Home » Misc » How did stephen curry become a basketball player
How did stephen curry become a basketball player
Stephen Curry | Biography & Facts
Stephen Curry
See all media
Born:
March 14, 1988 (age 34) Akron Ohio
Awards And Honors:
Most Valuable Player
See all related content →
Stephen Curry, in full Wardell Stephen Curry II, byname Steph, (born March 14, 1988, Akron, Ohio, U.S.), American professional basketball player who led the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA) to championships in 2014–15, 2016–17, 2017–18, and 2021–22 and to the best regular-season record in league history (73–9) in 2015–16.
Curry grew up immersed in basketball as the son of 16-year NBA veteran sharpshooter Dell Curry. The younger Curry learned the intricacies of the game from his father. His keen shooting and high “basketball IQ” were not enough to persuade college coaches to overlook his wiry frame and unremarkable 6-foot (1. 8-metre) height. He did not receive scholarship offers from major college basketball programs and attended Davidson (North Carolina) College, which had an enrollment of fewer than 2,000 students. He quickly made his mark, however, averaging 21.5 points per game as a freshman to lead all first-year players in the country. Curry became a national sensation during his sophomore season, when he led 10th-seeded Davidson on an improbable run to the Elite Eight of the National Collegiate Athletic Association men’s top-division basketball championship tournament in a performance that featured what would soon be recognized as his signature shot: a three-pointer from well outside the line. His junior season did not feature any such postseason heroics, but his average of 28.6 points per game led the country, and he was named a consensus first-team All-American. He then entered the 2009 NBA draft, in which he was selected by the Warriors with the seventh overall pick.
Britannica Quiz
I Am the Greatest (Athlete)
The greatest of all time. Top of their sports. How well do you know them?
Curry made an immediate impact with the Warriors, becoming the team’s starting point guard and averaging 17.5 points per game in his first season. A series of ankle sprains led to Curry’s playing just 26 games in the 2011–12 season, and he underwent off-season ligament surgery. He then signed a modest four-year $44 million contract extension that allowed Golden State to surround its budding star with other talented players. Curry led the league in three-pointers made (272) in 2012–13. The following season he repeated that feat (with 261) and earned his first All-Star selection. In 2014–15 he made a then-record 286 three-pointers while leading the Warriors to an NBA-best 67–15 record and was named the league’s Most Valuable Player (MVP). In the following postseason, Curry propelled the Warriors to the franchise’s first title in 40 years over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Curry led his team to even greater heights in 2015–16, as Golden State bested the 1995–96 Chicago Bulls’ 72–10 regular-season record by one additional victory. He also topped the NBA with an average of 30.1 points per game and shattered his own league standard by making an astounding 402 three-point shots. Curry earned his second consecutive MVP award for his efforts and became the first person to be voted MVP unanimously. However, the Warriors’ historic season ultimately ended in shocking disappointment as the team surrendered a 3–1 NBA finals lead to the Cavaliers.
In 2016–17 Curry led the NBA in three-point field goals made (324) for a fifth straight season as the Warriors again led the NBA in wins (67). Golden State then ran off an unprecedented 12 straight victories to open the postseason and won a third consecutive Western Conference title. The Warriors finally had a postseason loss in game four of the NBA finals, but the team rebounded to defeat the Cavaliers in five games to capture Curry’s second NBA title.
A knee injury limited Curry to 51 games during the 2017–18 regular season, ending his five-year run as the league leader in three-point field goals attempted and made. He returned during the second round of the playoffs to help the Warriors win their fourth consecutive conference championship and third NBA title (in a four-game sweep of the Cavaliers). Curry continued his dazzling play in 2018–19, averaging 27.3 points per game and earning first-team All-NBA honours. In the playoffs, he guided an injury-plagued Warriors team to a fifth straight conference title, the most in a row since the NBA instituted conferences in 1970–71. However, additional injuries and inspired play by the opposing Toronto Raptors led to a six-game Golden State loss in the finals. The Warriors entered the 2019–20 season shorthanded after losing fellow All-Stars Kevin Durant (departure via free agency) and Klay Thompson (season-ending injury during the 2019 finals). Curry himself played in just five games during that campaign after breaking his hand early in the season, which led to the Warriors having a league-worst record. Curry returned to form and had a fantastic 2020–21 season, leading the NBA with 32 points per game, but the team missed the playoffs despite having a winning record. In December 2021 Curry made yet another mark in the NBA history books by scoring his 2,974th career three-pointer, breaking the NBA record for all-time three-point field goals scored. Following another season-ending injury in 2020, Thompson rejoined the team in 2021–22 and helped the Warriors finally return to form, as Golden State won 53 games and qualified for the postseason. There, the team—and Curry—regained their dominance, losing just six games during the NBA playoffs to win a fourth title during Curry’s era, and he was named finals MVP after scoring 31.2 points per game during the six-game series win over the Boston Celtics.
Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now
Adam Augustyn
USA Basketball - Before They Made It: Stephen Curry
(Note: This is an updated version of a story that was first published on USAB.com last March.)
Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry has three gold medals under his belt as a member of USA Basketball, first as a member of the USA U19 National Team at the 2007 Global Games, then in 2010 with the USA Basketball Men’s National Team at the FIBA World Championship and most recently as a member of the 2014 USA World Cup Championship Team.
When Stephen was a kid, it didn’t hurt that his father, Dell Curry, was himself a professional basketball player. But having a dad who played 16 seasons in the NBA doesn’t guarantee anything – especially if you are smaller and maybe not as athletic as others. According to Dell, who was with the Charlotte Hornets when Stephen was a child, Stephen became the NBA star he is today because he was a student of the game and he worked at it as hard as he could.
Now a six-year NBA veteran, Stephen was named the 2014-15 NBA MVP. Dell, who is a broadcaster for the Charlotte Bobcats, took time out to tell us more about Stephen’s early basketball experiences:
USA Basketball: What was Stephen like as a child?
Dell Curry: He was energetic, always paid attention to what was going on, eager to learn. He tried several different sports, not just basketball. He played football, baseball, a little soccer. He was always very intuitive of what was going on around him. He just soaked it all up.
He was a very good baseball player, then he found golf. He must have hit a really good golf shot when he was playing a round with me and decided that’s the way he wanted to go. He used to play golf with me when he was 6 or 7. I had a putter cut down and I’d take him with me. He’d ride in the cart, watch us play, and then when we got to the green he’d chip and putt.
USA Basketball:How did he become active in the sport and develop his skills?
Dell: I guess we started him probably when he was 6 or 7, in a rec league. He had been around it his whole life, obviously, with me playing in the NBA, so it was nothing new to him. But he started at a very young age and we just tried to make sure he got the proper skill set, the proper teaching of skills and fundamentals so that he grew and developed his game. He knew how to play and learned about the game and knew how to develop his skills and how to go about working at it.
USA Basketball:When did you realize Stephen had what it takes to play at a high level?
Dell: It depends on what level you’re talking about. He always had good ball-handling abilities and could shoot the ball. He was always the smallest kid on every team he played, but he was one of the hardest workers. So I would say it was the opportunity to play high school and be a pretty good player there. By the time he was in high school, I could tell he’d play in college somewhere. And then his college coach, Bob McKillop, told me after his very first tournament at Davidson College that he would be a pro player.
It wasn’t something that we saw right away. Working at his game and developing, we had an idea he could continue to go from level to level. But you never know as a young kid how far he’ll go – whether he’ll stay interested, whether he’ll continue to work, whether he’ll get burned out. There’s a lot of factors that go into what level he’ll be able to get to.
USA Basketball:As a kid, what challenges did he have to overcome?
Dell: Learning how to play without being the most athletically gifted or biggest guy. Being around NBA players really helped him because it taught him the game. He was at all the practices. He watched and learned how to play the game the right way, how to use his teammates. There was a process. Being around guys that you see are the best in the world really helps youngsters stay positive about the game. And it tells them that if they do love the game and they work at it they can reach new levels.
USA Basketball:What advice do you have for the parents of young basketball players?
Dell: Just be supportive. Don’t push because that will take the fun out of a game. If your son or daughter decides to play a sport, try to give them as many resources as you can for them to be the best they can at it. I’ve told my kids, you can play any sport you want, but once you decide to play you’re going to give it your all, 100 percent. Because if you don’t, it’s going to reflect on you and your team. Don’t try to live your dreams through your child because it’s not going to work. It will only last for so long and then other problems will come. Just be as supportive as you can and give them as many resources as you can to develop their game and be as good as they can be at their sport.
Stephen Curry - biography, personal life, photo, news, height, statistics, sneakers, music video, basketball player, weight 2022
Biography
Stephen Curry is an American professional league basketball player. Sport since childhood was his element and natural environment thanks to his parents. Not surprisingly, Stephen showed unusual talent, becoming a rare and very valuable player - a "three-point star".
