Some of the words used to describe Steph Curry before the 2009 NBA Draft were "undersized" and "extremely limited". While that first one is true, Steph is certainly not "limited", but still many older players, analysts, and media members doubt the Baby-Faced Assassin's ability.
One of the biggest was good old Charles Barkley, who has since said he was wrong and reversed his opinions on Steph.
When the Warriors had a 33-6 record (2014-15 season), on pace for one of the best records in NBA history, Charles Barkley named the top three teams in the Western Conference mid-January on Inside the NBA on TNT. He listed the Portland Trailblazers, Memphis Grizzlies and Dallas Mavericks. When the other hosts and guests asked why he didn’t include the Warriors and their record-breaking shooting, Charles said, "I have said the exact same thing for 16 years here. I don't like jump shooting teams. I don't think you can win the championship shooting jumpers. I like the big men on those other three teams."
At the beginning of the 2015-16 season, in which the Warriors only lost 9 regular season games, a record, Charles Barkley said, "Before we hand them the championship, let’s just wait a little bit."
That was only a few months after the Warriors beat the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals, 4-2, and they only lost five games in that postseason. In a way he was right, the Warriors didn’t win, but only because Draymond Green got suspended for a few games. But the Warriors definitely should’ve won the 2016 Finals.
In February of 2016, Barkley also said this about Curry, who was averaging 6.6 assists per game at the time: "He’s not more than a shooter. He’s just a great shooter. But he’s not a great playmaker. He’s just a great shooter."
He's mistaken there, as Curry has averaged 6.7 assists over his career and over 2 secondary assists his entire career (except this season since he only played 4 games). A secondary assists is where you assist the assister in assisting. So if Steph passed to Draymond Green, who could've scored, but then he passed to Klay Thompson for a open layup, Steph would get a secondary assist.
But that’s enough of Sir Charles. "Whenever Steph has a bad game," Sam Esfandiari, who co-hosts the Warriors-focused Light Years podcast and Warriors World radio show with Andy Liu, told Undefeated reporter Brando Starkey, "people compare him to players who are just not on [his] tier."
"Steph was not supposed to be this guy, but he was," Liu notes. "And he usurped and leapt over Chris Paul, even LeBron James … and a lot of these players are not happy about that."
But most people didn’t agree with them ten years ago, and some still don’t, even now. Steph recalls Doug Gottlieb, a major draft analyst, saying that he was ranked seventh in point guards, so who knows where Gottlieb had him overall.
Part of the reason that people don’t recognize him as a great player is his size and build. When you look at the superstars nowadays, Lebron is huge and 6'10", Giannis is also about Lebron’s size, and even Russell Westbrook and James Harden have physical traits that make them stand out. But Steph Curry just looks like a normal guy walking down the street sometimes. He’s only 6'3" and 185 pounds (1.9 meters and 84 kg), while Joel Embiid is 7 feet tall and 225 pounds.
In an article Steph wrote for the Players’ Tribune, he said he owes his mom for not letting him get down and for motivating him. Steph couldn’t recall any exact script, but here’s what his mom basically said:
"Steph, I'm only going to tell you this one time. After that, this basketball dream….. it's going to be what it’s going to be. But here's what I'll say: NO ONE gets to write your story but you. Not some scouts. Not some tournament. Not these other kids, who might do this better or that better. And not EVER your last name. None of those people, and none of those things, gets to be the author of your story. Just you. So think real hard about it. Take your time. And then you go and write what you want to write. But just know that this story — it’s yours."
If I included every major thing every analyst or media member ever said about Steph, you would still be reading by Christmas. So I’ll try to include things so you just read until the end of November.
Russell Westbrook also said that Steph was just 'a shooter', and when asked about him being underrated defensively, Westbrook tried his best not to laugh. Lebron said, after Curry won his first MVPs, that he didn’t think Steph was really the league’s MVP. The season Curry won his first one, the players in the league voted James Harden as their MVP.
And, as most people know, Michael Jordan said that Steph wasn't a Hall of Famer. The exact quote was, "Not a Hall of Famer yet, though. He's not."
But Curry never fires back, at least not through words. His 2015-16 season was one of the best ever. He averaged 30 points, two steals and six assists. He became part of the prestigious 50-40-90 club (when someone shoots 50% from the field, 40% from three and 90% from the free throw line over an entire season) and played all but three of the 82 games.
I’ll go more in depth about that season in part three.
For someone who changed the game completely, the all-time great Stephen Curry should not have that many doubters and haters.
Thanks for reading Part II and 'The Most Disrespected NBA Superstar Part III: The Proof', will be coming up in a few days, so stay tuned.