Stephen Curry: The Biography Of The Greatest Shooter Of All Time

The NBA has become a three-point game. Teams are shooting more three balls than ever before; this includes centers, who traditionally played in the post, stepping out to launch the long ball.

Why is this? There’s genuinely only one answer to this question. That answer goes by the name of Stephen Curry.

In the past, great three-point shooters usually either popped off screens to catch and shoot the trey or they waited patiently in the corner to catch the ball and fire away. Then, Stephen Curry showed up and changed how a three-point threat approached the game.

Curry does pop off screens or waits in the corner for a pass, but he also does much more. Steph will bring the ball up the court, dribble around his opponent and fire up a shot that usually would be taken from 15 feet away, but Curry shoots them from deep, and he drills those threes at a career percentage of 42.8.

How did this skinny kid become such a dominant star in today’s game? In this article, we’ll explain how the son of a basketball player took his game to a game-changing level.

Wardell Curry II, Son Of Dell

Stephen Curry was born on March 14, 1988, by the name of Wardell Stephen Curry II. He was named after his father, who went by the name of Dell Curry.

Older NBA fans remember the original three-point specialist with the last name Curry. Dell played 16 years in the league with five teams, with 10 of those seasons coming in Charlotte with the Hornets.

While Dell played professional basketball, he’d bring his two sons, Stephen and Seth Curry, to his games and to practice. Here, a young Steph would showcase what would soon be a bright future.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEtYJTAsNmg

There’s even a famous story of how, when Dell was a member of the Toronto Raptors, Steph would tag along and play against the Raptors’ mega star, Vince Carter.

"Gym rats. You could see their appreciation for the game, and dedication. They were always working on their shot."@mrvincecarter15 talks about being around a young @StephenCurry30 & @sdotcurry when playing in Toronto with their father Dell. #NBATogether pic.twitter.com/ghzS2nBBFJ

— NBA (@NBA) July 8, 2020

“Every day he was there. Just on the sideline, with a ball. And I’ll say Seth as well. They were both just gym rats. They love the game. You could see the appreciation for the game and the dedication. They were always working on their shot. He had a nice follow through then. It’s like he’s destined to be an NBA player. One, being around it and two, just the work they put in on their own. And, of course, dad was a pretty decent shooter himself, so figured something close to that would come for both his kids,” Vince Carter told Ernie Johnson of Turner Sports in a 2020 interview.

Carter then went on to explain how he’d play the young Splash brother in a one-on-one:

“Before every home game, after my workout, Steph and I would play 1-on-1. After every workout, you’d see him on the sideline working on his shot like, ‘You ready?’ Then we’d go at it and we’d play. That’s what it was. You could see that as the year went on, he started getting confidence, finally figuring out ways to get his shot off. It got to the point where I’d need to block the shot because I don’t want him thinking he could beat me. For him, people would think, ‘Oh this is a fun game.’ But for him, he’s learning how to get his shot off against taller guys, older guys, working on the quickness of the shot, which any college player will tell you now how important it is to be able to get your shot off half a second quicker than you used to because of the quickness of the NBA. It matters. I think him getting the repetitions for 41 professional games was paramount for him.”

By being around NBA players and playing one-on-one games against the best helped Steph develop and get ready for college basketball. Unfortunately, not many prominent colleges paid Steph any attention… Soon, they’ll have no choice but to recognize him.

Steph Becomes A College Star

Stephen Curry is one of the greatest NBA players of all time, yet, when he came out of high school, he wasn’t sought after by the big-name schools. Curry attended Charlotte Christian School, where he averaged around 17 Points, 7 rebounds, and 14 assists per game.

On top of these impressive averages, Curry led his high school to three conference titles and three state playoff appearances. He was also named all-state, all-conference, and team MVP.

Despite these accomplishments, no big university wanted Curry on their team. This includes Virginia Tech and Duke University, Curry’s ideal schools to attend.

Virginia Tech is where Curry’s father attended, and this was a big reason why Steph wanted to play for the Hokies. Curry wasn’t offered a scholarship, just a walk-on spot, which impacted his eventual decision.

