Wardell Stephen Curry Sr. (born June 25, 1964) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. He played in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA) from 1986 until 2002 and retired as the

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team ...

' all-time leader in points (9,839) and three-point field goals made (929). Curry currently works as a

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The person may also be referred to as a summariser (outside North America) ...

, alongside Eric Collins, on Charlotte Hornets television broadcasts. He is the father of

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

players

Stephen Curry Wardell Stephen Curry II ( ; born March 14, 1988) is an American professional basketball player and point guard for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "Chef Curry", he is widely regarded as the ...

and Seth Curry.

Early life

Born in

Harrisonburg, Virginia Harrisonburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Shenandoah Valley region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is also the county seat of the surrounding Rockingham Cou ...

, Curry was raised in

Grottoes Grottoes may refer to: *The plural form of Grotto (disambiguation) * Grottoes, Virginia, a town named for the nearby cave system Grand Caverns {{Disambig ...

and played

high school basketball High school basketball, also known as prep basketball, is the sport of basketball as played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. Top high school athletes often go on to play college basketball after ...

at Fort Defiance, where he used his coach's barn to practice shooting daily. He finished as the all-time leading scorer in school history, and was named a

McDonald's All-American McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American multinational fast food chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese chain Mixue Ice Cream & Tea. Brothers ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

. Curry also played

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

, and won state championships in both sports; he was selected by the Texas Rangers in the 1982 Major League Baseball draft.Dell Curry, Steph's Dad: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know
/ref>

College career

Curry was a four-year starter at

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

in Blacksburg along with contemporaries Bobby Beecher, Perry Young, Al Young, and Keith Colbert. The Hokies appeared in the

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...

(NIT) in

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

and

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

, finishing third in the latter. Although the team qualified for at-large bids to the NCAA tournament in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

and

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

, it lost in the first round on both occasions. In his senior season in 1986, Curry was named the player of the year in the

Metro Conference The Metropolitan Collegiate Athletic Conference, popularly known as the Metro Conference, was an NCAA Division I athletics conference, so named because its six charter members were all in urban metropolitan areas, though its later members di ...

. Prior to the 1986–87 season,

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

basketball did not feature a three-point line; Curry's accurate long-range shooting was not rewarded, as it would be later in his NBA career. (In the early and mid 1980s, the three-point line was introduced in many conferences at varying distances, but it was not recognized by the NCAA.) Curry also played

for

. He was selected by the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

in the 14th round of the 1985 MLB draft but opted to continue playing basketball. Curry finished his Virginia Tech career with 2,389 points (second all-time) and 295 steals (all-time leader) in basketball, and a 6–1 record with a 3.81 ERA in baseball. He was inducted into the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 1996, his first year of eligibility.

Professional career

Curry was selected with the 15th overall pick by the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

in the 1986 NBA draft. He played one season in Utah before being traded to the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

in 1987, where he spent the 1987–88 season. He was left unprotected by Cleveland for the 1988 NBA expansion draft and was the second player selected, the first by the

. Curry spent 10 seasons in Charlotte, mostly coming off the bench to provide instant offense with three-point shooting. He was a regular in the discussions for Sixth Man of the Year and won the honor in the 1993–94 season. He was once the franchise's all-time statistical leader in points, games played, three-point field goals made and attempted, and three-point field goal percentage. When he left the team in 1998, he was the last player remaining from its inaugural season 10 years earlier. Curry played one season for the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

before playing his final three seasons in the NBA for the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...

. He holds career averages of 11.7 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.8 assists. Curry retired as the all-time leading scorer in Hornets history with 9,839 points.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, 67 , , 0 , , 9.5 , , .426 , , .283 , , .789 , , 1.2 , , .9 , , .4 , , .1 , , 4.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

