ORLANDO (Florida) • The phone rang on Sunday night with a giddy Stephen Curry on the other end of the line.

The most renowned long-distance shooter in basketball was driving home from what he described as a true bucket-list experience.

Curry followed the last three groups at last weekend's PGA Championship from the best vantage point he could have imagined for such a prestigious event.

"Right on the ropes," he said. "You almost forgot it was a Major because it was so quiet out there."

Curry was among the select few who had the juice to gain entry to TPC Harding Park in San Francisco when it was closed to the public.

It was not terribly surprising given that he has led the Golden State Warriors to three championships in the past five years, winning back-to-back National Basketball Association (NBA) Most Valuable Player Awards.

That the experience was such a pinch-me scenario for him should also be understandable by now; Curry openly loves golf as much as he relishes uncorking three-pointers.

Yet these are also strange times for the six-time All-Star. It was an escape from the constant reminders that he and the Warriors are somehow irrelevant in the NBA for now.

"Obviously, I was happy to see basketball back on TV, but that first week I had major Fomo," Curry said, using the popular term "fear of missing out".

"Once you see 'Bron and Kawhi and PG (Paul George) go at it, and you remember how much fun it is to play in those types of games and that kind of level, you miss it badly," he added, referring to the July 30 showdown between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers - the day when the NBA resumed after a four-month plus coronavirus-enforced break.

The Warriors were one of eight teams - christened the "Delete Eight" - who were not invited to participate in the restart here at Disney World.

After Curry broke his left hand in October, Golden State went 15-50 this regular season and, truthfully, did not warrant an invitation.

The team was already bracing for a tough year without Klay Thompson, who tore his anterior cruciate ligament during last year's Finals.

But Warrior officials believe the longer-than-usual rest that Curry, Thompson and Draymond Green are getting will help vault them back to their usual standing among the elite next season.

Their consecutive Finals appearances from 2015-19 amounted to a grind unseen since the reign of the 1960s Boston Celtics.

It is bizarre to see players and staff members from 22 teams moving throughout the sprawling NBA campus at Disney World - and to never see anyone in Warriors gear.

The franchise that lorded over the league for the better part of a decade has zero presence in the "bubble".

The struggle to process that dichotomy hits Curry every time he visits the Warriors' practice facility for a weekday workout.

Only four players are allowed in the gym at any time, for precautionary health reasons but games from the bubble are always on the nearest television screen, even if he is getting work done in the morning.

"It's just weird," the 32-year-old point guard said. Yet he is convinced that the Warriors have a big rebound in store, even though he and his All-Star teammates - Thompson and Green are 30 - are not getting any younger.

He is adamant that Golden State - with the former No. 1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins on their roster and a top-five draft pick to keep or trade this year - are the one team who would surely benefit from going nine months, or potentially longer, without playing a meaningful game.

"Our roster kind of speaks for itself in terms of what me, Klay and Draymond have been through, and what we've got left in the tank," he said. "But it's on us to use this time wisely. It's just uncharted territory, whether you're in the bubble or not."

To cope with the Fomo, Curry revealed that he relies on all the bonus family time he is getting with his wife, Ayesha, and their three children, business endeavours and then special occasions like Sunday's PGA outing.

Since it remains unclear when next season will start, he is settling into "pure fandom". He noted: "I think it's a pretty good space to be in after what we've been through the last five years."

NYTIMES