Duke University was another personal choice for Curry, but Duke didn’t even offer Curry a chance to earn a walk-on spot. Curry would choose to attend Davidson College, who had been recruiting him since he was in the tenth grade.

This is where Curry would shine, and the basketball world would start to take notice of his talent. Curry averaged 21.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.8 steals per game during his freshman year.

As a freshman, Curry was named SoCon Freshman of the Year as he led the Wildcats to a 29–5 record while winning the Southern Conference regular-season and tournament titles. Davidson reached the 2007 NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament, where they lost 82-70 to the University of Maryland.

Curry’s incredible freshman season was enough to catch the attention of the bigger schools. According to Rex Chapman, who was teammates with Dell Curry on the Hornets, big name schools, like Duke, wanted Curry to transfer to them after his freshman year:

“I called you, [Dell] and I said, ‘Hey, there are two or three schools that are really interested in having Stephen’,” Chapman said to Dell in an interview. “And you said, ‘Let me get back with you. A day went by — You called me, and you said, ‘He told me, ‘Dad, if they didn’t want me then, I don’t want them now, f–k ’em. I’m staying at Davidson.’ I got goosebumps, and I almost started to cry! That’s exactly the answer I hoped I would get!”

Curry returned to Davidson for his sophomore year and averaged 25.9 points, 2.9 assists, and 2.1 steals per game. He was named to the Associated Press All-American Second Team after leading Davidson to a 29–7 record, including going 20–0 in the Southern Conference.

Curry led Davidson to its first NCAA Tournament win since 1969, after Davidson defeated Gonzaga 82-76. Davidson would defeat Georgetown 74-70 in the second round before losing 59-57 in the Elite Eight to number one seed Kansas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMIa4w0jP7k

Davidson may have lost to Kansas, but Curry’s incredible performance won him many fans. The following season, Curry would lead the NCAA in scoring with 28.6 points per game while leading Davidson to a 27–8 record.

Despite Curry’s incredible performance, Davidson failed to make the NCAA Tournament. They’d settle for an NIT bid, where Davidson’s season ended in the second round in an 80-68 loss to Saint Mary’s.

Curry would decide to skip his senior year at Davidson and take his chances in the NBA Draft. In a few years, the legend of “Chef Curry” will be born.

Stephen Curry: Unanimous MVP And NBA Champion

The Golden State Warriors selected Stephen Curry with the seventh pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. Curry would start the season slowly, but he finished strong, as he was named the Western Conference Rookie of the Month for January, March, and April.

Steph was the only Western Conference rookie to be named the Rookie of the Month three times during the season. Despite this achievement, Curry finished as the runner-up for the Rookie of the Year Award behind Tyreke Evans.

The Warriors didn’t fare well as a team, finishing with a 26-56 record while missing the playoffs. The next two seasons would end the same for the Warriors as they’d miss the playoffs in both campaigns.

To make matters worse, in his third season, Curry struggled with ankle and foot injuries, causing him to miss 40 games during the lockout-shortened season.

By the 2012-13 season, Curry and his second-year running mate, Klay Thompson, changed the culture in Oakland. Curry’s three-point attempts per game rose from 4.7 through his first three seasons to 7.7 a game in the 2012-13 season.

Curry and Thompson both became three-point threats, which teams struggled to stop. This three-point duo earned a new nickname around the league: The Splash Brothers.

Curry and his Splash Brother helped lead the Warriors to a 47-35 record. This was the first time Curry made the playoffs, as his Warriors entered the playoffs as the sixth seed.

The Warriors played the third-seeded Denver Nuggets in the first round. They upset the Nuggets, winning the series 4-2. Curry averaged 24.3 points, 9.3 assists, and 2.2 steals per game in his first playoff series.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXios8hZyN8

The Warriors would eventually fall 4-2 to the San Antonio Spurs in the Semifinals, but getting a taste of the playoffs was something Curry loved.

