Being Good at Basketball Meant Being Tall, Until Stephen Curry Came Along

By: Chloe Wu

The squeaks of shoes against the court mingle with the shouts of players and cheers of the crowd. Sweat shines under the bright overhead lights, and the energy is intense. Looking closer, nearly all the players are taller than average, but one: Stephen Curry. Quick, nimble, and extraordinarily skilled, he easily outshines his opponents despite his lack of height.

Since the beginning of professional basketball, height has been a must. In the 2021-2022 NBA season, the average basketball player was 6’6’’ tall. This is a whopping 8 inches taller than the average American male: 5’9.5’’. Stephen Curry is 6’2’’.

According to the Boston Globe, “while the probability of, say, an American between 6’6’’ and 6’8’’ being an NBA player today stands at a mere 0.07 percent, it is a staggering 17 percent for someone 7 feet or taller.”

From a young age, Curry faced difficulties because of how others viewed his height. According to Britannica.com, “His keen shooting and high ‘basketball IQ’ were not enough to persuade college coaches to overlook his wiry frame and unremarkable 6-foot (1.8-metre) height.”

However, his pure talent eventually shone through when he led his college, Davidson in North Carolina, into the Elite Eight of the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) men’s top-division basketball championship tournament. Therefore, when he entered the 2009 NBA draft, he was immediately selected by the Golden State Warriors, and he still plays for San Francisco today.

Last Thursday, Golden State forward Andre Iguodala told reporters, “Normally you get a guy that’s a center, like a Hakeem [Olajuwon]. Or Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, those guys are 6-7 and taller, and they can get to their spots and shoot over guys. But a guy his height who is vertically challenged, they would say, just — you saw it; we all saw it. It was just incredible.”

“What he’s doing is revolutionary,” says Doc Rivers, the Philadelphia 76ers coach who’s had to game-plan against Curry for a decade. “Only the greats can do that, leave their mark like that. Actually, the great-greats. They change the game.”

Curry’s pure love of the game and his willingness to give it his all is what makes his height a negligible factor. Curry emphasizes “the importance of every possession, fighting through fatigue, fighting through the nerves, the adrenaline. Fighting through some failures if you have some, because everybody’s going to be important.”

Stephen Curry is an eight-time NBA All-Star and eight-time All-NBA selection. He has been named the NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) twice, has won four NBA championships, an NBA Finals MVP Award, and an NBA All-Star Game MVP Award.

He currently ranks fifth nationally in points scored per game.

Sources:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1655669475050x125650703817542960/Steph%20Curry%27s%20NBA%20Finals%20MVP%20award%20brings%20new%20chapter%20to%20his%20legacy%20-%20The%20Washington%20Post.pdf

https://www.nba.com/news/stephen-curry-changed-game-long-before-3-point-milestone