Childhood and youth
Stephen was born March 14, 1988 in Akron, Ohio, but spent his childhood in Charlotte, North Carolina. He, along with his younger brother, often attended home games of the local basketball team, the Charlotte Hornets, for which their father played. Before the start of the match, Stephen and Seth always had time to practice on the professional court.
His parents immediately understood that Stephen's biography would be connected with basketball. The boy was born into the family of professional basketball player Della Curry, who had been an NBA player for 16 years. Another harbinger of future success, perhaps, was the fact that Stephen was born in the same maternity ward as his older friend LeBron James, and even the same nurse took delivery.
Having completed his career, the sportsman's father became a commentator on the games of the Charlotte Hornets team. Stephen's mother, Sonya, was a member of the Virginia Tech volleyball team. Therefore, the sports spirit was passed on to children with genes.
Sonya organized a Montessori school for both boys. After her, Stephen continued his studies at the Charlotte School, where he was the soul of the company and an activist. He became a player on the local basketball team and represented it at the state championship. The team was lucky enough to reach the playoffs three times.
After receiving a certificate, Curry planned to enter the university where his mother studied, but the university did not offer a scholarship to the aspiring athlete. Davidson College turned out to be more circumspect. In the basketball team of this educational institution, Curry played 104 matches and won the title of the best rookie.
Basketball
In 2008, Stephen Curry was named to the US Collegiate Championship Second All-Star Team. In 2009, he managed to move to the first team. The young man cherished the hope of becoming a professional basketball player. He had to miss his last year of college. The reward for this was the NBA draft, which made him a player of the Golden State Warriors. The athlete began to act at number 7 in the position of point guard.
Before joining the young basketball player, this position was occupied by Monte Ellis, who began to perform the tasks of an attacking defender.
Having achieved his goal, Stephen worked at full strength. In 2010, playing in a team against the Los Angeles Clippers, the young man set a personal record: he was credited with 36 points per game, and the athlete showed a successful triple-double. In 2013, competing against the players of the New York Knicks, Curry made 11 three-point shots out of 13 attempts.
In 2012, Stephen Curry enrolled in the basketball school of LeBron James and Chris Paul. In the game against the Portland team, the athlete demonstrated his grip by making 4 three-point shots. In the 2012/2013 season, the statistics of such shots was 272 in 78 games. So the basketball player broke Ray Allen's record set in the 2005/2006 season.
Curry was often used as a trump card, because his main ability was the ability to drive the ball into the basket from behind the three-point line, while two-pointers were less successful. Working alongside Clay Thompson, Curry set the record for most three-pointers in the 2012/2013 season. In total, basketball players carried out a similar attack 483 times.
In the 2014/2015 season, the team in which Stephen played won 67 times, and this also became a kind of NBA and league record. Stephen received the title of the most valuable player of the season. The Golden State faced the New Orleans Pelicans, Memphis Grizzlies, Houston Rockets, and Cleveland Cavaliers, emerging victorious from the competition. For his contributions to the team's success in 2015 and 2016, Curry was awarded the NBA Most Valuable Player Award.
In 2017, the National Basketball League was at its peak. A contract was re-signed with Curry, under the terms of which the athlete's salary in total exceeded $ 201 million. A 5-year agreement was connected with Stephen's native club.
In 2018, according to the results of the match with the Sacramento Kings, the athlete was declared the most productive player. Fans and experts called him the star of modern basketball. Curry's ability to hit three-pointers accurately in the basket in many games becomes decisive for the team.
In the 2019/2020 season, Stephen was seriously injured: in the regular season match with the Phoenix Suns, the player broke his left hand, it took about 3-4 months to recover. At the same time, the Golden State Warriors lost another important member - forward Kevin Durant moved to the Brooklyn Nets.
Since the start of the pandemic, the Warriors have become one of the teams that finished the season early due to the minimal chances of reaching the playoffs. Even before that, a number of team leaders were injured, which affected the general mood and success of the club.
Evil fate continued to dominate the team even further. Before the start of the 2020/2021 season, Clay Thompson suffered a torn Achilles tendon in training and was unable to participate in the games. Curry took the lead. Giving all the best, he showed a career-high performance. Despite this, the club finished 8th in the regular season.
Personal life
By the age of 30, Stephen Curry had succeeded as a professional athlete and as a family man. In 2011, he married Aisha Curry. His wife is a chef, cookbook author and blogger with a popular Instagram account. Her posts and photos were followed by millions of subscribers. Among them were those who are interested in the personal life of a basketball player.
