Three-point master: Who is Stephen Curry?
Curry, who is considered one of the best shooters in the NBA and world basketball history by basketball fans, continues his career, which started in 2009, with the Golden State Warriors with many awards, including four championships.
When Curry was born in Ohio in 1988, his father, Dell Curry, was playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers at that time. Growing up with basketball, Stephen soon followed his father's Charlotte Hornets career by attending games with his brother Seth. Considering that both brothers are currently playing basketball professionally in the NBA, it is not difficult to guess how much they enjoy their father's games and how much they love them...
Wardell Stephen Curry II (born March 14, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely regarded as the greatest shooter and one of the greatest players of all time, Curry is credited with revolutionizing the sport by inspiring teams and players to take more three-point shots. He is a four-time NBA champion, a two-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP), an NBA Finals MVP, an NBA All-Star Game MVP, a nine-time NBA All-Star, and a nine-time All-NBA selection, including four times on the first team.
Stephen Curry's professional basketball career began in high school, and he caught the attention of Davidson College when he was only in the tenth grade. Curry, who closed the first season of his college career with an average of 21.5 points per game, also proved to be the most successful rookie of the season by making his 113th three-pointer in the semi-finals. The name following him is none other than Kevin Durant, who is well-known to basketball fans. Stephen Curry continued to break records throughout the rest of his college career but decided to enter the NBA Draft before finishing his senior year.
Inseparable Duo: Stephen Curry and Golden State Warriors
The reason why we call Curry and the Warriors an inseparable duo is that Curry has not left the Warriors since he started his career in 2009. In the NBA, where the balance in teams is constantly changing and it is quite normal for players to play for many teams throughout their careers, it is an extraordinary event that Curry has played for the same team for more than fourteen years. Considering that he managed to lead his team to the championship four times (2015, 2017, 2018, 2022), the Warriors' commitment to Curry is understandable.
When Curry was selected by the Golden State Warriors with the seventh pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, he did much more than was expected of him in his rookie year. Although he lost the NBA Rookie of the Year award to Tyreke Evans, he was selected to the NBA Rookie Top Five and brought the Warriors their first success. Let's not forget to mention that among his impressive achievements in his first year was a triple-double and a total of 116 three-pointers.
Although it does not overshadow his successful career, Stephen Curry is one of the basketball players who has had to deal with injuries more than once. Curry, who had surgery on his right ankle in 2011, was benched for many games in the 2011-12 season due to his injury. Although there were concerns about his injury the following season, Curry and Klay Thompson began to be known as the "Splash Brothers" with their performance behind the three-point line. In the same season, in a match against the New York Knicks, he scored 54 points, the best score of his career. Moreover, Curry, who made 11 three-pointers in the same game, made his name in NBA history as the first player to score over 50 points and make more than 10 three-pointers.
Warriors' Championship Joy
The Golden State Warriors had only won the league title twice before Curry. Curry and his teammates achieved the championship that the team, which last won in 1975, had been longing for for many years, for the first time in 2015. The Warriors, coached by Steve Kerr, one of the legendary names of basketball, fought against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the finals of the 2014-2015 season. That same season, Curry was named MVP (Most Valuable Player) with 26 points and 6.3 assists per game.
Even though they couldn't get the championship ring on their finger in the 2015-2016 season, the Warriors still managed to make it to the finals. Curry's personal career has been as remarkable as the Warriors' performance as a team. Curry, who was a part of the team that won 73 times during the regular season, became the first basketball player to be unanimously elected MVP (Most Valuable Player).
The Golden Era of the Warriors was marked by two consecutive championships. Curry and his friends had an incredible fight against the Cavaliers on the court again in the 2017 Finals. The king of three-pointers, who was injured once again in 2018, scored 28 points in the first match after his return, even though he had to stay on the bench for a long time. In the 2018 Finals, the Warriors faced James Harden's Houston Rockets, and Curry, who missed the triple-double with only one rebound in the seventh game, experienced the joy of championship for the last time.
- He became the NBA's Most Valuable Player in back-to-back years in 2015 and 2016.
- He was on the NBA All-Star card a total of six times from 2014 to 2019.
- To the Top Five of the Year in 2015, 2016, and 2019; In 2014 and 2017, he was selected for the Second Best Five of the Year.
- Curry, who broke many NBA records with three-pointers, became the champion of the NBA Three-Point Contest in 2015.
- He was the basketball player with the most points in the NBA in 2016, the first year he tasted the championship.
- Curry won the 2010 and 2014 World Cups while on the US National Basketball Team.