The road to the NBA was not an easy one for the 6'3, 185 lb. Carolina native, who had to battle many significant difficulties along the way. It all started the second he took his first ever breath in the brave new world. To many, he was a prodigy in the making to star 3 point shooter Dell Curry, who happened to be the all time leading scorer for the Charlotte Bobcats, now the Charlotte Hornets. His silky smooth jump shot was his signature mark for his prestigious Hall of Fame career, and even had his number retired as a result of his success. Every time he stepped onto the court, he was sure to entertain. He was by definition of an old school player, who scored hard nose basketball each and every night, and spread the floor a few inches further with every single shot he made.
Throughout his life, Steph Curry faced a difficulty that denied him the opportunity to prove himself after high school. As a sophomore at Charlotte Christian School, he stood at an extremely small height of 6'0. Another striking attribute was his emaciated body, made other colleges refrain from offering a scholarship. "He's too small," stated Roy Williams, head coach of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, "At the time, there were many things I did not like about Stephen's game. He lacked the size to cover bigger defenders, thought about his lack of body structure and how large the difficulty would be to absorb contact and finish baskets." Similar responses were mentioned about Steph, who was never given a chance to show out for many larger Division 1 schools. Although, the schools that were made available were smaller division 1 schools, who were willing to take a chance on the fiery high schooler from Charlotte. These teams included Davidson, VCU and Winthrop. All schools expressed interest, but Curry ultimately decided to commit to Davidson, to start his own career, and prove those who doubted him, wrong.
After verbally committing to Davidson, Steph found himself every single night, from morning to dusk, working on all aspects of his game to help him against better competition in the future. He developed a strong bond with his brother Seth, who continually worked with Steph to fix his jump shot so he wasn't shooting from the side of his body, which is what many young athletes start to do at a very young age. Lack of weight attributes to the bad mechanics, but to see a high school athlete still shooting from virtually his side hip was a major problem and would take a lot of time to perfect. "You could tell he was distraught," exclaimed Seth Curry, Steph's brother. "I thought he was gonna give up and realize that he was everything the college coaches said he was. But he was different. He used it as motivation."
His first game with Davidson was a rough one. He only managed to score 2 points but turned the ball over 9 times in the first half. He was doubted again netherless, but in the next few games he got over the freshman struggle and picked up his scoring average and also reduced the number of turnovers he committed. The highlight of Curry's career however came in the NCAA tournament during his sophomore season. As a sophomore, he led the nation in scoring with 32.7 PPG and helped Davidson make it to the sweet 16. In his first game of the tournament, Curry scored 40 points against Gonzaga, and hit 5/7 from behind the arc. In his next game, Curry came back with 30 points against Georgetown. "After 10 days, it went from Steph being Dell's son, to Dell being Steph's father." (Seth Curry). He later declared that he would enter the NBA draft following his remarkable run. He was drafted by the Golden State Warriors with the 7th overall pick in the first round.
Injuries got the best of Steph when he entered the league. Following his rookie season, Steph was out for 2 years after it was discovering a problem in his right ankle. Although he returned to form in a big way in 2012, and set the all time record for most 3 pointers made in a season, which ultimately led to the unanimous decision of being named to his first career all star game. He was poised for greatness, and made a case to be considered the best shooter in NBA History, behind the great Larry Bird.
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