![]() He wasn’t 6-7 like Miller or even 6-4 like his dad. But Curry was 6-foot-2 without shoes and 181 pounds. He made 284 3s at a clip of 42.5 percent playing like Reggie Miller. A mixture of spotting up and running off screens was how he got most of his 23.7 points per game over his first two years. So Curry spent two seasons playing off guard, focused mostly on getting off his shot. The advice would prove a critical building block in the making of the 3-point king.Īfter two years in the Davidson program and 58 games off the bench, Jason Richards was the next-in-line point guard for the Wildcats when Curry arrived in 2006. Dell Curry - who made 1,245 regular-season 3-pointers in his 16 seasons, plus another 41 3s in the playoffs - warned his oldest son he would need to play point guard in the NBA. After his sophomore year in college, which he capped with one of the NCAA Tournament’s all-time great runs, it was his father’s wisdom again setting him up for greatness. When Curry was in middle school, his father changed his form so he could get shots off without getting blocked. … And Steph’s motion is so compact, and he’s able to replicate that same shot no matter where he’s at on the floor.” The ability to get it off, especially when you’re a smaller guard, that was something I was constantly working on because you just don’t have a lot of space sometimes. “And so just the ability to navigate, play against bigger players, stronger players, more athletic players. “Steph’s a little bit bigger than I was, but he’s still probably considered a smaller guard in the league,” said Mark Price, who shot over 40 percent from 3 in his 12 seasons as a point guard in the league. But his curse is a relentless and always strengthening attack on his freedom to use it. Curry’s gift is a follow-through kissed by the heavens. If necessity is the mother of invention, then space was the demand that created this legend. Curry already reigns.įor this article, The Athletic collected data on every single 3-pointer Curry has made so far in his career and talked to those who know Curry’s evolution and those who know 3-point shooting for a look at how an undersized college star turned into the NBA’s undisputed king of the 3. But to get to that number is a big deal.” ![]() So the fact that I have - I know I still got a lot more in my career - been able to shoot the percentage that I have in the regular season over the course of my career … with how defenses have changed against me and the shots that I take, and all of that, to me is pretty special. There’s another caveat of hoop heads knowing volume and efficiency is huge. ![]() I’m not claiming that until I get that record. “I copped out to the respect, the true and authentic respect, I have for Reggie and Ray. “I don’t even have words for it, to be honest,” Curry said recently. Out of respect for his predecessors, he won’t rock the crown prematurely. But though he’s already eclipsed Reggie Miller, a name synonymous with shooting, Curry’s formal inauguration is still to come as he is now just two makes from breaking Ray Allen’s record for regular-season 3-pointers. ![]() As a result, his mastery is comprehensive.Ĭurry has already made more 3-pointers in NBA games than anyone when you combine playoffs and regular season (3,434). All the work, the grind and the technical expertise have produced a variety of ways to get Curry to his sweet spot in the air. The intangible made possible by the tangible. The combination is what makes the Golden State Warriors star the 3-point king. Resolve and precision are his allies in this fight. He has two decades of calculation, configuration and execution. ![]() This is the part easy to explain, as Curry has taken a scientific approach to conquering all that’s aimed at him. NBA defenses, for more than 12 years now, have been determined to keep Curry grounded. His size has always been a hurdle, one not cleared by his leaping ability. And Curry has had a steady flow of obstacles keeping him from that realm. A globe of basketball fans are captivated by his work.īut some thrones aren’t won without struggle. The perennial goal, every game, every shot, is to get to that realm. Curry’s own world, where he is liberated. This place isn’t high up, not in a literal sense. “I, obviously, have a natural eye for the rim,” he said, “and feel and touch and creativity and all that. ![]()
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