HOW CURRY'S RANGELESS APPROACH SHIFTED THE NBA

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Oh, and we are still awaiting the test results to see if Curry is in fact... a cyborg...

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Coming Up Short

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Curry wasn’t someone who always seemed like he was destined for the NBA. In his high school days, he wasn’t growing. The other kids were taller than him. He was told and believed he needed to gain some weight and get taller. Not to mention moving to NBA terms things makes things a lot more depressing because 6’2 is considered short. Good thing for some of us out there that most people don’t speak relative to the NBA.
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But it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows even when he made it to the NBA.

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“Far below NBA standard to explosiveness and athleticism. At 6’2, he’s extremely small for the NBA shooting guard position. Do not rely on him to run your team. Can overshoot and rush into shots. Doesn’t like when defenses are too physical with him. Not a great finisher around the basket due to his size and physical attributes. Needs to add some muscle to his upper body, but appears as though, he’ll always be skinny.”

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This was the draft report on Steph Curry.

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To go from this to the all-time three-point king in the NBA, and the most dominant distant shooter the game has ever seen, is no small feat. But how did he do it against what everyone thought of him?

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How Curry Did It Against What Everyone Thought of Him

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Good subheading, I know.

Steph knew that he was different. When he was younger, he had people 2x his height guarding him. If we were talking NBA, that would be about 12 feet, so don’t get it twisted. This made it extremely hard for Steph to feel confident on the court. But he ended up turning this into an advantage because he started taking far range 3’s and sinking them.

His sophomore year of high school, he told his dad he wants to play college ball. He was 5’11. Skinny. His dad, Del Curry, told him he has to change his shot from his waist and move it up. Del took Steph to the courts, and for weeks he was shooting right under the basket. He would do this for hours a day.

“I was lost for a while. For 3 months, I literally couldn’t shoot outside of the paint.”

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Steph kept shooting. Kept missing. Until his junior year started, and he started playing really well. He was making layups on kids that were taller than him, and of course, swishing three after three.

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Steph wanted to play for Georgia Tech, but they told him they didn’t have a spot there for him. They saw the skill, but they said he was too little and would get pushed around. Some nerve, I know, but keep in mind we know who Curry is now, and they just don’t see it yet.

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The Steal

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Davidson College caught notice of Steph. It wasn’t anything too crazy. It was not a must that they go see him, but he was mentioned enough here and there that they wanted to see him play. They liked what they saw, so they decided they were going to recruit him.

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They had a meeting with the whole family to answer any questions, and a few short minutes into it, he agreed to play for Davidson. They felt like they had just got a steal.

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At his first game, he was missing shots. A lot of them. But when they watched Steph play his games before, he had missed shots too. He was just always able to pick it back up and start a hot streak, even if he was previously doing bad. This was amplified during this game, when Bob McKillop, the head coach, waved a white flag at Steph asking him if he wanted to surrender. Steph never took it.

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Fast forward to today, he still misses. He had games where his accuracy was trashed on. But that never stopped him from shooting. He never let it feed into how he played.

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How Can Anyone Be THAT Good?

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...Steph Curry is nearing 3,400 three-pointers made.

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In 2021, he broke the record mid-game, with 2,900+ 3 pointers made, which set the new record.

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Here’s how he was able to do it.

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He was able to play with resilience, even as a kid. When his college coach saw Steph play for the first time, he said he still messed up. He missed shots, he had turnovers and stupid plays, but he was able to pick it back up right after like nothing happened. Just because he missed a few times before didn’t mean he was on a cold streak and he would stop attempting shots. Every open shot was a new opportunity for him to start sinking ‘em.

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“I remember sitting there and thinking, that’s unusual. That this tiny freshman has the level of greenlight to take a 3 so quickly, miss a 3, and then take another one and make it, in like the first handful of seconds of the game.”

-Michael Kruse Davidson Alum and Writer

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The Shot Counts

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Taking shots at anything is horrifying. But you know what takes even more guts than that?

Taking shots when you have missed a lot. Like a sh*t ton of times.

To the point where it is embarrassing because people are wondering if you have ever touched a basketball in your life. Of course, replace basketball with any opportunity or situation.

So to be as good as Curry, who literally changed the game of basketball, you have to start making plays like he would.

I mean, you read the quote. In the first few seconds of the game alone, he missed a 3, got another chance, and shot it again.

Most people would let that miss affect their confidence, but Steph didn’t see it that way.

You shouldn’t either. You always have another chance at the shot if you allow yourself to have it.

If you’re not taking the shot because you’re scared of missing, you are disqualifying yourself from the chance to win.

Hard to win the lottery when you don’t buy the ticket. Do not use this to justify buying a bunch of lottery tickets though, as that is a pretty terrible investment (unless you win, then that is a solid 1 billion X on your money).

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