Things you may not know about Steph Curry

2018 NBA Finals - Game Three
Getty Images | Jason Miller

Stephen Curry is one of the most recognizable athletes in the world. You’ve probably watched him hit countless three pointers on the way to his three (and counting) NBA championships with the Golden State Warriors — but how much do you really know about the former MVP?

If you follow him on social media, you already know he has a beautiful family that includes his wife, Ayesha, and children, Riley, Ryan and Cannon. That’s not even including his parents, brother and sister, all of whom were great athletes in their own right. Here are some things you may not have already known about Curry, even if you have been paying attention to him.

He’s Active In Hollywood

Like many other athletes, Steph Curry doesn’t want to simply be known for what he can do with a ball. He’s recently branched out into the entertainment business by launching his own production studio, Unanimous Media. Through the company, which focuses on faith-based entertainment, Curry is listed as executive producer of several current projects, including the 2019 movie, “Breakthrough,” which stars Chrissy Metz of “This Is Us.” In 2017, he made his live-action acting debut in an episode of HBO’s “Ballers.”

steph curry premiere photo
Getty Images | Kelly Sullivan

Hoops Are In His Blood

Steph Curry comes from a family of athletes, led by his dad, Dell Curry. After a stellar hoops career at Virginia Tech, Dell spent 16 years playing in the NBA, becoming the all-time leading scorer in the history of the Charlotte Hornets organization, before retiring in 2002. Steph’s younger brother, Seth Curry, played college basketball at Duke University before making it to the NBA, where he’s played for several teams since 2014. Dell clearly taught his children well.

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Getty Images | Otto Greule Jr

He Was Born In The Same Hospital As LeBron James

Despite having one of the best rivalries in NBA history, Curry and LeBron James are connected by a thread that goes all the way back to their births. Curry reps Charlotte, North Carolina, as his hometown, but he was born in Akron, Ohio, at the same hospital James had been born in three years earlier. At the time of Curry’s birth, his dad was playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers, the same team James would lead to four different NBA Finals matchups with Curry’s Golden State Warriors.

curry lebron photo
Getty Images | Gregory Shamus

He Might Be The Best Shooter Ever

Anyone who’s paid any attention to Curry’s career knows he’s a great shooter — but did you realize he might go down as the best in basketball history? With plenty of time left in his career, Curry already ranks third in NBA history for three-point field goals made. He also has the fifth-best three-point shooting percentage in history, sinking nearly 44 percent of his shots from that range. But one place where he rules above all others is his accuracy from the free throw line. His career free-throw shooting percentage of .905 is the best in NBA history.

Golden State Warriors Media Day
Getty Images | Ezra Shaw

His Favorite Food Is An Italian Classic

When you’re married to a chef, you get spoiled with all kinds of great food. Even though Curry is a super-successful, well-traveled athlete, his favorite food is a classic that you’ve probably eaten plenty of times yourself. According to Ayesha Curry, her husband’s favorite dish is chicken parmesan.

“I think that’s the way to his heart,” Ayesha told The Hollywood Reporter of her chicken parm recipe, which she decided not to include in her 2016 cookbook, “The Seasoned Life.” “I’m keeping that to myself.”

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He’s A Gamer

Like many of us, Curry also loves to play video games when he has the time. In a recent episode of his YouTube series, “5 Minutes From Home,” he talked about some of the games he loves — and the ones he’s not so good at. Among his favorites were the “Call of Duty” series and the “Tiger Woods PGA Tour” games. He’s also been known to play old-school games like 1987’s “Double Dribble,” which he recently showed off on Instagram. Curry revealed in the YouTube video that he’s awful at “Fortnite.”

steph curry video game photo
Getty Images | Rommel Demano

His Wife Runs A Restaurant Chain

Ayesha Curry is a star in her own right. Steph’s wife is an actor-turned-chef who has published cookbooks, hosted her own show on Food Network and maintains a massive following on social media. Ayesha even runs her own restaurant chain, International Smoke, which has three locations. The eatery specializes in international barbecue and was the result of a collaboration between Ayesha and chef Michael Mina.

The 2017 ESPYS - Arrivals
Getty Images | Matt Winkelmeyer

His Jersey Number Is A Tribute

Curry has been rocking No. 30 on his basketball jerseys since he was a teenager playing at Davidson College. That was the same number his dad, Dell Curry, wore for his entire NBA career. The younger Curry wasn’t physically able to wear that cherished number while playing in high school, because he simply wasn’t big enough. The No. 30 jersey at Charlotte Christian High School was a size XL and Curry was just too skinny to fill it out, so he wore No. 20 while he was there.

