https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/warriors/article/stephen-curry-tiffany-williams-17489658.php

The countdown began in late August. As Stephen Curry shuttled between promo shoots, basketball camps, charity golf tournaments and a host of other obligations, he would turn to Tiffany Williams with some variation of the same reminder: We’re almost there.

“There,” Williams understood, was the start of Golden State Warriors training camp on Sept. 24. But it wasn’t just that Curry was excited to defend his latest NBA title. After several months filled with numerous obligations and little routine, he was eager for the season’s built-in structure: practices, team flights, familiar hotels.

“My offseasons are so chaotic,” Curry told The Chronicle. “I can’t wait for training camp so things start calming down.”

Tiffany Williams poses with Stephen Curry and the 2017-18 Larry O'Brien NBA Championship Trophy.
Tiffany Williams poses with Stephen Curry and the 2017-18 Larry O'Brien NBA Championship Trophy.

Tiffany Williams/SC30
As Curry’s celebrity has grown, so have his off-court responsibilities. His schedule this past summer was rife with 12-hour workdays spanning everything from brainstorming with CEOs of Fortune 500 companies to hosting the ESPY Awards.

Williams shepherded him through it all. As chief operations officer of Curry’s SC30 Inc., she oversees the five companies that comprise his business empire. This leaves Williams with the tricky task of managing her world-famous boss’s day-to-day itinerary.

If you’ve ever wondered how Curry manages to be so ubiquitous on TV and the internet, on billboards and in personal appearances, just know that Williams was somewhere close by. She’s behind the camera for almost every video or photo, coordinating with his other handlers, screening his endorsement requests, peppering him with encouraging words — whatever he might need.

“She’s absolutely essential,” Curry said. “This whole thing doesn’t happen without her.”

And he isn’t just referencing his business interests. By ensuring Curry can spend his time efficiently, Williams allows him to maximize his off-court reach without hurting his on-court performance.

Every year, she gives Curry a March deadline to have planned all his offseason vacations. Then, as Curry turns his focus toward the playoffs, Williams begins filling out his summer schedule.

It helps that she has a keen grasp of his work habits. Curry prefers to cram as much as possible into three- or four-day periods.

Tiffany Williams, chief operations officer for SC30 Inc. and vice president of operations for AC Brands, works in her office on Sept. 23 in San Francisco. The Benicia High graduate who attended San Jose State went from being a front desk receptionist for the Golden State Warriors to working exclusively with Stephen and Ayesha Curry within a few years.
Tiffany Williams, chief operations officer for SC30 Inc. and vice president of operations for AC Brands, works in her office on Sept. 23 in San Francisco. The Benicia High graduate who attended San Jose State went from being a front desk receptionist for the Golden State Warriors to working exclusively with Stephen and Ayesha Curry within a few years.

Yalonda M. James, Staff / The Chronicle
Take the second week of August. After hosting his elite high school basketball camp in San Francisco on Saturday, he flew to Louisville for brother-in-law Damion Lee’s charity golf tournament Sunday and Monday, then jetted back across the country late Monday night for a hectic Tuesday in Los Angeles: a morning workout, an autograph signing, a meeting with NBC, a basketball court unveiling with Snoop Dogg, a Dodgers game with sponsors.

When he finally touched down in San Francisco again, it was around 3 a.m. on Wednesday — just eight hours before his next scheduled workout. At each of these intense sessions, Curry executes detail-oriented drills for at least two hours designed to improve his performance under extreme fatigue, fine tune his balance and broaden an already-expansive arsenal of moves..

Though Curry prefers to exercise in the morning, he will get up shots at night if that’s all his schedule permits. On a Monday in late August, after an all-day golf fundraiser at Stanford with his Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation, he sneaked in a long evening workout before waking up early to work out again.

Then Curry was off to San Francisco’s TPC Harding Park for the final leg of his Underrated Golf Tour. After posing for pictures with 26 athletes from Black and brown communities, he caught a red-eye flight to Charlotte, where he was honored at his alma mater, Davidson College, with a jersey retirement, an induction into the school’s Hall of Fame and a belated graduation ceremony.

Last season, while playing at an MVP level and eventually leading the Warriors to their fourth NBA title in eight years, Curry completed a research paper on tattoos (the final requirement for a 300-level sociology class), a senior thesis and an independent study project to earn his bachelor’s degree in sociology. Williams coordinated with Davidson athletic director Chris Clunie to map out an academic plan that fit his schedule.