This love would turn into hunger and determination. In just two years, Curry was ready to make a real push for a title.

The Golden State Warriors brought in Mark Jackson as their head coach in the 2011-12 season. Jackson started the play style that allowed Curry and Thompson to take more than what was normal for three-point attempts.

By the 2014-15 season, the Warriors brought in rookie head coach Steve Kerr, and he opened the offense even more. This allowed Curry to shine brighter than he had before.

Curry averaged 23.8 points, 7.7 assists, and 2.0 steals per game. This was good enough to earn Curry his first MVP Award. The Warriors, as a team, also flourished, as they finished with a league-best 67-15 record.

The Warriors steamrolled through the first three rounds of the playoffs, winning 12 out of their 15 games. Curry made the NBA Finals, but his opponent was a “King” and Curry wouldn’t have an easy time winning his first ring.

The Warriors played the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2015 NBA Finals. The Cavs had LeBron James back after losing him to Miami for four seasons, and they had their young star, Kyrie Irving.

The Cavs entered the Finals short-handed as their other star player, Kevin Love, was out from an injury. The Warriors were the best team all season, but LeBron was the best player of this generation.

The Warriors would catch a break, as Irving would suffer a season-ending injury at the end of Game 1. LeBron would play an incredible series, trying to keep his Cavs in the series, but the young Warriors would prove to be too much.

The Warriors won the series 4-2, and Curry was an NBA champion. He averaged a team high 26.0 points in the series, but surprisingly, he was not named the Finals MVP.

Curry’s teammate, Andre Iguodala, won the Finals MVP, thanks to his defense on LeBron James. To Curry, he was happy to be an NBA champion. To others, not winning Finals MVP was fuel to hate on him.

I’m a big Curry fan but the one thing I have to hold against him is he tends to put on a disappearing act in the finals. Iguodala would never have been finals MVP on an MJ, LeBron, or Kobe team. Amongst many others, those guys always found a way to show up in BIG moments.

— Saul (@WellGroomDerick) February 23, 2022

This was unfortunate for Curry, because he very well could have won the Finals MVP. Up to this point in his career, Curry was adored by fans, for being the skinny, baby-faced sharpshooter.

Now, for the first time in his NBA career, Curry was facing backlash, despite winning a championship. This would set up what would become an incredible run in next year’s regular season.

Stephen Curry And The Warriors’ Historic Season

Stephen Curry heard all the trash talk about him not being good enough to win Finals MVP the year before. The Warriors as a team suffered from trash talk by fans, saying they only won because of the Cavaliers’ injuries.

This angered both Curry and his teammates. So, they wanted to send a message during the 2015-16 season.

The Warriors did just that by starting the season on a 24-game winning streak, an NBA record to start a season. Curry and the Warriors didn’t let up the rest of the way as they set a new NBA regular-season record with a 73-9 record.

The Warriors surpassed the mighty Chicago Bulls of the 1995-96 season, who went 72-10. The team saw success, and so did their star, Stephen Curry.

Curry’s stats were incredible this season. He won his first scoring title by averaging 30.1 points per game. Curry also averaged 6.7 assists, and he led the league in steals with 2.1 per game.

This isn’t all for Curry’s great stats in the 2015-16 season. Curry shot 50.4% from the field, 45.4% from three, and 90.8% from the free-throw line. He also set the record for most three-pointers made in a single season with 402.

This incredible play by Curry, to go along with his team’s massive success, led to Curry winning his second straight MVP Award. What made this award more special is the fact Curry became the first player in NBA history to win the award by unanimous votes.

Steph in his unanimous MVP season: 30/5/7 on 50/45/91% shooting.https://t.co/NK7kEf3RoU

— StatMuse (@statmuse) February 9, 2021

The Warriors incredibly lost only nine games during the regular season, but this dominance would somewhat disappear in the playoffs. After the first three rounds, the Warriors lost five games.

The Dubs still made the Finals, despite losing five games. This is thanks to a 3-1 deficit comeback series win against Kevin Durant’s Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals.

