AMERICANWAY
APRIL2016
59
At thebeginningof thecurrentseason,Dell,
who isaTVanalyst forCharlotteHornetsgames,
ranked42nd in theNBA incareer3-pointersmade
with1,245.OnNov. 14,2015, inagameagainst the
BrooklynNets,Stephmadea3-pointer thatgave
him1,246 forhiscareer.
“Mybuddiesgavemea lotofheat for that,”Dell
says, laughing. “It tookme16years todo itandhe
did it inseven.But thatwasprettycool.Asa father
andex-player, youwantyourson tobesuccessful.”
★
FANSARE INFATUATEDWITHSTEPHCURRY
becausehe isagreatbasketballplayer.But there is
more to it than that. “I look like them,”Currysays.
“WhenI talk to fanson thestreet, theysay theyare
surprisedI’mas tallasIam.That’sbecauseIplay
withgiants.”
Whencompared tootherdominantplayers,Curry
isdiminutive.LeBronJameshas led teams tosix
NBAFinalsappearancesandhaswon two titles.
KobeBryantwas insevenNBAFinalsandwon five
titles.MichaelJordanwas insixFinalsandwon
themall.James is6 foot8,250pounds.Bryant is6
foot6,212.Jordanwas6 foot6,218whenheplayed.
At6 foot3, 190,which is four inchesshorterand
30pounds lighter than theaverageNBAplayer,
Curryhasneverbeenconfusedwith theIncredible
Hulk. “Kids lookathimand theyseehope,”says
West. “Peoplealwayswanted tobeMichael,wanted
tobeKobeorLeBron.Noweverybodywants tobe
StephCurry.Asakid,howareyougoing tobeasbig
as thoseother three?ButyoucanbeasbigasSteph
Curry.”
Althoughconfident,Curry isnotboastful,which
adds tohispopularity.Hismodesty isevidentwhen
he isaskedabout thenotion thathe is thebestplayer
in theworld. “Itmotivatesme,”hesays. “ButI
definitelygiggle.LeBronwasaguyIwaswatching in
highschool, so it’skindof funnyhowyouendup ina
certainspot.But it’s fun.There isnothingnegative
aboutbeing in thatconversation, that’s forsure.”
In theBayArea,Curry isobviouslybeloved,but
after the2015Finals, itwasevident thathisappeal
hadexpanded,when theNBAannouncedhehad the
top-selling jersey in theworld. “The impactSteph
has issomemultipleofwhateven thoseamazing
Jordanyearswere,”saysWarriorsPresidentand
ChiefOperatingOfficerRickWelts. “InNovember,
theWarriorsgenerated1billion impressions for the
first timebetweenFacebookandTwitter.That is
22percentof the impressions for theentire league.
Steph’splay isdriving that.Whathedoeson the
court isextraordinary.”
Evenhispreparation isspectacular.Curryhas
workeddiligentlytorefinehisball-handlingskills,
andtheresult isthathispregameworkouthas
goneviral.Hebeginsthesessionsbydribblingtwo
basketballs,onewitheachhand,as fastasaboxer
workingthespeedbag, then followsthiswitha
varietyofshots fromdifferentanglesanddistances,
some fromas farawayasmidcourt.Theroutine is
sopopularthatseveral thousand fansgettoarenas
earlytowatchandrecord itwiththeirsmartphones.
Onewarm-upvideohasmorethan1.5millionviews
onYouTube.
That isonlya fractionof theviewsonavideo
featuringhisdaughter.RileyCurry,whowas2at
the time,becameasensationduring theplayoffs last
yearwhenherdadbroughther topostgamepress
conferences.Rileywaved toreporters, talked inces-
santly, laughedout loud, toldher father tobequiet,
dancedandcrawledunder the table.Somesports
writerscomplainedabout thedisruption,but the fans
loved it:Oneclipgotmore than4.8millionhitson
YouTube.Marketingpeople, too, tooknotice.
“I’vegottenat least20offers forher,”Currysaysof
thecommercialopportunitiescominghisdaugh-
ter’sway. “Thereweredeals forshoes that lightup
—asignatureRileyshoe—endorsementoffers for
diapersandaclothing line.We’vehadoffers forher
tocome to theopeningofamovieandshecouldget
asmuchas$15,000 for twohours.Shecouldmake
enough forherowncollege fundnow,butwe’regoing
to take itslow.She’saspecial littlegirl.”
ForCurry,hisdaughter’ssudden famewasafitting
end toaspectacularseason.Hewonachampionship,
wasrecognizedas thebestplayer in the league, got
invited toplaygolfwith thepresidentandwas lauded
forhischaritywork,witha$10million-pluspaycheck
to top itoff.And, through itall,hehasmanaged to
remainagrounded, likableyoungman.
“Ihavebeenaroundhimfiveyearsandwitnessed
his journey tosuccess,”saysWarriorsGeneral
ManagerBobMyers. “Hischaracter,demeanorand
humilityhavenotwavered. It isunique inoursociety
tostay true towhoyouare,buthehas.Thegreatest
thingIcansayabouthim ishe’s the typeofguyyou’d
likeyourdaughter tomarry.”
JANHUBBARD
has covered theNBA for several newspapers,
including
NewYorkNewsday
, andheworked for theNBA
as headof publications for six years.Hewouldn’t dreamof
challengingStephCurry to agameofH-O-R-S-E.
REL I VE THE
WARR IORS ’
CHAMP IONSH I P
RUN WH I LE I N
F L I GHT
Don’tmissout on
additional coverageof
StephCurry in the
documentary
2014-2015
NBAChampions:
GoldenStateWarriors
,
availableonour in-seat
entertainment systems
thismonth. Youcanalso
catchNBAgameson
our LiveTelevisionprod-
uct on select internation-
al aircraft, presentedby
MasterCard.
