Wardell Stephen Curry II is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Curry is widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, and as the greatest shooter in NBA history.
Early Life
Curry is the son of Sonya and Dell Curry. He was born March 14, 1988 in Akron, Ohio at Summa Akron City Hospital, while his father was a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers. He grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina, where his father spent most of his NBA career with the Charlotte Hornets. Dell often took Curry and his younger brother Seth to his games, where they would shoot with the Hornets during warm-ups. The family briefly moved to Toronto, where Dell finished out his career as a member of the Raptors. During this time, Curry played for the Queensway Christian College boys’ basketball team, leading them to an undefeated season. He was also a member of Toronto 5–0, a club team that plays across Ontario, pitting him against fellow future NBA players Cory Joseph and Kelly Olynyk. Curry led the team to a 33–4 record, en route to winning the provincial championship.
After Dell’s retirement, the family moved back to Charlotte and Curry enrolled at Charlotte Christian School, where he was named all-conference and all-state, and led his team to three conference titles and three state playoff appearances. Because of his father’s storied career at Virginia Tech, Curry wanted to play college basketball for the Hokies, but was only offered a walk-on spot due in part to his slender 160-pound frame. He ultimately chose to attend Davidson College, who had aggressively recruited him from the tenth grade.
- Fun Fact: Stephen Curry Is the highest paid player in the NBA
Career
Curry played college basketball for the Davidson Wildcats, where he set career scoring records for Davidson and the Southern Conference, was twice named conference player of the year, and set the single-season NCAA record during his sophomore year for most three-pointers made. Curry was selected by the Warriors as the seventh overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft.
In 2014–15, Curry won his first league MVP award and led the Warriors to their first championship since 1975. The following season, he became the first player to be elected MVP by a unanimous vote and led the league in scoring while shooting above 50–40–90. That same year, the Warriors broke the record for the most wins in an NBA season (73) en route to reaching the 2016 NBA Finals, which they lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers in seven games. Curry helped the Warriors return to the NBA Finals in 2017, 2018, and 2019, winning back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018, but falling to the Toronto Raptors in 2019. After missing the playoffs in 2020 and 2021, Curry won a fourth championship with the Warriors against the Boston Celtics in 2022, and was named Finals MVP.
During the 2012–13 season, Curry set the NBA record for three-pointers made in a regular season, with 272. He surpassed that record in 2015 with 286, and again in 2016 with 402. On December 14, 2021, Curry set the NBA record for career three-pointers, passing Ray Allen.[6] For their shooting abilities, Curry and teammate Klay Thompson are often referred to as the Splash Brothers; in 2013–14, they set the record for combined three-pointers made in an NBA season with 484, a record they broke the following season (525), and again in the 2015–16 season (678).
Curry is credited with revolutionizing the sport by inspiring teams and players to take more three-point shots. A nine-time NBA All-Star and eight-time All-NBA selection, including four times on the first team, he has been named the NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) twice, won four NBA championships, and received an NBA Finals MVP Award and an NBA All-Star Game MVP Award.
Listed at 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) and 190 pounds (86 kg), Curry plays almost exclusively at the point guard position and has career averages of 24.3 points, 6.5 assists, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.7 steals per game. His career free throw percentage of 90.8% (through the end of the 2021–22 season) is the highest in NBA history. Curry is the Warriors’ all-time free-throw leader, and has led the NBA in free throw percentage four times. He has been selected to eight All-NBA Teams and voted league MVP twice. A leader within the Warriors organization, he helped recruit former MVP Kevin Durant to the Warriors.
Curry led the league in steals in the 2015–16 season, but has been criticized for his defense. He is used more for his offense while his teammates, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, take on more defensive assignments. Some analysts, including Ethan Sherwood Strauss of ESPN, have complimented his defensive play or called it underrated. Strauss said in 2015 that Curry became “one of the NBA’s most effective defenders – ranking fifth among point guards in defensive real plus-minus.”
