NBA (DR)
Since his arrival in the NBA, Stephen Curry has shown unwavering loyalty to the Warriors.
Ditto when he was on the NCAA floors under the colors of Davidson, despite numerous approaches that he would have sharply rejected.
In an era where loyalty is becoming increasingly rare in the NBA, he places himself as one of the last guarantors of this notion.
Stephen Curry never seemed to want to even consider leaving the Warriors, where he made his debut in the league in 2009.
Lauded for his attachment to his lifelong franchise, he actually never adopted the opposite behavior throughout his career.
Steph Curry’s categorical refusal to his suitors
Unlike most top prospects of his era, Curry wasn’t exactly flooded with offers coming out of high school.
Deemed too small and frail by most NCAA scouts, he had to be content to join the ranks of the little-recognized Davidson University.
But after having excelled during his first months there, the Chef had to make a difficult choice, as Rex Chapman tells X :
Rex Chapman: Stephen Curry had just finished his freshman season at Davidson and every coach I knew was calling me asking if I could talk with my best friend Dell Curry and see if Stephen would consider joining their university.
And when I say all the coaches, I weigh my words. Even the one at the college I went to (Kentucky) wanted it.
Now, a quick flashback—just a year ago, Stephen was willing to kill to get to a college like Duke, even without a scholarship.
In fact, I even made a call to Johnny Dawkins, who was Coach K’s longtime assistant, to see if Steph could join Duke as a non-scholarship player.
He told Coach K about it, but they had already reached their quota on the matter.
So, a year later, I called Dell and told him that the majority of the most prestigious universities in the country now wanted Stephen on their team.
Dell asked me to give them 24 hours to think about it, which I did.
The next morning, Dell called me back to say that he had discussed it with Stephen and that Stephen had thought about it all night.
Then he said to me, “Rex, you know Stephen doesn’t swear a lot, but this morning he said to me, ‘Dad, let them go.’ They didn’t want me before and I don’t want them now. »
Faithful to the modest program that gave her her chance on the university circuit, Steph continued her journey at Davidson for the following two seasons.
Time for him to build up a good reputation in the NBA, before being selected in 7th position in the Draft and making history.
When many young players would have given in to the temptation to join a renowned college such as Kentucky, Stephen Curry preferred to stay at Davidson.
Well it took a toll on him given his trajectory over the years that followed.