With a fast start to the new season, Atlanta Hawks guard Kyle Korver is quickly putting a troublesome 2015-16 behind him.
When at 35 years old, Kyle Korver had his worst shooting season in seven years, it was understandable that concerns would grow around the veteran’s remaining longevity.
Shooting 39.8 percent from behind the three-point line might equate to a career shooting year for many NBA players, but for an all-time great marksman like Korver, and a team heavily dependent on his contributions like the Atlanta Hawks, it was nothing short of a disaster.
The question became, not would Korver recover, but could he even do it any more?
There’s not a lot less reliable than a two game sample size, but in Korver’s case, it proves that at the very least he’s still got the gift that made him so valuable to the Hawks to begin with.
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Having come into last season recovering from dual surgeries, there were plenty of in-built excuses for why the former Creighton Blue Jay didn’t look like himself.
In a recent interview with Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the 35-year-old explained that the process last summer had been to work towards health, rather than preparing for what he needed in an NBA season.
"“I think with anything in life, when you feel prepared you are ready for it. Last year, I felt like I was working like crazy, but it was just to get back on the court in time for the season to start. We did. But I didn’t feel like me. I felt like I was thinking through things too much. Still trying to put things together even though I was healthy enough to be on the court.”"
They aren’t just empty claims or excuses from Korver either, as he looked more like his old self as the year progressed and made three percent more of his triples post All-Star Break.
A prolific worker whose trips to the P3 Sports Science facility in Santa Barbara have become almost as legendary as his underwater 5k boulder run “misogi” from a couple of summers ago, Korver refocused himself this summer with a long term view to his time remaining in the NBA.
"“I got to work this summer. I worked out two and three times a day all summer league. And I feel great. I feel ready and I feel prepared. I operated all summer with the mindset of my best basketball is in front of me. It wasn’t a couple of years ago. My best basketball is still to be played. Whether or not that happens, we’ll see.”"
While the idea of a shooter who’s famous for a tireless ability to run around screens and replicate a perfectly smooth, fast stroke playing his best basketball after the age of 35 seems laughable; Korver’s early season play should make anyone hesitant of dismissing that possibility.
Between Atlanta’s games against the Wizards and 76ers, Korver has gone 8-for-12 (66.7 percent) from the field and 4-for-7 (57.1 percent) from deep.
Not only has his shooting been exemplary, but having spent time this summer working on his ball-handling, Korver has also notched up seven assists.
The summer addition of Dwight Howard should have completely reshaped Atlanta’s style, but at the same time it also creates opportunities for elements of their tried and tested to thrive.
For someone like Korver on the perimeter, an elite low-post center inside should make the distance between him and the help defenders that little bit greater.
In a shooter of Korver’s caliber the difference between what feels like a contested and an open shot in his mind can be defined by as little as a few extra milliseconds to get the ball away. There’s a real chance that against certain matchups, Howard will offer him that luxury.
As Korver proved a thorn in the site of the Sixers on Saturday, he was, of course, facing up against the team he started his NBA career with. Prior to tip-off on the Fox Sports South broadcast, sideline reporter Andre Aldridge relayed the following anecdote.
"“Kyle told me that he loves shooting in this arena, loves coming back here, and one of the things that he remembers from his rookie season that he’s carried with him all these years is that Hall of Fame teammate Allen Iverson told him, ‘Shooters shoot. Always shoot the ball.'”"
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Korver has had little difficulty in getting shots away in the time that has passed since that conversation with Iverson, and you’d be brave to put it past him maintaining his standards for another couple of years yet.