Curry scores a lot from underneath the rim all the way to near half-court. Using an unorthodox jump shot, he releases the ball from his hands in under half a second by releasing it on the way up, adding extra arc to his shot and making it difficult to block.The shooting proficiency earned him the nickname “Baby-Faced Assassin” during his pre-NBA years, and “Chef Curry” while in the NBA. He is also known for his ball handling and playmaking, and for putting pressure on defenses with his long range, leading the NBA in field goals made from beyond 28 feet in 2016. A clutch scorer, he often shoots at his best in high-pressure moments, and takes game-winning shots.
Curry ranks 12th in NBA history in career three-point field goal percentage and holds four of the top five seasons in terms of total three-pointers made. He is also the fastest player in league history to make 2,000 career three-pointers, doing so in 227 fewer games than the previous record-holder, Ray Allen. Additionally, Curry is the fastest player to make 100 three-pointers in a season, doing so in just 19 games, breaking his own previous record of 20 games.
Curry is widely considered to be the greatest shooter in NBA history. He is credited with revolutionizing the game of basketball by inspiring teams, from high school to the NBA, to regularly use the three-point shot. Analysts have referred to him as “the Michael Jordan of the three-point era”, saying that he did for the three-point shot what Jordan did for the slam dunk. The Guardian’s Robert O’Connell cites Curry’s February 27, 2013, game against the New York Knicks, in which he made 11 of 13 shots from behind the arc en route for a 54-point performance, as the start of the three-point era. The era has been referred to as “The Steph Effect” or “the NBA’s Three-Point Revolution”.
Before Curry, shooting behind the three-point line was more of a novelty, an occasional way of scoring. Catch and shoot players existed, but Curry’s success inspired the league to abandon physical play around the basket and to embrace a pace and space and three-point shooting style.
Where Curry ranks as one of the greatest NBA players has been more subject to debate. Former NBA player Steve Nash, who is also among the NBA’s all-time efficient shooters, said Curry is “already an all-time great” and that people question his greatness “because he doesn’t dominate the game physically. He dances. He pays a tax for that. He pays a tax for his great teammates.” Scottie Pippen, who won six NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls, said that Curry’s “willingness to sacrifice” for Kevin Durant is “one of the great stories in history” because Curry welcomed Durant, who is also a top player, to the Warriors without ego. Crediting Curry with being “one of the greatest guards the game has ever seen”, he said: “If you have a mind for the game, you know that it takes sacrifice to be great. All the greats have to sacrifice something. Otherwise you can’t win.” CBS Sports ranked Curry at No. 19 in their list of “50 greatest NBA players of all time”. Sports Illustrated ranked him at No. 3, behind Durant and LeBron James, on their “Top 100 NBA Players of 2019” list. Sports Illustrated stated that “Curry and the Warriors are a great match of player and system” and that “the entire ecosystem is predicated on the idea that a player doesn’t need to dominate the ball to dominate a game. Curry took that noble idea and elevated it beyond any reasonable expectation.”
In 2020, an ESPN feature ranked Curry as the 13th-greatest basketball player of all time, the second-highest active player on the list. Nick Friedell of ESPN said “The greatest shooter of all time. Curry’s ability to hit shots from all over the floor changed the way the game is played. He has led the Warriors to three NBA championships and earned two MVP awards, becoming the first unanimous MVP in league history in 2015–16. Curry’s influence on the game is seen on every level of basketball as younger generations shoot more than ever while trying to replicate his game.” In a similar list in 2022, The Athletic ranked Curry as the 15th greatest player in NBA history. Marcus Thompson II said “In 20 years, Curry will be talked about with excitement reserved for the most legendary. Like the elders of today talk about Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Russell, and how their children revere Larry Bird and Charles Barkley.” In October 2021, Curry was honored as one of the league’s greatest players of all time by being named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.
- Fun Fact: Curry did not have any endorsements for his first few NBA seasons
Personal Life
Off the court, Curry is married to his long-time girlfriend, Ayesha Curry. The two tied the knot on July 30, 2011, in Charlotte. The two have three children, two daughters and a son.
Net Worth
Steph Curry is an American professional basketball player, brand endorser and venture capital investor. As of this writing, Steph Curry’s net worth is $160 million
Curry makes $50 million per year in NBA base salary and makes an additional $30m per year from endorsements.
In 2019 paid $31m for a mansion in Atherton, Ca.