Curry has three children. In 2012, the daughter of Riley was born, and in 2015, the parents announced the appearance of another girl, Ryan. Aisha gave her long-awaited son Canon to her husband in 2018.
Curry's wife is one of the most famous wives of NBA basketball players. She attracts attention with her incredible devotion to Stephen, which is built on the Christian faith. Aisha is always on the side of her husband and protects him in any controversial situation. Sometimes it attracts negativity: an opposing team fan once pushed a woman in the stomach when she was 8 months pregnant.
The couple have their own charity called Eaat.Learn.Play. Thanks to him, during the self-isolation due to the pandemic, there was support for children from low-income families who temporarily lost free school meals.
Curry is surrounded by the attention of journalists, so his social activities are covered in the media. So, the athlete supported the translation of the book Mamba Mentality together with the Brazilian football player Neymar, and well-known publications immediately wrote about this.
In 2018, Stephen accepted an offer to collaborate with the Under Armor brand. He participated in the release of three models of sneakers under the name Curry. The shoes he came up with were considered a great choice for professional athletes. The advertising campaign, in which the man participated, produced the desired effect for the brand.
Curry is 191 cm tall and weighs 84 kg.
Stephen Curry now
Stephen devotes all his free time to training and now, no less than in his youth, he strives to improve his professional skills. In the spring of 2021, the basketball player became the winner of the three-point shot contest as part of the NBA All-Star Weekend.
At the same time, the Golden State Warriors drew a wave of negative attention with a 104-130 loss to the Clippers. Got Curry too. A clip appeared on the Web where he yells at teammates. Recently, newcomers have been added to the club, and Stephen has become a leader in terms of experience and age. And commenting on the video, he noticed that he was simply trying to create a competitive spirit in the Golden State participants, which did not save the situation.
However, in October, Curry managed to rehabilitate himself. In a regular season game against the same Los Angeles Clippers, Stephen had an amazing reception in the final game. When the ball went out, he threw it from the edge of the court into the ring, winning his team with a score of 115:113. The basketball player became the most productive player of the match and put 45 points into his personal piggy bank.
Also in October, Curry broke the 5,000 assist mark and had the second-longest three-point streak in history. However, the record streak of 157 games with three-pointers in a row also belongs to Stephen himself.
Achievements and honors
2008, 2009 SoCon Player of the Year
2009 NCAA Division I All-Star Player
2010 National Basketball World Champion
2011 NZBA Athletic Conduct Award0072
2013,2015,2015,2016 - record holder for three -point shots
2014 - World Basketball Champion as part of the national team
2015 - winner of the Trechka throws competition
2016 - the most productive player of the NBA
2015, 2017,2018 - champion of NBA
2015,2016 - NBA Most Valuable Player
2014-2019, 2021 - NBA All-Star Game
Interesting Facts
Once Curry became a participant in a curious case. Filming a basketball podcast with teammates, he questioned whether NASA had been to the moon. And although Stephen managed to justify himself in the media for hasty conclusions, in response to his statement, representatives of the organization invited the athlete on an excursion to the Space Center's high-security Lunar Sample Laboratory Facility.
In 2018, a basketball player was involved in an accident. Two cars crashed into his Porsche. None of the participants were injured, but stress was provided to them.
Stephen suffered from a childhood disease called keratoconus - a gradual deformation of the retina, which resulted in astigmatism in the player. Doctors suggested that he wear glasses, but he did not want to resort to this measure.
The basketball player likes Hebrew. He has several tattoos in this language. Moreover, some of them are duplicated on the body of his wife. For example, the inscription "Love never fails." Another common pattern - symbols >
In the fall of 2021, the basketball player called on the authorities to pardon the prisoner Julius Darius Jones, who was sentenced to death in 2002. All these years, Jones has declared his innocence, and many stars from various fields have bowed to his side.
😍 Curry is the greatest shooter in NBA history! Broke Allen's three-point record in Mecca of basketball - Don't play basketball - Blogs
The unimaginable is happening before our eyes.
It's finally done! In 789 career games, Golden State great defenseman Stephen Curry set the all-time record for most three-pointers in NBA history ! The point guard hit two long-range shots in the first half of the debut quarter of the match with New York and forever entered his name in history.
There is no better place for a historic achievement: the event took place under the arches of the basketball mecca - New York's Madison Square Garden.
In total, Steph hit 5 long-range shots in the match and stopped at the mark of 2977 accurate three-pointers .
