Some people are just born to shoot, and Stephen Curry’s shooting skills are truly unmatched. As young as seven years old, Steph had the tough of a pro and nearly used it to beat an NBA shooting guard in his prime during a game of one-on-one.
“I played this kid when he was 7 years old in his driveway when I was playing with the Charlotte Hornets. I was over there hanging out with his dad, Dell Curry, and he said ‘Ed, I bet my son can beat you.’ So I go out in the driveway and I’m messing around with him and this dude is shooting shots from the street… And they going in… We playing a game of 10, and this dude going [7-0]. I said, ‘Hold up’… I’m in the NBA. I went old man style on him, man. I started backing it down and laying it up. He got mad but I’m not letting him get another shot. I won the game and he was hot.”
“I played this kid when he was 7 years old… This dude shooting shots from the street… And they going in… We playing a game of 10, & this dude going [7-0]. I said, 'Hold up'… I’m in the NBA."
Eddie Johnson on Steph Curry 😂
(via @PHNX_Sports / YT)pic.twitter.com/DDMKx7GUXJ
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 16, 2024
NBA players are known to start young, but Curry may have been an extra special case. For him to almost beat a professional NBA sharpshooter at 7 years old really says a lot about his natural talent. Somehow, even before he was 10, Curry knew how to shoot from long distance and it was enough to keep the world’s best players, like Eddie Johnson, on their toes.
Eddie Johnson played for 17 years in the NBA, securing the Sixth Man of the Year award in 1989. His shortest stint was with the Hornets. He was there for just a single season and played 73 games in total for them with averages of 11.5 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game on 45% shooting. He was teammates with Dell Curry during this stretch, which is when he went to his house and played his pickup game with Steph. Naturally, Dell had an inkling that his teammate would struggle to beat the child on his home rim.
Stephen Curry, who was born in Akron, Ohio, spent much of his childhood in Charlotte, North Carolina. His dad played there for most of his career and he grew up completely immersed in the NBA environment. So by the time Steph was 7, he was already good with a basketball and could shoot better than most professional players.
Had Eddie Johnson not used his impossible size and strength to beat Curry that day, he might have actually taken the loss against him and it would have been an even crazier story. But when he looks back now, Johnson shouldn’t feel as bad knowing how good No. 30 turned out to be.
Today, almost two decades later, Curry is still inspiring awe in the NBA’s best. As a 4x champion, 2x MVP, 2x scoring leader, 10x All-Star, and Olympic gold medalist, Steph is one of the GOATs of the game and he has become the face of the modern NBA itself.
After averaging 26.4 points per game last season, Curry is still among the NBA’s elite and he’s expected to continue leading the Warriors for years to come. Steph Curry is truly a generational legend and the signs were there from very early on that he was going to be special.
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