Curry and his Warriors would play LeBron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers in the Finals for the second straight season. This time, the Cavs would be at full strength.

With a series win, Curry’s season would go down as the greatest season in NBA history. This is the same for the Warriors as a franchise. To cap their season off with a title would make them the greatest team in league history.

This, unfortunately, for Curry and Warriors fans, did not happen. The Warriors blew a 3-1 series lead to the Cavs, which was the first time a team lost after leading 3-1 in NBA Finals history.

This stained an overall great season for Curry and the Warriors. It also grew the talk around the league that Curry couldn’t lead his team to a title himself, especially when his opponent was at full strength.

This chatter would only grow louder in the offseason when the Warriors shocked the world after they signed Thunder star Kevin Durant.

Two Titles, Injuries, And Curry’s Championship Redemption

Stephen Curry took a backseat to a degree when Kevin Durant joined the Warriors. Curry’s Warriors would not win 73 games with Durant, but they did win back-to-back championships in 2017 and 2018. Both titles came against LeBron’s Cavaliers.

Durant was named the Finals MVP in both seasons, which continued the talk about Curry’s legacy. In the 2018-19 season, the Warriors made the Finals, this time against the Toronto Raptors.

The Warriors wouldn’t have a good time, as Durant and Klay Thompson saw injuries that ended their seasons. Curry had to pick up his play, to try to win without having a team at full strength.

Curry had a great series averaging 30.5 points per game, his highest Finals average at the time. This wouldn’t be enough to overcome the Warriors’ injuries, as the Raptors defeated the Warriors 4-2.

The Warriors dynasty fell apart after the 2018-19 season when Durant left the team. Thompson would miss the next two seasons with injuries, and Curry would only play five games in the 2019-20 season from various injuries.

The Warriors missed the playoffs in 2019-20 with a 15-50 record and the 2020-21 season with a 39-33 record. In 2020-21, Curry led the league in scoring with 32.0 points per game.

The Warriors made the NBA’s new play-in tournament in 2020-21 but lost to LeBron’s Lakers and the Memphis Grizzlies. Even though the Warriors missed the playoffs once again, Curry was feeling confident, and he gave a warning to the rest of the league:

“Come back, bottle this up, everybody make the right strides over the summer and you don’t want to see us next year.”

Curry would make good on his promise after having an incredible season averaging 25.5 points and 6.3 assists per game. He also became the NBA’s all-time leader in three-point field goals made on December 14, 2021.

"STEPHEN CURRY…THE ALL-TIME THREE-POINT KING IN THE NBA."

History.#NBA75 pic.twitter.com/8SawFh2QFk

— NBA (@NBA) December 15, 2021

“I made the first one in transition,” Curry said after the game. “Then, like the next two or three possessions, I got the ball coming down and I could see everybody on that end of the stadium just start to slowly stand up and there was like a buzz. So, I didn’t want to rush it because that’s when you kind of get in your head and try to like force the moment.

“The way that it happened: Wigs came off a screen, I kind of floated back to the 3-point line. I didn’t think I was getting the ball. He hit me. I thought about nothing. I just let it go. After that, the emotions started kicking. So, I just wanted to let it come. It was a pretty special moment.”

The Warriors finished the season with a 53-29 record. They entered the playoffs as the third seed in the Western Conference.

In the playoffs, fans got to witness greatness from Stephen Curry. First, he became the greatest sixth man of all time after returning from an injury and coming off the bench in the Warriors’ first four playoff games.

Curry would return to the starting lineup, and he’d lead the Warriors back to the NBA Finals for the first time in three years. The Warriors would play the Boston Celtics, and Curry would be ready.

Curry would solidify his legacy by winning the Finals MVP with averages of 31.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 2.0 steals per game.

Curry had done what many fans and critics believed to be impossible. Not only did he make it back to the NBA Finals without Kevin Durant, but he also won the title and his first Finals MVP.

No matter what you say about Curry, there’s no denying he’s the greatest shooter of all time and one of the greatest players ever to grace the game of basketball.

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