Stephen's fans and partners were clearly relieved.
Even Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said that Steph was under the negative influence of expecting a record the day before the event: “I think in the last games he tried a little more than necessary in order to shoot three-pointers and break this record. It will be easier for him and our team when he hits the target… A lot of long shots happen at the beginning of possessions and after pick-and-rolls, when he is better off with a simple pass.
Now the Warriors' leader has reached the coveted first place in the list of the best shooters in the history of the NBA regular season and can take a break from the team's grueling road trip. And we will remember what path he had to go to climb to the next peak.
Curry is the main revolutionary of the modern NBA
Stef is called a revolutionary - a player who influenced the structure of modern basketball more than any of the active athletes of the Association . It's hard not to agree with this: Curry's style with an abundance of accurate long-range attempts turned out to be a catalyst for the general awareness of the effectiveness of three-point shots, which radically reformatted the team's offense.
Even 15 years ago measured possession was considered commonplace with loading the ball onto an athletic center or power forward in the “mustache”, where the “big” beat the opponent with the help of pushing and a series of deceptive movements under the ring. Also, no one was surprised by the numerous misses after throws with a deflection from an average distance: to one degree or another, all attacking players with a soft brush used them. Now the league has finally come to a triune understanding of effective completion: free throws, attempts from under the basket with minimal resistance, and those same three-pointers are considered the most preferred shots.
Curry actually demonstrated that, despite their increased difficulty, throwing three-pointers is still more profitable than average two-pointers over the course of the season. Soon this statement was finally confirmed by the analytical teams of the clubs, because three points are more than two by one and a half times, while the difference in the percentage of medium and long-range shots among perimeter players in most cases is much less. And for the leader of the Warriors with 24.3 points and 43% from behind the arc in her career, she is virtually absent altogether.
When Stephen entered the NBA in 2009, teams averaged 18.1 shots per game from behind the arc, which has almost doubled this season to 35.4 attempts . Curry himself this year, on average, generates 13.4 three-pointers.
In his first year, the Golden State point guard had to share the ball with Monta Ellis, another Warriors defenseman in the running for stardom. As a result, only 25.9% of Curry's three-point shots were made without previous assists from partners. Steph played in a completely different, already unusual style for us: more in the shadows and closer to the recognized snipers of bygone eras - Reggie Miller and Ray Allen. The secondary role on the site and not the most reliable health of the frail sniper did not allow him to maximize his own usefulness.
This went on for two and a half years, until the expressive Ellis entered into an open conflict with a junior partner, as a result of which he put the leadership of the Golden State before an ultimatum choice: either he or Curry. As history has shown - and Monta was relegated from the league in 2017 at the age of 31 - the chiefs of the "warriors" chose the youngster and did not lose.
Already in the 2012/13 season, the first full-fledged for Stephen as the sole owner of the ball, the share of self-organized three-point snipers exceeded 39%, which is only slightly less than the values of the current regular season and those years when he received the MVP title.
In his debut year, Stef made 166 attempts from behind the arc. By the end of the fourth season, he beat Allen's most important achievement and set the maximum bar for accurate three-pointers for the season - 272. Three years later - in the 2015/16 championship, following which Curry won the title of the most valuable player for the second consecutive time, and his team won 73 wins - the defender's sniping achievement practically flew into space and reached the value of 402 accurate three-pointers in a season, which remains a record to this day.
However, over the years, the cap-toothed wizard did more than just increase the number of long-range throws. As Steph himself recalled, in the 2014/15 championship, which became a breakthrough for the familiar Warriors squad, he significantly increased the frequency of shots from a distance during quick transitions from defense to attack. A year later, the athlete focused on an equally important and much more famous aspect of his game - increasing the distance of the throw. Such a systematic evolution has led to the fact that hits by Curry from the central circle, where images of team logos are applied, have practically become commonplace and are embodied by a basketball player almost every week .
The quintessence of distant nihilism turned out to be probably the most famous defender's winning hit - in the last seconds of the game with Oklahoma.
