plastic meant to keep his teeth from falling out of his mouth after a violent on-court collision. As he brings the ball up the court or meanders during breaks in action or stands at the free-throw line preparing to shoot, it flops outside his mouth, jutting at a variety of angles, until action resumes and the mouthguard goes back to performing its actual, intended function. Yes, Stephen Curry is the league leader in mouthguard chewing and the accessory functions as much as an oral stress ball for him as it does a protective piece of gear.

Other players may have their tics, but they tend to appear in isolation — before shooting free-throws or upon reentering the game — rather than being as constant as Curry’s mouthguard fidgeting. It is ubiquitous. When you close your eyes and picture Curry playing, along with his dazzling dribbling and buttery smooth jump shot, images of him chewing on his mouthguard will likely pop up behind your eyelids as well. For casual fans, this may be the dominant image of him. I have been asked more than once by friends or family who do not watch basketball that much why Curry does this so much, as if for him to do it this frequently, there must be some deeper reason behind it. I have never been able to provide a satisfactory answer.

Basically, all habits have an origin story and this is Curry’s: in his junior season at Davidson, he got his lip busted open in a game against the Citadel, causing him to get seven stitches at halftime and begin to rely on a mouthguard for injury prevention and mental solace. And apparently, at least according to a Wall Street Journal piece from a few years back, it actually helps his on-court performance. During the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons, Curry “made 92% of his free throws when chewing on the mouthguard, compared to 89% when he kept the mouthguard in place.” If you’re wanting to believe it does indeed function as an actual good luck charm, here is your proof.

I think that Curry’s mouthguard fixation is so easy to focus on because it’s one of the few parts of his game and persona that does not feel smoothed over, efficient, or under control. Curry plays basketball with an easygoing subtlety that is disarming. Even as he sprints around defenders trying to free himself for an open three-pointer, there is a casualness to it, but the mouthguard belies the composure that otherwise defines him. It is the only trace of the nerves or anxiety that must come with performing at such a high level night after night.

Have you ever seen Curry launch a presumably ill-advised 3-pointer and seem concerned about whether or not he should have shot it? Make a no-look pass he was not confident would land in his teammate’s hands? He is so confident, never letting doubt shadow his features, that one could wonder if he is ever plagued by the anxieties or worries that the rest of us would feel if in his position, but the mouthguard dangling and dancing during every break in play appears to betray him.

In this light, it makes total sense that his mouthguard played a pivotal role during one of the most frustrating on-court moments of his career: fouling out at the end of Game 6 of the 2016 Finals. In exasperation, Curry yanked out his mouthguard and threw it, hitting a fan sitting courtside. It’s like it functions not only as a stress ball, relieving pressure in stressful moments, but also as a whipping boy, taking on the anger and exasperation that he is sure to feel at certain times but chooses not to convey. Unsurprisingly, in the rare moment when such feelings boil over, the mouth guard is a pivotal part of it.

Perhaps this strange juxtaposition is why Curry’s mouthguard enraptures so many, consistently drawing our eyes and attention towards it every time the Warriors play. Of course, it could be that nothing more than a strange, gross habit made notable because of Curry’s visibility and star power. No deeper meaning, just a man trying to make sure he does not have to get stitches in his mouth again. But come on, I mean, no one chews a mouth guard that much, right?