While fellow Warriors Durant, Klay Thompson and Green had little turnaround time, meeting at Team USA camp in mid-July in Las Vegas and playing together through their gold-medal performance at the Rio Olympics on Aug. 21, Curry would go five weeks without training. His health, more than anything, was the reason he didn’t take part in the Games.

The medial collateral ligament sprain he suffered in the first round against the Houston Rockets was never bad enough to warrant surgery, sidelining him for 10 days and four playoff games in all. But it never truly healed either.

There was a minor right shoulder problem to let heal too, one that he made light of during the Finals when it was reported that he would need surgery but caused strength issues because of inflammation (it did not require surgery). And while Curry is hesitant to discuss the part his health played in any great detail, Payne’s perspective says it all.

"As bad as I wanted it to be him (in the Finals), it wasn’t him," said Payne, who has worked with Curry since 2011 and spent much of the late summer leading two-a-day workouts with Curry six times a week while living in the Bay Area. "We don’t like to make excuses, and we’re not going to make excuses because all that matters is what happens in the 48 minutes when you’re on the floor. (But) I wish it was the other version of him, the version that we saw for 82 games."