“He’s at his best when he’s operating in the chaos,” Williams said. “I guess we’re both like that. When things are too calm, that’s boring.”

The key thing for Williams is making sure Curry has time for what matters most to him. Even amid what he called the “craziest offseason” of his life, he squeezed in a weeklong anniversary trip to the south of France with his wife, Ayesha; a 13-day family vacation; and a quick visit to Ireland, where Ayesha was filming a Netflix romantic comedy with Lindsay Lohan.

Curry’s star turn at the ESPYs in late July only happened because he had already planned to be in Los Angeles to take his daughter, Ryan, to Disneyland for her 7th birthday. He filmed promos for the ESPYs that Sunday, rehearsed at the Dolby Theatre Monday, took Tuesday off for his other daughter, Riley’s 10th birthday, then hosted the ESPYs Wednesday.

Through it all, Curry never missed his daily workout. His Charlotte-based trainer, Brandon Payne, finds gyms for them wherever his prized client’s schedule might necessitate.

“The reality is that (Steph’s) a bit of a superhuman, and we all sort of know it,” said Erick Peyton, co-founder of Curry’s production company, Unanimous Media. “What amazes me the most about SC is his genuine ability to focus on what’s right in front of him.

“When he’s in a development meeting for Unanimous, he is all in on that development meeting. When he is on the practice court, that has all of his focus. He’s truly invested in whatever he’s doing.”

Stephen Curry and Tiffany Williams, center, talk to SC30 photographer Khristopher “Squint” Sandifer, left, about a book he gave Williams during Warriors media day at Chase Center in San Francisco on Sept. 25.
Stephen Curry and Tiffany Williams, center, talk to SC30 photographer Khristopher “Squint” Sandifer, left, about a book he gave Williams during Warriors media day at Chase Center in San Francisco on Sept. 25.

Carlos Avila Gonzalez, Staff Photographer / The Chronicle
Williams has worked with Curry for well more than a decade. Aside from the occasional sick day, she can’t remember him ever canceling something on his schedule because he didn’t feel up to it.

Last December, after breaking Ray Allen’s record for the most made 3-pointers in NBA history, Curry celebrated with friends and family in New York City until about 4 a.m. Three hours later, as his teammates slept in on a rare off day, he arrived at a Manhattan studio for an eight-hour commercial shoot with Subway.

“He didn’t seem tired or anything,” Williams said. “He was ready to go, like nothing had happened.”

It helps that Curry is a master power-napper. Williams said he often nods off for 10-20 minutes while riding in the backseat between appearances, just enough rest to keep him fresh and energetic.

Though Curry concedes that he sometimes wakes up not wanting to deal with all his off-court obligations, he said he tries to maintain perspective. There are far bigger problems than having to meet with corporate sponsors, shoot ads or make public appearances for lucrative paydays.

“When you explain that I had just played an NBA basketball game, then I had to go shoot a commercial, it doesn’t really sound the same as, ‘I had to work the graveyard shift,’” Curry said. “There are real, hard things that people have to go through all the time, so I hesitate complaining about anything I have to do.

“If you had told me 20 years ago I’d think about complaining about that, I’d be laughing to myself.”

Tiffany Williams, right, chats with Antjuan Lambert, as she waits for Stephen Curry during Warriors media day at Chase Center in San Francisco on Sept.. 25.
Tiffany Williams, right, chats with Antjuan Lambert, as she waits for Stephen Curry during Warriors media day at Chase Center in San Francisco on Sept.. 25.

Carlos Avila Gonzalez, Staff Photographer / The Chronicle
Not long ago, the notion of Curry running a massive corporation and netting $30 million a year in endorsements would have seemed fanciful. Early in his career, as ankle issues plagued him and critics doubted his upside, he didn’t have a single sponsor.

When he started to build a global following and win NBA MVP awards, he knew he wanted autonomy over his off-court business portfolio. In 2017, Curry founded SC30 Inc. and hired Williams, a longtime Warriors employee, to help him manage it.

“I’ve never once had a problem created by Tiffany,” Curry said. “She’s the one putting out the fires instead of creating any type of drama or extra work. She’s just always two steps ahead.”