Seth Curry turned down a Warriors deal, wanting away from brother ‘Steph’s shadow’

After bouncing around the D-League, various Summer League outfits and a series of training camp invites and 10-day contracts, Seth Curry is finally in the NBA for good. The son of former NBA sharpshooter Dell Curry and brother of league MVP Steph Curry signed a two-year, guaranteed deal with the Sacramento Kings this summer, at the behest of new Kings general manager and former Dell teammate Vlade Divac.

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Curry fielded other offers, though, including one that could have paired him in Golden State with Steph Curry.

Sports Illustrated’s Lee Jenkins, in another killer player profile, documented Curry’s wariness in being asked to come off the bench behind his famous older brother (via Pro Basketball Talk):

The Kings made the strongest offer on July 21—the day after Summer League ended—but not the only one. The Pelicans, Hornets and Warriors jumped in as well. “I didn’t want to go to Golden State,” Seth says. “I didn’t want to go back in Steph’s shadow.”

There’s one important distinction, here.

Golden State, wary of its luxury tax bill and counting every penny it can, likely only offered him a training camp deal. It’s done so in the past, and the highest Seth could climb was two different residencies on the team’s D-League outfit. Charlotte and New Orleans may have also offered non-guaranteed contracts, while Sacramento may have been the only squad to fully commit to Seth Curry this season.

His point about not wanting to work within the confines of his brother’s MVP shadow are well-taken, though. In this must-read feature Jenkins points out the fact that Seth Curry’s life has been divided into two distinct parts – the dozen year spent living as “Dell Curry’s son,” and the other half spent being referred to as “Steph Curry’s brother.”

In the feature, Seth recalls how catcalls in high school (unfavorably comparing him to his brother) spurred his competitive streak. While Steph Curry was leading the NCAA in scoring in 2009 at Davidson, Seth led all freshman NCAA players in scoring at Liberty. Mindful of the way that gimmick defense at times derailed his brother’s college career, he transferred to Duke. Curry was a nationally televised fixture at the university, but nagging injuries devastated his draft stock, and he went unselected in 2013.

Hopping on a novelty, the Warriors signed him to their D-League roster, where he dominated, but a series of 10-day contracts with three different NBA teams only resulted in 21 total NBA minutes. Curry would go on to be a two-time All-Star in the NBA’s minor league, turning down repeated offers to play lucrative ball overseas (the D-League, acting as a showcase above all, barely pays a living wage) before finally breaking through during this year’s NBA Summer League.

Thus, the four contract offers. Thus, finally, one of them being guaranteed – two years, $2 million in Sacramento.

We don’t know if 6-foot-2 (maybe) Seth Curry, as with all things Sacramento-y and Kings-y, will pan out. What we do know is that Seth Curry has NBA range, and that there will always be room in this league for scoring guards who can shoot – no matter their size.

Or the size of the shadow they’re stepping away from.

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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KDonhoops