, 79 , , 8 , , 19.0 , , .458 , , .346 , , .782 , , 2.1 , , 1.9 , , 1.2 , , .3 , , 10.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Charlotte , 48 , , 0 , , 16.9 , , .491 , , .345 , , .870 , , 2.2 , , 1.0 , , .9 , , .1 , , 11.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Charlotte , 67 , , 13 , , 27.8 , , .466 , , .354 , , .923 , , 2.5 , , 2.4 , , 1.5 , , .4 , , 16.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Charlotte , 76 , , 14 , , 19.9 , , .471 , , .372 , , .842 , , 2.6 , , 2.2 , , 1.0 , , .3 , , 10.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Charlotte , 77 , , 0 , , 26.2 , , .486 , , .404 , , .836 , , 3.4 , , 2.3 , , 1.2 , , .3 , , 15.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Charlotte , 80 , , 0 , , 26.2 , , .452 , , .401 , , .866 , , 3.6 , , 2.3 , , 1.1 , , .3 , , 15.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Charlotte , 82 , , 0 , , 26.5 , , .455 , , .402 , , .873 , , 3.2 , , 2.7 , , 1.2 , , .3 , , 16.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Charlotte , 69 , , 0 , , 24.9 , , .441 , , .427 , , .856 , , 3.4 , , 1.6 , , .8 , , .3 , , 13.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Charlotte , 82, , 29 , , 28.9 , , .453 , , .404 , , .854 , , 3.2 , , 2.1 , , 1.3 , , .3 , , 14.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Charlotte , 68 , , 20 , , 30.6 , , .459 , , .426 , , .803 , , 3.1 , , 1.7 , , .9 , , .2 , , 14.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Charlotte , 52 , , 1 , , 18.7 , , .447 , , .421 , , .788 , , 1.9 , , 1.3 , , .6 , , .1 , , 9.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

, 42 , , 0 , , 20.6 , , .485 , , style="background:#cfecec;", .476* , , .824 , , 2.0 , , 1.1 , , .9 , , .1 , , 10.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, 67 , , 9 , , 16.3 , , .427 , , .393 , , .750 , , 1.5 , , 1.3 , , .5 , , .1 , , 7.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 71 , , 1 , , 13.5 , , .424 , , .428 , , .843 , , 1.2 , , 1.1 , , .4 , , .1 , , 6.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 56 , , 4 , , 15.8 , , .406 , , .344 , , .892 , , 1.4 , , 1.1 , , .4 , , .1 , , 6.4 , - class="sortbottom" , align="center" colspan=2, Career , 1,083 , , 99 , , 21.7 , , .457 , , .402 , , .843 , , 2.4 , , 1.8 , , .9 , , .2 , , 11.7 , -

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 2 , , 0 , , 2.0 , , .000 , , .000 , , — , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 0.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1988 , style="text-align:left;",

, 2 , , 0 , , 8.5 , , .250 , , .000 , , — , , .5 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , .5 , , 1.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

, style="text-align:left;", Charlotte , 9 , , 0 , , 24.7 , , .433 , , .286 , , .818 , , 3.6 , , 2.0 , , 1.4 , , .0 , , 11.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

, style="text-align:left;", Charlotte , 4 , , 0 , , 26.8 , , .471 , , .429 , , .909 , , 2.3 , , 1.5 , , .0 , , .0 , , 12.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, style="text-align:left;", Charlotte , 3 , , 1 , , 16.7 , , .294 , , .250 , , 1.000 , , .3 , , 1.7 , , 1.3 , , .0 , , 4.7 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, style="text-align:left;", Charlotte , 9 , , 0 , , 19.0 , , .593 , , .250 , , .857 , , 2.1 , , 1.1 , , .8 , , .3 , , 5.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 3 , , 0 , , 16.3 , , .404 , , .125 , , 1.000 , , 1.3 , , .3 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , 3.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 3 , , 0 , , 10.0 , , .133 , , .667 , , .500 , , .7 , , .3 , , .7 , , .0 , , 2.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 12 , , 0 , , 15.2 , , .500 , , .378 , , .833 , , 1.2 , , .8 , , .5 , , .1 , , 6.5 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 4 , , 0 , , 14.8 , , .422 , , .800 , , 1.000 , , 1.3 , , 1.0 , , 1.3 , , .5 , , 7.0 , - class="sortbottom" , align="center" colspan=2, Career , 51 , , 1 , , 17.5 , , .400 , , .350 , , .870 , , 1.7 , , 1.1 , , .8 , , .1 , , 6.7 , -

Post-playing career

In 2004, Curry was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. On June 18, 2007, Curry was named an assistant coach of the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats, but he stepped down before the season began so that he could attend his sons' basketball games. In 2009, Curry started working as a commentator, alongside longtime play-by-play announcer Steve Martin, for the Charlotte Bobcats (now Charlotte Hornets). In 2016, Curry was the recipient of the Bobby Jones Award at the Athletes in Action All Star Breakfast, which is held each year at the NBA All Star Weekend.