Stephen even got his own zone. The maximum distance from the rim to the three-point arc is 7.24 meters, but in the last two seasons, according to The Athletic, the defender has put on a stream of ultra-long shots from distances exceeding 8.5 meters. The progression of such rolls is as follows:
• 2009/10 - 4 extra long out of 166 3s;
• 2010/11 - 2 extra long out of 151 3s;
• 2011/12 - 0 extra long shots out of 55 3s;
• 2012/13 - 4 extra long out of 272 3s;
• 2013/14 - 4 extra long out of 261 3s;
• 2014/15 - 6 extra long out of 286 3s;
• 2015/16 - 31 extra wide out of 402 3s;
• 2016/17 - 26 extra long out of 324 3s;
• 2017/18 - 7 extra long out of 212 3s;
• 2018/19 - 31 ultra-long out of 354 three-pointers;
• 2019/20 - 5 extra long out of 12 3s;
• 2020/21 – 61 ultra-long out of 337 three-pointers;
• 2021/22 - at least 26 ultra-range shots from 145 three-pointers after 27 games played.
Impressive, but everything still looks easy for Steph. “At a certain moment, you just feel that you are about to throw. This is where it all starts, ”the point guard explained the choice of the moment for the throw.
At school, Curry was too weak to score like everyone else. He turned the "childish" throw into a deadly weapon
The most surprising thing is the fact that the last revolution in such a physically demanding sport was made not by some athlete of the generation, but by a rather frail guy who was inferior in size to almost everyone in youth teams peers.
In the summer of 2003, the 15-year-old rookie of the Charlotte Christian High School team weighed only 59kilograms with a very modest 168-centimeter growth. Stephen didn't have enough strength to relearn how to shoot with a high release of the ball, as almost all his peers already did, and he continued to take the ball to the shot in the style of elementary school - pushing from the stomach. This did not prevent the defender from hitting well: after all, he was friends with the ball almost from the cradle, and thanks to his father Della Curry, who spent 16 seasons in the NBA, he had the opportunity to learn from the best basketball coaches in South Carolina.
That year, retired Dell, who, by the way, hit more than 40% of three-pointers while in the Association, for the first time got the opportunity to spend a full offseason with his son. It was clear to Curry Sr. that Steph's shot was too bad for a player who even wanted to make the varsity basketball team.
“Just imagine how much space it takes to make such a low throw. For middle school, it was still all right, for the first year in high school, too. But the competition was getting tougher and it was time for a change,” Dell told The Ringer journalist Kevin O’Connor.
For three summer months, a father and son couple was exclusively rebuilding Steph's throw. It was not possible to raise the height of the ball release to the level of peers: the future three-time NBA champion lacked the strength of his arms, shoulders and torso. Then Dell agreed to compromise: Stephen retained a throw similar to the usual “jogging” form, but he began to move his arms already from the chest and brought it to the maximum possible point.
Easy to say, hard to do.
Day after day, hour after hour, for three months Steph repeated the same movements. But at first, it was possible to hit only from the three-second zone: there was definitely not enough strength.
“In terms of basketball, that summer was the worst of my life. For three weeks, I really threw only from the "paint". The guys from the basketball camps asked me who I was and why I played basketball. For a month and a half it was hard for me, but then I figured it out.
My father pointed me in the right direction. I gained confidence, I gained strength,” Curry recalled.
The new higher release allowed the basketball player to use the leg extension energy even more effectively, which gave the throwing movement greater integrity and fluidity.
“I called it the catapult method. If you look at my throw now, you will notice the same initial movement that I had as a child. But now the ball does not stop at the chin, I continue to lift it to the limit and use the strength of the wrist to a much greater extent than the strength of the shoulders ,” Steph explained.
To the surprise of his parents, before his senior year at school, Stephen grew to 183 centimeters, and by the time he entered Davidson College - to 188 centimeters, which corresponds to his current height. However, the defender retained an unusually fast shooting movement that allowed him to outmaneuver powerful opponents as a child.
Now he has enough strength even for the most inconceivable hits.
Not only the throw made Curry a legend
Stephen Curry is already a basketball legend. In terms of the level of the game, in terms of influence on players and new generations, in terms of results: in the end, not every great basketball player can boast of three championships, two MVPs and membership in the 73-9 team. Even such outstanding snipers as Reggie Miller and Ray Allen.
Steph not only found the perfect system for himself in the Warriors: like Tim Duncan in the Spurs, he became its main and indispensable element. What is important - dynamic and adapting to new circumstances and thereby leading the command system to evolution.
Curry acted as a shooter and shared the game lead with Monta Ellis - then proved his superiority and took the ball in his hands, because since college his father insisted that the defender master the role of point guard at the highest level.
Steph turned into an unstoppable weapon and could dominate the ball, but he shared it with Clay Thompson and the emerging from the second round of the draft Draymond Green. Each of the partners got what they wanted from Curry: Thompson - throws, Green - a key influence on the development of the attack.
