Even before he played his first career game, NBA scouts liked Stephen Curry a lot, but they clearly had third and fourth thoughts about his superstar potential.

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Born to Sonya Adams and former NBA sharpshooter Dell Curry, Stephen Curry had big shoes to fill once he decided he was going to follow in his deadshot Daddy Dell’s footsteps. But Steph had Dell’s genes and inherited his shooting touch. Steph was much quicker and a better ball handler than dad ever was. Still, many doubted him because of his size. The Golden State Warriors didn’t, and look where they are now.

That’s nothing new to Curry, as he wasn’t highly-recruited coming out of high school either. As many of you know, Curry ended up playing for Davidson, a small D1 college where he spent three seasons before putting his name into the draft.

Even after showing what a game-changing, dynamic and dominating he could be — especially when it mattered most — NBA teams still weren’t convinced it would translate.

It wasn’t because of Curry’s lack of talent or shooting but it was because of his relatively-slight size and supposed lack of athleticism — attributes they believed would be barriers to Curry’s success at the next level. Read what NBADraft.net had to say in their Steph’s Draft Profile

“Far below NBA standard in regard to explosivenes and athleticism … At 6-2, he’s extremely small for the NBA shooting guard position … Can overshoot and rush into shots from time to time (vs. WV) … Will have to adjust to not being a volume shooter which could have an effect on his effectiveness … Not a great finisher around the basket due to his size and physical attributes …”

The profile also compared him to Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf which seemed fair at the time, but we all now know was way off. Draftexpress.com was a little kinder but was still high critical in many of the same areas they saw as deficient to become an superstar in the league:

“One of the bigger concerns about Curry’s offensive game is that he does not project to become a prolific slasher at the NBA level. His first step is average at best, and considering his skinny frame and poor explosiveness around the basket in traffic, it’s unlikely that he’ll be able to get to the free throw line … he usually prefers to settle for a pull-up jumper rather than take the way all the way to the rim… he’ll probably need to have some other shot-creators playing alongside him, especially in order to take full advantage of his perimeter shooting ability.”

With those words on his report, it wasn’t surprising that it spooked some teams from drafting Curry. The 2009 draft saw players like Hasheem Thabeet, Tyreke Evans, Ricky Rubio and Johnny Flynn drafted ahead of Curry. But as we all know by now, Curry has proven to be a once-an-era game-changer and arguably the best shooter in NBA history. In other words, Curry has turned many of his weaknesses into strength.

Stephen Curry’s Career High in Points, Assists, & More

Aside from his impressive credentials, Curry’s personal career highs are equally as good. Take a look at Curry’s single game career high stats across points, rebounds, assists, steals, three-pointers and more:

As far as career highs in points, Steph Curry’s career high in points is 54 points when he scored his career best in a nationally-televised game against the New York Knicks. Even with his outburst, Curry’s Warriors ended up losing the game at Madison Square Garden. This game was considered the superstar’s coming out game.

Many say that game in 2013 was the first sign of what Curry would be; the one we are so familiar with today. Up until that game, Curry was known for his being injured often and occasional flashes of brilliance. He hadn’t dominated like that nor really put on the showwe’re accustomed to seeing from him game in and game out. In front of the New York City crowd he hit long three after long three, pulling up from further and further out; shooting 18-28 overall and 11-13 from three-point range which set the Warriors franchise record at the time.

Including his 54 point game, Curry has five career games in which he scored at least 50 points in the regular season:

Curry’s highest scoring game to date was the only 50 point game where he played more than 37 minutes — he played all 48 minutes — and was the only game which the Warriors lost. Since 2013, the Warriors have gotten better and better (and even better) as a team. And the better they’ve gotten, the minutes have gotten fewer for Steph when he’d find himself sitting out entire fourth quarters. That’s not great for his individual numbers but excellent for any championship run.

No doubt Curry’s scoring prowess is based on his ability to catch fire behind the arc. As of October 2018 when he hit 11 threes and scored 51 points in 31 minutes against the Washington Wizards, he has 6 of 13 times a player has hit eleven or more three-pointers in one game.

Stephen Curry’s Career Highs in the NBA Playoffs

Curry’s career bests during the NBA Playoffs actually surpass some of the records he has in the regular season. That’s a great sign of greatness; being able to step up in the biggest moments. Here are Steph’s NBA career highs in points, rebounds, assists, steals, FGA, FGM, and three-pointers.

Steph Curry is the Best Three Point Shooter Ever

While it may be surprising to some to see that Curry hasn’t scored more than 54 points in a single game, it’s not surprising why he owns the NBA record for most three pointers made in a single game. The guy has raised the bar significantly when it comes to three point shooting. His 403 three pointers during the 2015-16 season annihilated his own record of 284 threes in one season.

Curry own the record for the most three-pointers made in one game with the 13 three point shorts he hit against the New Orleans Pelicans in 36 minutes of action. Prior to that, Curry tied Donyell Marshall‘s and Kobe Bryant‘s record of 12 three pointers made in a game when he lit up the Oklahoma City Thunder. Incredibly, Curry shot at least 75% from three point range in both games.

Curry also owns the record for the most games with 8 threes, 9 threes and games with ten or more three-pointers in one game.

Curry’s Highest Assist Total: The 2014 season was Curry’s best in terms of assists. During that year, Steph had six games where he piled up at least 15 assists in a single contest. These included the two games where he hit his career high of 16 assists.

In the last couple seasons, Curry’s assist numbers have gone down but that’s not because he’s not been passing. The reason is two-fold, Draymond Green‘s increased role as player (he’s averaged 7.4 and 7.0 assists in the last two seasons) and the Warriors’ offensive system focuses on ball movement that makes every player a passer and shooter at any given moment.

Steph Curry’s NBA Awards and Accomplishments

Eight NBA seasons later after being drafted, those reports now sound blasphemous. Many of Steph Curry’s perceived weaknesses have been turned on their heads. Without a doubt, Stephen Curry is one of the best players in the NBA right now.

And he was the best player in 2015 and 2016, when Curry won the MVP award in consecutive seasons. He led the Golden State Warriors to the NBA title in 2015 and then helped them establish the best regular season record ever with 73 wins in 2016.

• NBA champion (2015)
• NBA Most Valuable Player (2015, 2016)
• NBA All-Star (2014–2017)
• All-NBA First Team (2015, 2016)
• All-NBA Second Team (2014)
• NBA scoring champion (2016)
• NBA steals leader (2016)
• 50–40–90 club (2016)
• NBA Three-Point Contest champion (2015)
• NBA Sportsmanship Award (2011)
• NBA All-Rookie First Team (2010)
• AP Athlete of the Year (2015)
• Gold Medal at FIBA World Cup (2014)
• Gold Medal at FIBA World Championship (2010)
• Gold Medal at Global Games (2007)

Size and Skills Matter Together

It’s always easier looking back. And with our 20/20 hindsight, it seems crazy how NBA scouts doubted whether Stephen Curry would make a solid NBA player. He may not have had the size and jump-out-of-the-gym athleticism, but he’s always had the tools. He showed us the signs when at Davidson, but only a few believed.

It did take some years for him to jump from oft-injured semi-star to NBA MVP, but at this point, he’s more than proven all his critics wrong; he’s actually changed how we view how an NBA star can dominate the game (read: not a monstrous center or high-flying guard).

Height is not necessarily might, not even in the NBA. And it’s not the size of the man in the fight but the size of the fight in the man that matters… along with amazing handles and unmatched three point shooting prowess.