Personal life

On June 21, 1991, Curry and Charlotte Hornets teammate

Muggsy Bogues Tyrone Curtis "Muggsy" Bogues (born January 9, 1965) is an American former basketball player. The shortest player ever to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Bogues played point guard for four teams during his 14-season care ...

appeared in a

Minor League Baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

game for the Gastonia Rangers of the

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its h ...

. George Shinn, as owner of both teams, arranged the

publicity stunt In marketing, a publicity stunt is a planned event designed to attract the public's attention to the event's organizers or their cause. Publicity stunts can be professionally organized, or set up by amateurs. Such events are frequently utiliz ...

. Curry allowed only one run and struck out four batters in a three inning start. In 1995, Dell and his wife, Sonya ( Adams), founded the Christian Montessori School of Lake Norman, a preschool in

Huntersville, North Carolina Huntersville is a large suburban town in northern Mecklenburg County, North Carolina Mecklenburg County () is a County (United States), county located in the southwestern region of the U.S. state of North Carolina, in the United States. As o ...

. In 1998, Curry established a charitable foundation, the Dell Curry Foundation, which is a youth oriented program in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

. The foundation runs five learning centers in Charlotte to provide educational training and drug abuse counseling. Curry married his college sweetheart Sonya in 1988. They have three children,

Stephen Stephen or Steven is an English given name, first name. It is particularly significant to Christianity, Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is w ...

Seth Seth, in the Abrahamic religions, was the third son of Adam and Eve. The Hebrew Bible names two of his siblings (although it also states that he had others): his brothers Cain and Abel. According to , Seth was born after Abel's murder by Cain, ...

, and Sydel. Stephen is the starting point guard for the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 i ...

and was drafted into the league by the franchise on Dell's 45th birthday in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

. With Golden State, Stephen has won four NBA championships, alongside two NBA MVP Awards and one

NBA Finals MVP The Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (formerly known as the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player) is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1969 NBA Finals. The award is decided by a panel of eleven medi ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

. Stephen is married to Ayesha Curry, with whom he has four children.

currently plays for the

. He is married to Callie Rivers, sister of former NBA player Austin Rivers and daughter of former NBA player and

head coach

Doc Rivers Glenn Anton "Doc" Rivers (born October 13, 1961) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). An NBA player for 14 seasons, he was an NB ...

, and together they have three children. Curry's daughter Sydel played volleyball at

Elon University Elon University is a private university in Elon, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1889 as Elon College, the university is organized into six schools, most of which offer bachelor's degrees and several of which offer master's degrees or ...

and is married to

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

player Damion Lee, whom she has a son and daughter with. She was featured on ''

Say Yes to the Dress ''Say Yes to the Dress'' is an American reality television series on TLC which follows events at Kleinfeld Bridal in Manhattan. The series shows the progress of individual sales associates, managers, and fitters at the store, along with profili ...

'' in 2018. On August 23, 2021, Curry and his wife, Sonya, announced that they were divorcing after 33 years of marriage. He remarried around 2023.

References

External links

*
Virginia Tech Hall of Fame bio

NBA.com profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Curry, Dell 1964 births Living people African-American Christians All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Canada American men's basketball players Basketball players from Charlotte, North Carolina Basketball players from Virginia Charlotte Bobcats announcers Charlotte Hornets expansion draft picks Charlotte Hornets players Cleveland Cavaliers players Curry family Gastonia Rangers players McDonald's High School All-Americans Milwaukee Bucks players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) People from Grottoes, Virginia People from Harrisonburg, Virginia Shooting guards Toronto Raptors players Utah Jazz players Utah Jazz draft picks Virginia Tech Hokies baseball players Virginia Tech Hokies men's basketball players 20th-century American sportsmen

Early life

College career

Professional career

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Post-playing career

Personal life

See also

References

External links