Durant came - Curry remained the most important player of Golden State. Perhaps not the best (this is a separate subject for controversy), but the main and defining identity of the team. The leader of the monstrous Warriors not only did not challenge the star rookie's right to extra shots, but he himself encouraged him to do so: he entered the top nine players of the Association in mileage, diverting most of the attention of defenders with his irrepressible movement.
Durant is gone - Curry has brought magic back to the Bay Area. Yes, only after two seasons, overshadowed by injuries and grinding to a new composition. But now the aged "warriors" are one of the most formidable forces in the entire league and operate in a style that has long been loved by the fans.
Would Stephen have been able to stay at the top for so many years if his only outstanding skill was throwing? Of course not. The greatest sniper in history is a lot for the figure of Kyle Korver, but not enough for Stephen Curry. How else does a defender stand out against the background of opponents?
• Dribbling.
Once upon a time, Steph was too fragile to play without the ball and beat only from receiving. His father forced him to learn how to play the first number in order to get away from rivals at speed and, if desired, stay away from the thick of things. Curry wasn't targeting the 201-centimeter Miller; he was becoming a hybrid of the off-the-ball sharpshooter with the elusive Steve Nash.
“What impressed me the most was how good he was at dribbling. This allows him to go to any convenient point for the throw. One of the things that makes great snipers stand out is their ability to find points. And he can reach any of them. Even I wasn't that good with the ball, and Steph makes his way through the smallest gaps in the defense. That's what makes him so dangerous on the court,” Ray Allen explained.
When Curry became the Warriors' main back-court after Ellis left, he got rid of the guards of other point guards precisely by deceiving the ball. Sharp changes in direction, stepping back, all kinds of transfers and very, very sharp hands - those who could not physically suppress the young sniper simply did not keep up with him and ultimately left a fraction of the space that Stef had enough for an accurate three-pointer.
• Endurance.
“It's a marathon,” Steph once described his standard performance. For most of his career, the quarterback has been in the top 5 percent of NBA players in average mileage per game. . Combined with deadly precision, the sniper's constant movement drew the audience's attention to the phenomenon of "gravity": how Stephen, running past without the ball, attracts several defensive players at once and thereby opens up an opportunity for partners to free throw.
“Sometimes your legs burn from moving back and forth. But in the end, you still have to jump out and make a throw. It all depends on endurance, ”curry assured.
• Strength.
As Stef's unusual talents became known across the league, he was played on defense by athletic full-length wingers - players equally well able to operate in the attacking guard and forward positions.
Hard contact, constant pushing and physical pressure were the only effective methods to neutralize the Golden State leader. So he played against him championship “Cleveland” in 2016, and so he was closed in the worst matches for Curry this season by Michael Bridges from Phoenix and Matisse Tybull from Philadelphia.
The only difference is that earlier in almost every team you could find one or two basketball players who could complicate Stef's life due to superiority in physics. Now, defensive specialists who can not only suppress the point guard, but also keep up with him, can be counted on the fingers of one hand.
Every year Curry put on weight. This was especially noticeable in the past off-season: over the summer, the 33-year-old veteran gained 2.5 kilograms of muscle mass and, in terms of physical strength, is now in better shape than ever before .
The famed stamina suffered a bit as Steve Kerr had to rotate the heavy guard's minutes to keep him fresh during the final quarters. But the form of his throw has become even more stable, because now Steph is difficult to move even in the air.
Improved physical readiness helped the sniper in defense as well. Curry has been in most of the Warriors' top defensive combinations this year, helping the defense not only in a passive back-up role through understanding the game (that hasn't been a problem anyway), but also on the ball. Explosive power allows him to closely follow opponents passing to the ring.
***
In 2009, Curry entered the league of outstanding athletes who regularly change their understanding of the capabilities of the human body. LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Giannis Antetokounmpo - everyone's unique physical qualities are still amazing.
Against their background, Stef is considered the most ordinary person. This is not entirely fair: his father Dell and younger brother Seth entered the NBA and also became excellent shooters. Agility, body control, endurance and a soft hand - these qualities are the same for all three men from the Curry family.
Top of their sports. How well do you know them?
He also topped the NBA with an average of 30.1 points per game and shattered his own league standard by making an astounding 402 three-point shots. Curry earned his second consecutive MVP award for his efforts and became the first person to be voted MVP unanimously. However, the Warriors’ historic season ultimately ended in shocking disappointment as the team surrendered a 3–1 NBA finals lead to the Cavaliers.
