Stephen Curry
Curry Informational Essay
Have you ever heard of the point guard, for the Golden State Warriors, Stephen Curry? Curry was born on March 14, 1988 in Akron, Ohio. When Curry was young, his family moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, as his dad played for the Charlotte Hornets. Steph had a young brother, Seth, they grew up together around basketball, playing in the backyard and on the court before games. Then Curry's dad, Dell, moved to Toronto, Canada, to finish his NBA Career. Curry grew up around basketball his whole life and has had many ups and downs in his career, in this article, our goal is to educate you on them.
Early Basketball Life
Curry lived in Charlotte but did not have much of a basketball career there because he was so young. He started playing in middle school when he moved to Toronto because of his dad, "He was registered at Queensway Christian School which was in the back of an old church, there he played floor hockey, indoor soccer, volleyball, and basketball”[1]. He led his middle school to destroy every team and lead them to an undefeated season, after staying in Toronto for a short while, his family moved back to Charlotte and attended Charlotte Christian School. In high school Curry struggled wanting to shoot the ball because he thought it was too selfish. “In high school, his coaches begged him to shoot more. Shonn Brown, the head coach at Charlotte Christian, is convinced Curry could’ve averaged thirty per game. But shooting too much felt selfish” (Pg 32). After high school Curry was not recruited by many high-level colleges, so he chose to bring his talents to Davidson College. Curry in his sophomore year of college, Curry started to show his potential as a basketball player, that's why they began to call him the Baby-Faced Assassin. “That persona grew in the 2008 NCAA tournament. As a sophomore, Curry took over in the second half of the first-round game against seventh-seeded Gonzaga. He scored 30 of his 40 points to lead No. 10 Davidson in the upset. He hit the game-winning 3 with a minute left and pointed to his parents in the crowd as he backpedaled on defense” [2]. After that game, he led his underdog team to beat the number 2 team and the number 3 team to lead them to the Elite Eight. He almost beat the number 1 team but, struggled shooting, which ended his March Madness run.
Struggles as a Point Guard
When Curry first came into the league, many people questioned whether he would be a point guard or a shooting guard. Although many NBA experts and analysts were sure Curry didn’t have the right skill set to be a great point guard, from the start Curry was focused on proving he was destined to be one of the best point guards in the league. “Point guards tend to be physically imposing in some way or another---with quickness, explosiveness, strength, height. Most of all, even the ones who aren’t physically gifted impose traditional point guard strengths: court vision, basketball IQ, and leadership. They control their team with a unique instinct and understanding of the game, being an extension of the coach on the court and playing chess while other players dabble in checkers. Their control is unmistakable. The best ones combine their physical attributes with their cerebral game.” [3]. Curry wasn’t a domineering leader in his rookie seasons, he wasn’t that much of a floor general, or physically imposing. His assist-to-turnover ratio was never great either, but what Curry lacked in those “standard point guard attributes” he made up for in lethal shooting. Curry is the best shooter the league has ever seen, with his unlimited range and insane shots that would be considered ill-advised by others. “Little guys succeeding in the NBA is by no means new. But the novelty is in a little guy taking over the league … He isn’t freakishly athletic in the traditional sense. He isn’t a jumping blazing-fast muscle-bound anomaly. He represents everyone small in stature yet has the biggest of dreams. Curry is proof regular packages can be extraordinary gifts.” [4]. Even with his extreme shooting abilities, Curry has needed to prove himself in many cases, most importantly the questioning of his point guard abilities. In every one of these cases, he has proved himself worthy of being top 10 in history.
Having Fun on the Court
Curry is a great player on the court. He loves having fun playing basketball, as well as being able to lock in. Curry is always joking around with his teammates on and off the court. Curry has never lost joy in the game. “Many NBA players don’t love the game. They lost the joy as teens when their potential transitioned from basketball from a game to a career. They endure the process in exchange for the bounty. They labor through practice, grind through the schedule, and struggle to put in the extra work necessary because that’s how the checks keep coming. But Curry is a different breed. He finds practice fun. Off-season workouts are a welcome escape from the bustle of stardom. And games, he lives for those"[5]. Curry, although sometimes doesn’t have fun, he can get a little angry and do bad things. "It’s rare Curry does this, but it happens to everybody. He took out his mouthpiece and fired it like he was trying to throw out a runner at the plate … but this time, Curry’s mouthpiece went toward the crowd. It hit a fan sitting court side right in the face as he cheered Curry’s disqualification … It was a rare meltdown, but one that gave validation to his critics.” [6]. Curry will always find a way to have some fun on the court. “See, Steph is the excitable, intense, competitive kid-at-heart who wears his emotions on his sleeve. He is a guy chewing his mouthpiece, taking trick shots, and doing the salsa on the bench in honor of his Brazilian teammate’s highlights. He is the person that revels in the challenge of breaking down the defense, enjoys heated battles with fellow stats around the league, and punches his head after a dumb mistake.”[7]
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Rookie Seasons in the NBA
Although everyone knows Curry as one of the best shooters in history, it hasn’t always been like that. “Curry didn’t always wield his 3-point prowess with the Warriors. Though he shot 43.9 percent from deep, he only took 380 3s in his rookie season … Curry didn’t have the freedom, initially. He hit the all-star break of the 2009-10 season, making fewer than two of his four 3-point attempts per game. His attempts were mostly of a catch-and-shoot variety. But after the all-star break, with star guard Monta Ellis out with an injury and coach Don Nelson giving the reins of the team to the rookie, Curry offered a glimpse of what was to come. With the ball in his hands, he lit up the second half of the season. After the break, he averaged 22.1 points and 7.7 assists before all-star. And part of the boost in his production was his 3-point shooting. Curry made 2.7 of his six 3s per game after the break.” [8]. Coming out of Davidson as a rookie Curry wasn’t the blazing phenom yet, but after his rookie, season when Monta Ellis left, he was then able to take hold of the team and become the Curry we know and love today.
| Year | Finals | MVPs |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Win | League MVP |
| 2016 | Loss | League MVP |
| 2017 | Win | None |
| 2018 | Win | None |
| 2022 | Win | Finals MVP |
NBA Career and Achievements
Curry has had many Achievements in his career including, 4 NBA finals championships and a finals MVP to go with one of the championships. He has also won two NBA MVPs in the 2014-15 season and the 2015-16 season. He has also had many great achievements and honors off the court. “When the All-Star game rolled around in 2016, Curry was on top of the league… Days after winning the title, Curry led boxer Andre Ward’s entourage into the ring for his fight at Oracle Arena … Curry golfed with President Barack Obama, who previously invited Curry to the White House in February 2015 to discuss his work with malaria” [9]. There is one Achievement that Curry is not proud of. In the 2016 finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers when the Warriors were up 3-1 in the series, all they had to do was win one out of the next three games. They lost the next two, and the series became tied at 3-3. In Game 7, with 2 minutes left, the score was tied and the Warriors had a fast break Curry passed it to Andre Iguodala, it looked like he was going to score, then Iguodala went up and got a block to LeBron James, and that fueled the Cavs to win the game. That was the first time in NBA history a team was leading 3-1 and lost. Although he lost the finals, that didn’t stop him from winning and scoring the rest of his career … Over his career, his stats are 24.7 PPG 4.7 RPG 6.4 APG shooting 47.1% from the field, 42.3% from behind the arc, and 91.1% from the line. Curry broke one outstanding record in 2021 when he made his 2,974 three, breaking the record previously held by Ray Allen. Curry has broken many records and will still break a few more records before his career ends.
References
1. Kelderman,Walker (2025) Wikieditor.
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