Stephen Curry’s dazzling pregame shooting sessions have become a dynasty of their own throughout a half-decade of dominance for the Golden State Warriors. Dribbling two balls at once. Swish after swish from steps inside the half-court stripe. Gasp-worthy flings from a tunnel that leads to the bowels of Oracle Arena. As the Warriors chase a fourth championship in five seasons, Curry’s signature array of warm-up shots and tricks, and the crowds they draw, stand as basketball’s answer to a must-see round of Barry Bonds’s batting practice.

Lesser known is Curry’s routine before the routine, which he plans to uphold in every game of the N.B.A. playoffs — especially when the Warriors are on the road.

“Get off the bus, walk into the locker room, put my stuff down, go straight to the popcorn table,” Curry said.

Curry may have inherited his love of popcorn from his father, Dell Curry. Here, his bag of popcorn awaits his return in the locker room at Oracle Arena. Jason Henry for The New York Times

Wardell Stephen Curry II, you see, is a self-professed “popcorn addict.”

He is the first to concede that this disclosure clashes with the trends of an N.B.A. that has never been more health conscious. But it is the one vice that the Warriors’ offensive heartbeat regularly succumbs to, and considers an essential part of his game-night experience. “If it’s really good, I’m eating it before the game, at halftime and after,” Curry said.

Getting a prescription for contact lenses recently, after years of what he described as “blurry vision,” helped Curry shoot 47.3 percent from the 3-point line in his final 13 games this season — nearly a 5 percentage point increase over his 3-point shooting in all 56 prior games this season. Yet when asked what would play a bigger role in his postseason success — popcorn or his new contacts — Curry scuffled for an answer.

“It’s 1A and 1B,” he said.

Curry’s love of a snack synonymous with movie-watching goes “way, way back” to his youth. His father, Dell Curry, who enjoyed a 16-season career as an N.B.A. sharpshooter before becoming a broadcaster with the Charlotte Hornets, is another popcorn devotee and suspects that his eldest son inherited the addiction along with some of Dad’s marksmanship.

How Stephen Curry gets his popcorn into the locker room.

The elder Curry frequently rushes home from Hornets games to watch Stephen and his other son, Seth Curry of the Portland Trail Blazers, in their West Coast games. “It’s still my favorite snack after games,” Dell Curry said. “When I’m watching my kids, I’ve got popcorn with me.”

The difference, Dell Curry said, is that he would never have considered eating buttered-and-salted popcorn before playing an N.B.A. game. Ditto for Warriors Coach Steve Kerr, another sharpshooter from Dell Curry’s era. Over the past decade, foods commonly found at the concession stands have become taboo in N.B.A. pregame fueling. Today’s more acceptable fare: energy bars, deli meats and peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches that cover training tables in every arena.

But the green light Kerr extends to Stephen Curry, to shoot from anywhere at any time, covers his diet as well.

“Whatever he is doing, he needs to continue to do,” Kerr said. “That is my advice.”

“If it’s really good, I’m eating it before the game, at halftime and after,” Curry said. Jason Henry for The New York Times

Bruce Fraser is the Golden State assistant coach who has served as the setup man for Curry’s pregame shooting shows since Kerr became the Warriors’ coach entering the 2014-15 season. It’s Fraser’s theory, as perhaps the organization’s keenest Curry observer, that Curry’s attachment to popcorn stems from his numerous childhood trips to N.B.A. games to watch his father play.

“I would think it’s a big part of helping him feel like he’s in an arena, which for Steph is home,” Fraser said.

Curry’s popcorn devotion has grown so deep that over the past year he has proclaimed in multiple interviews that he maintained his own “power rankings” of the offerings at all 29 N.B.A. arenas. Asked by The New York Times earlier this season if he was prepared to officially compile a 1-to-29 ladder for publication, Curry not only agreed but also suggested scoring five factors on a scale of 1 to 5 to support the rankings: freshness, saltiness, crunchiness, butter and presentation.

Steph Curry Ranks the Popcorn at All 29 N.B.A. Arenas freshness saltiness crunchiness butter presentation total score Dallas Mavericks American Airlines Center 5 5 4 5 5 24 Brooklyn Nets Barclays Center 4 5 5 4 5 23 Miami Heat American Airlines Arena 5 4 4 4 5 22 Portland Trailblazers Moda Center 4 4 5 4 3 20 Sacramento Kings Golden 1 Center 2 4 4 4 5 19 Toronto Raptors Scotiabank Arena 3 4 3 4 4 18 Houston Rockets Toyota Center 3 4 3 4 4 18 Oklahoma City Thunder Chesapeake Energy Arena 4 3 4 4 3 18 Golden State Warriors Oracle Arena 2 4 5 3 4 18 New York City Knicks Madison Square Garden 3 2 4 4 4 17 Indiana Pacers Bankers Life Fieldhouse 3 3 5 4 2 17 New Orleans Pelicans Smoothie King Center 3 3 3 3 5 17 Minnesota Timberwolves Target Center 2 5 4 3 3 17 Washington Wizards Capital One Arena 4 3 3 4 3 17 Chicago Bulls United Center 3 4 3 3 3 16 Utah Jazz Vivint Smart Home Arena 2 5 4 3 2 16 Atlanta Hawks State Farm Arena 3 5 4 3 1 16 San Antonio Spurs AT&T Center 3 3 3 3 3 15 Philadelphia Sixers Wells Fargo Center 4 2 4 2 2 14 Phoenix Suns Talking Stick Resort Arena 3 3 3 3 2 14 Milwaukee Bucks Fiserv Forum 2 2 3 4 2 13 Boston Celtics TD Garden 3 3 2 3 2 13 Memphis Grizzlies FedExForum 1 4 4 3 1 13 Orlando Magic Amway Center 3 5 3 1 1 13 Denver Nuggets Pepsi Center 3 2 3 2 3 13 Cleveland Cavaliers Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse 2 4 2 2 2 12 Detroit Pistons Little Caesars Arena 1 4 2 3 2 12 Charlotte Hornets Spectrum Center 1 2 2 2 4 11 Los Angeles Clippers/Lakers Staples Center 2 1 3 1 3 10 Source: Stephen Curry

For the purity of the pastime, Curry said, he never adds anything to the popcorn to change its appearance, taste or temperature. He also said he “can visualize where the popcorn is” in any arena on the N.B.A. map.