He returned during the second round of the playoffs to help the Warriors win their fourth consecutive conference championship and third NBA title (in a four-game sweep of the Cavaliers). Curry continued his dazzling play in 2018–19, averaging 27.3 points per game and earning first-team All-NBA honours. In the playoffs, he guided an injury-plagued Warriors team to a fifth straight conference title, the most in a row since the NBA instituted conferences in 1970–71. However, additional injuries and inspired play by the opposing Toronto Raptors led to a six-game Golden State loss in the finals. The Warriors entered the 2019–20 season shorthanded after losing fellow All-Stars Kevin Durant (departure via free agency) and Klay Thompson (season-ending injury during the 2019 finals). Curry himself played in just five games during that campaign after breaking his hand early in the season, which led to the Warriors having a league-worst record. Curry returned to form and had a fantastic 2020–21 season, leading the NBA with 32 points per game, but the team missed the playoffs despite having a winning record.
In December 2021 Curry made yet another mark in the NBA history books by scoring his 2,974th career three-pointer, breaking the NBA record for all-time three-point field goals scored. Following another season-ending injury in 2020, Thompson rejoined the team in 2021–22 and helped the Warriors finally return to form, as Golden State won 53 games and qualified for the postseason. There, the team—and Curry—regained their dominance, losing just six games during the NBA playoffs to win a fourth title during Curry’s era, and he was named finals MVP after scoring 31.2 points per game during the six-game series win over the Boston Celtics.
He just soaked it all up.
I’ve told my kids, you can play any sport you want, but once you decide to play you’re going to give it your all, 100 percent. Because if you don’t, it’s going to reflect on you and your team. Don’t try to live your dreams through your child because it’s not going to work. It will only last for so long and then other problems will come. Just be as supportive as you can and give them as many resources as you can to develop their game and be as good as they can be at their sport.
He, along with his younger brother, often attended home games of the local basketball team, the Charlotte Hornets, for which their father played. Before the start of the match, Stephen and Seth always had time to practice on the professional court. 
He became a player on the local basketball team and represented it at the state championship. The team was lucky enough to reach the playoffs three times. 
In total, basketball players carried out a similar attack 483 times. 
In 2011, he married Aisha Curry. His wife is a chef, cookbook author and blogger with a popular Instagram account. Her posts and photos were followed by millions of subscribers. Among them were those who are interested in the personal life of a basketball player. 
Got Curry too. A clip appeared on the Web where he yells at teammates. Recently, newcomers have been added to the club, and Stephen has become a leader in terms of experience and age. And commenting on the video, he noticed that he was simply trying to create a competitive spirit in the Golden State participants, which did not save the situation. 
Filming a basketball podcast with teammates, he questioned whether NASA had been to the moon. And although Stephen managed to justify himself in the media for hasty conclusions, in response to his statement, representatives of the organization invited the athlete on an excursion to the Space Center's high-security Lunar Sample Laboratory Facility. 
All these years, Jones has declared his innocence, and many stars from various fields have bowed to his side. 
It's hard not to agree with this: Curry's style with an abundance of accurate long-range attempts turned out to be a catalyst for the general awareness of the effectiveness of three-point shots, which radically reformatted the team's offense. 
Soon this statement was finally confirmed by the analytical teams of the clubs, because three points are more than two by one and a half times, while the difference in the percentage of medium and long-range shots among perimeter players in most cases is much less. And for the leader of the Warriors with 24.3 points and 43% from behind the arc in her career, she is virtually absent altogether. 
The secondary role on the site and not the most reliable health of the frail sniper did not allow him to maximize his own usefulness. 
Three years later - in the 2015/16 championship, following which Curry won the title of the most valuable player for the second consecutive time, and his team won 73 wins - the defender's sniping achievement practically flew into space and reached the value of 402 accurate three-pointers in a season, which remains a record to this day. 
What is important - dynamic and adapting to new circumstances and thereby leading the command system to evolution. 
For most of his career, the quarterback has been in the top 5 percent of NBA players in average mileage per game. . Combined with deadly precision, the sniper's constant movement drew the audience's attention to the phenomenon of "gravity": how Stephen, running past without the ball, attracts several defensive players at once and thereby opens up an opportunity for partners to free throw. 
So he played against him championship “Cleveland” in 2016, and so he was closed in the worst matches for Curry this season by Michael Bridges from Phoenix and Matisse Tybull from Philadelphia. 
