MILWAUKEE — Kyle Korver watched the 2003 N.B.A. draft from his dorm room at Creighton University, where he was joined by friends and a television news crew that hovered in the doorway. LeBron James, as expected, went No. 1 to the Cleveland Cavaliers, but then the night began to drag for Korver. He began to wonder if he would even get picked.
Korver finally went 51st over all, to the New Jersey Nets, who made the selection during a commercial break and immediately sold his rights to the Philadelphia 76ers.
From those humble beginnings, Korver has crafted a remarkably productive career. Seventeen seasons later, he is still playing, still shooting and still chasing his first N.B.A. championship — a dream that seems as realistic as ever as a 3-point specialist who comes off the bench for the Eastern Conference-leading Milwaukee Bucks.
Korver, 38, who now ranks fourth in career 3-pointers behind Ray Allen, Reggie Miller and Stephen Curry, sat down recently to talk about his career; about playing alongside stars like James, Derrick Rose and now Giannis Antetokounmpo; about raising three children with his wife, Juliet; about retirement; and about his choice of footwear.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Q. You told me last year that you felt better physically than you did at the start of your career, in large part because you knew how to take better care of your body. Is that still the case?
A. I think you measure a lot of it based on pain: Do you hurt as much as you hurt last year? When you get out of bed in the morning, or when you first step onto the court for practice and take a couple of shots: How much do I hurt right now? You have this pain tracker in your head. But, yeah, I think I’m about the same as I was last year, and maybe even better because I was a little beat up toward the end of last year. But the challenge, as you get older, is that there’s more responsibility in life. You’ve got kids and you’ve got to be a dad and you’ve got to wrestle and tickle and play games and all that stuff. You don’t get to sleep until 10 o’clock anymore.
With that in mind, do you find road trips to be easier on your professional life?
I go on the road and sleep. That’s just when you catch up. I can go and turn my air conditioning all the way down without anyone being upset about it being too cold, and I can pull down the blackout shades and get some room service and just sleep.
You’ve been a part of some really good teams. Do the Bucks share any similarities to those teams?
I do think every team is unique. But I feel like this team is more like the Bulls teams that I was on. There are a lot of similarities between Giannis and Derrick [Rose] in that they both just love the game and love to work, and they’re gym rats who accept coaching. They’re just, ‘Tell me what to do, and I’ll do it as hard as I can to the best of my ability.’ There’s a humility to them both, and that sets the tone for the rest of the team.
We’ve seen Giannis progress every season he’s been in the league, and now we’re seeing him become a more proficient 3-point shooter. Have you been working with him at all?
We all talk, but I think Ben Sullivan, one of our assistant coaches, has done a great job with him. One of the worst things you can do with a guy is put too many voices in his head. You want to give him the same vocabulary, the same thoughts. So any thoughts I have, I’ll usually go to Ben. But Giannis just keeps getting better. He works and he wants it. He’s fearless. Like, I’ve watched him have a tough trip to the free-throw line, and he’ll get the ball on the next possession and he’s going to shoot a 3. He’s going to show everyone. Sometimes it works out, and sometimes it doesn’t. But he just has that mentality: ‘I’m working, and I’m going to prove to everyone that I want this.’
I’ve noticed you’re wearing Giannis’s sneakers this season. How did that come about?
You always try out everyone’s shoe, and I am so far beyond what my shoe looks like. I just want my feet to not hurt. I’m all about performance, and he is, too. I don’t know if you know the story behind his shoe, but he had a pair of shoes that he loved, and he brought them to Nike and he told them, ‘I want you to make a new model of this. I like how these feel on my feet.’ And I tried them this summer, and I loved them. I don’t want to deal with nagging foot stuff.
You have a one-year deal with the Bucks. Are people asking about your future?
It’s a year-by-year thing. There are so many factors that go in to it now. You want to go out on your own terms. You don’t want to go out because your body quit on you or because you broke down and can’t play anymore. And that all sounds really good, but it’s another thing to say, “this is it” — to make that choice. Because that is a thing. This is something you’ve done your whole life. But I have young kids; it’s not like I’m going to stop playing basketball and think my glory days are done. I’m excited about the rest of my life.
Would winning a championship figure into your decision about whether to return?
Man, I hate putting pressure on something like that. But winning a championship is the first thing I ever wanted in the N.B.A., and now it’s the last thing. Because it’s still something that I haven’t been able to be a part of.
You came into the league the same year as LeBron. What are your impressions of what he’s doing this season?
It’s amazing. I won’t say I’m surprised, because if you spend any time around him and you see how he works and how he takes care of himself, you just see that he has a body that recovers like no one else’s. He is uniquely gifted in a lot of ways, and he’s just so strong and resilient. Giannis has similar qualities: They both have a youthful energy — a playful, childlike energy. Giannis can run all over the place, and he’s the first guy here for practice, shooting baskets. LeBron is the same way. His energy well is so deep. It’s like when you watch your kids play: “How are you still going?”