“And then the experience comes right back,” Curry said. “It’s sick, bro. It’s a problem.”

He spoke with reverence of the dedicated case of fresh popcorn that the Dallas Mavericks had waiting for him just a quick left turn inside the visitors’ locker room at American Airlines Center on Jan. 13. Curry scored 48 points that night.

He proudly told the story of Miami Heat ball boys, at the morning shootaround on Feb. 27, assuring him that he would be “impressed by their efforts on the popcorn front” — and then being greeted later that evening by a table with popcorn bags lined up on wood planks under heat lamps.

Ethan Gold (left) and Adam Mendelson (right), two ball boys for the Pelicans, carried bags of popcorn into the locker room for Curry at a game in New Orleans. Emily Kask for The New York Times

The Warriors’ annual trip to Brooklyn is always circled on his calendar, Curry said, because of the care Matthew Horton, the 6-foot-10 visiting locker room attendant at Barclays Center known as Tiny, takes to have two servings of fresh popcorn waiting in his locker. Barclays’ popcorn finished second in Curry’s rankings, right between No. 1 Dallas and No. 3 Miami.

Although the popcorn at the New Orleans Pelicans’ Smoothie King Center landed just outside the top 10 at No. 12, Warriors staffers still talk about the trip there in Curry’s second N.B.A. season. Upon discovering an oversize bag of popcorn in the training room, Curry moved the bag to his locker and slipped his jersey over it. He was later pictured hugging the bag (without the jersey) on the locker-room floor.

“I really get off on popcorn,” Curry said. “It’s not even a joke.”

Curry’s longtime Splash Brothers backcourt mate, Klay Thompson, noticed him filling out the team-by-team popcorn ballots on a recent Warriors team flight — and found the scene completely normal. “He’s a popcorn snob,” Thompson said.

Kerr gives Curry so much latitude that, he insisted, he was unaware of his star guard’s popcorn habits until a reporter told him. Yet they are a mild source of strain between Curry and the Warriors’ athletic training staff, because popcorn is not a food item approved of or made available for the team at large before home games.

Curry is thus forced to take special measures upon arrival at Oracle Arena on game nights. His go-to move is checking in with the security guard Norm Davis, who is stationed at the door to the Warriors’ inner sanctum, and asking Davis if he’s “got some of that good stuff.” Davis will then send Dwight Pruitt, another security guard, to the nearby owner’s suite to get a freshly popped bag.

The teams the Warriors play on the road, by contrast, never create such a struggle. “They want us to fatten up a little before the game,” Curry said.

Curry knows he shouldn’t be eating as much popcorn as he does, which is why he forces himself to restrict his consumption at home. He described movie popcorn as “the GOAT” but said he permits himself to go to the theaters only “about four times a year.”

Stephen Curry’s Dallas Popcorn Ballot

Of course, when you’ve helped lead your team to three titles in four seasons while winning two Most Valuable Player Awards and becoming one of the most popular players on the planet like Curry has, you have the juice to get away with some things average players don’t. Curry was awarded a four-year, $201 million maximum contract by the Warriors in July 2017 — without any popcorn restrictions.

“That would be a non-starter,” Curry said. “They just know it’s not a conversation worth having.”

“I down it with water — lots and lots of water,” Curry added, wearing the mischievous look of one of his daughters pleading for a later bedtime. “It’s not overwhelming at all. I have a high tolerance for popcorn.”

Curry does not always get his way when it comes to his favorite treat. At the 2018 All-Star Game in Los Angeles at Staples Center — home to what Curry, by the way, ranks as the league’s most unappetizing popcorn — he was caught on camera on the bench in the third quarter munching on a fresh batch out of a box. “The powers that be came and took it out of my hand,” Curry said, referring to two league officials who told him it was a bad look amid live play to be eating popcorn — even during a game that doesn’t count.

Curry’s devotion to popcorn goes so deep that he can rank the offerings at all of the N.B.A. arenas. Even an interview with ESPN’s Marc Spears, right, can’t stop him. Jason Henry for The New York Times

Yet resistance to such optics may be softening. Dr. Andy Barr, who founded California-based Innovate Performance after stints on the athletic training staffs of the Knicks and New York City F.C. of Major League Soccer, noted that the psychological benefits Curry gains from a snack he enjoys so much could well offset any physiological concerns.

“If that’s the routine and you can’t question the performance, there’s no harm in it,” Barr said. “Popcorn is light. It’s salty, but it’s not a heavy substance. It’s more about the quantity and if he’s well hydrated.

“If there was an issue with performance or diet relating to body composition or an energy problem, then maybe you would take some issue with it. But it can’t all be straight performance food. With the grind of an N.B.A. season, sometimes you have to have a little bit of lenience with things.”

Said Curry: “I consider it a factor in my overall enjoyment of playing in a road environment. If your popcorn is bad, it affects my mood.”

Told that it sounds as though popcorn should actually be classified as his favorite food, Curry said: “I know I can’t live off it. But yeah.”