Check out 14-year-old Stephen Curry talking up his NBA future
By most standards of basketball scouting, Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry was never supposed to be the leading vote-getter in the All-Star Game or an MVP favorite. Curry had a fairly low profile as a high-school recruit, entered the NBA in 2009 as a college star with questions about his athleticism, and developed a reputation as injury-prone after a few pro seasons. What Curry has accomplished is remarkable, and it’s all the more shocking due to how many (including this writer) have doubted him at various points along the way.
At the same time, Curry didn’t exactly rise from obscurity. As the son of NBA veteran and legendary shooter Dell Curry, young Steph popped up in popular media fairly often, whether at All-Star Weekend in 1993 or at less noticeable moments throughout his father’s career.
[Follow Dunks Don’t Lie on Tumblr: The best slams from all of basketball]
So it’s not terribly shocking to see this video (via PBT and Sportando) of a 14-year-old Steph discussing his dreams of playing in the NBA and knocking down jumpers over his younger brother Seth (now with the D-League’s Erie BayHawks). It comes from “Off the Hardwood,” a series that dealt with basketball players and their families. Take a look:
When old clips of current NBA players as youngsters surface, they usually exist only because the athletes in question were so good as teenagers as to demand media coverage. Curry’s case is a little different — at 14 years old, or even four or five years later, it would have been silly to project him as a pro. The young Steph obviously had some skills — you can see the makings of his lightning-quick release here — but it’s not as if anything in this clip screams “future superstar.”
To put it another way, Curry’s dreams are actual dreams, whereas other players at his current level could have considered their hopes of playing professionally to be reasonable business plans.
Incidentally, all the baseball talk in this clip relates to Dell’s career as a pitcher at Virginia Tech. He was drafted in the 14th round of the 1985 MLB Draft by the Baltimore Orioles but decided to pursue basketball exclusively.
– – – – – – –
Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
