NBA – A remarkable shooter in his time, Stephen Curry’s father said he had to force his son to change his shooting mechanics before entering university. An adjustment that was complicated at the beginning but which then bore fruit…

Former benchmark shooter in the 90s, Dell Curry, the father of Stephen and Seth Curry, is now a media consultant in Charlotte, where his two sons spent a good part of their childhood, when he played for the Hornets (1988 -1998).

Interviewed by the Charlotte Observer, the former fullback notably spoke of the influence that his career and his life as an NBA player may have had on the Warriors leader and his brother. He particularly remembered the many times his two sons accompanied him on a daily basis, in training or on match days, and realized to what extent this environment could have weighed on their respective destinies.

“They loved coming to practice. I was like, ‘Okay boys, you can come to practice and play, but when practice starts you have to go get a Gatorade. You can hold the ball as long as it doesn’t touch the ground. But you need to be careful. We are professionals, it’s a professional team and your father is at work’. I don’t know to what extent they understood that at a young age. Then, when they got older, they started going into the locker room and they discovered how difficult the preparation was for each game. I think they realized at that point: ‘This is real work. It’s work. It’s a game, but it’s serious.” And I think that really helped them get to where they are today, learning the work ethic, knowing how serious basketball is.”

Entering university means change

With an average of 40.2% success behind the arc in his career in the NBA, Dell Curry’s shooting quality no longer needs to be proven, even if Stephen Curry largely surpassed him afterwards. It is therefore very logical that the father had the opportunity to pass on his best advice to his two sons. The former “Sixth Man of The Year” thus claimed authorship of Stephen Curry’s shot, thus helping to make him the best shooter of all time.

The father particularly remembered a complicated summer, where he had to push little Stephen to his limits to force him to change his shooting mechanics, which then started from too low. It was before he entered college at Davidson that Dell Curry took matters into his own hands.

“He was a little guy when he finished his sophomore year at Charlotte Christian…And to trigger his shot, he would go with his arm at waist level to push the ball up. It came in and worked in high school. But one day he said to me: ‘Dad, I think I want to go to university.’ I told him: ‘Okay, you have to change your shot.’ And he said to me: ‘What?’ So I told him, ‘Yes, we need to move your shot above your head, or you’re going to get countered,’” he said. “It was a really tough summer. He was really close to saying, ‘I’m not going to do that. I won’t play basketball. But I told him: ‘Son, you have to persevere. It’s going to work’. He did, but it took a month or two before he was strong enough to shoot from outside the racket.”

His work and perseverance have paid off for Stephen Curry’s career, as it did for Seth Curry. The difficulties endured were therefore worth it.

” It was hard. He sometimes said to himself: ‘I can’t do it. It is too hard’. But thank God he trusted his dad,” concluded Dell Curry.