Houston Rockets v Golden State Warriors - Game Three
Getty Images | Ezra Shaw

Stephen Isn’t Actually His First Name

Here’s another similarity Steph Curry has with his father. The pair actually share the same name, including the same middle name. Both men are named Wardell Stephen Curry, with dad obviously opting to go with the nickname Dell and son preferring Steph. The Warriors star goes by the name Wardell Curry on his Instagram page, which could be a little confusing if you didn’t know that was the name he was born with.

steph curry dell curry photo
Getty Images | Kevin C. Cox

He Still Holds Several NCAA Records

Before he was torching NBA scoring records, Curry was a standout player at Davidson College in North Carolina. He led the Wildcats to the NCAA Tournament all three seasons he played there, from 2006 to 2009, including to an Elite Eight appearance. He ended his career at Davidson as the school’s all-time leading scorer and the leading scorer in Southern Conference history. Curry also hold’s the Davidson record for most three-pointers made in a single season.

steph curry davidson photo
Getty Images | Kevin C. Cox

There Are Some Surprising Davidson Records He Doesn’t Hold

You’d probably think Curry is at the top of every list for individual scoring records in the history of Davidson Wildcats basketball, but it’s not the case. He is the school’s all-time leading scorer in terms of total points, but he’s second to 1960s player Fred Hetzel in terms of per-game scoring average. He also isn’t the most accurate three-point shooter in Davidson history, surprisingly. He’s third on the school’s career records list for three-point field goal percentage.

steph curry davidson photo
Getty Images | Streeter Lecka

His Parents Were College Sweethearts

As anyone who follows him on Instagram can tell you, Steph Curry has a sweet relationship with his wife, Ayesha. It’s easy to understand why he has such a strong marriage when you see the long-lasting relationship between his parents, who’ve been married since 1988. Dell and Sonya Curry met each other at Virginia Tech, where they were both students in the ’80s. Both of them bonded over being athletes, with Dell as a star basketball player and Sonya as a star in another sport.

sonya curry photo
Getty Images | Cassidy Sparrow

His Mom Was A Great Volleyball Player

While she was attending Virginia Tech as a first-generation college student, Sonya Curry was a standout player for the Hokies volleyball team. In 2018, she even showed off some of those volleyball skills before a Warriors game, when she passed a basketball to Steph by using a volleyball setting motion. Sonya passed those skills down to Steph’s sister, Sydel, who was a star volleyball player at Elon University.

sonya curry photo
Getty Images | Kelly Sullivan

Davidson Has Refused To Retire His Jersey Number

It’s pretty much a fact that Curry is the most famous former Davidson College student ever (no offense to Woodrow Wilson), but the school’s athletic department has refused to retire his No. 30 jersey number. It’s not because of any ill will toward Curry, it’s simply because he never graduated from the school. Curry left Davidson for the NBA after his junior season and the school won’t retire his number until he earns his degree.

steph curry davidson photo
Getty Images | Kevin C. Cox

He Majored In Sociology

Knowing that Curry has a soft spot for charitable causes and simply treating people with kindness, it’s not hard to figure out why he decided to major in sociology at Davidson. When the NBA went on a lockout during the 2011 season, he went back to Davidson to try to finish his degree but didn’t end up having enough time before the season got back underway. He reportedly only has a few classes and a thesis paper left to do before he’s finished.

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No Major Basketball Schools Wanted Him

When you look at Curry, you don’t see the typical player who looks like a basketball icon. That small frame made him an outcast when it came to the recruiting process for major college basketball programs. Curry didn’t receive a single scholarship offer from any of the country’s top programs at the time, only getting offers from Davidson, Winthrop and Virginia Commonwealth University. Even Virginia Tech, where his father had been one of the program’s greatest basketball players ever, only offered him a spot as a walk-on player.

steph curry davidson photo
Getty Images | Gregory Shamus

He Started To Get Serious About Hoops While In Canada

When Steph Curry was about 11 years old, his family relocated to Canada because his dad started playing for the Toronto Raptors. That’s apparently where he really started to get serious about basketball. While in Canada, Curry played for a private, Christian school and even played his AAU ball there.

“It wasn’t a cakewalk when I played up there, there was a lot of competition,” Curry later told Canada’s SportsNet.

Golden State Warriors v Atlanta Hawks
Getty Images | Kevin C. Cox

He’s Never Played In The Olympics

It’s crazy to think that, despite 10 years of experience in the NBA, Curry has never represented Team USA in basketball at the Olympics. In 2012, he didn’t qualify for the Olympic team. At the time, he said he was “very disappointed,” but that it would be “extra motivation for 2016.” Unfortunately, when the 2016 Olympics came around, he withdrew himself from consideration because of injuries. Here’s hoping 2020 will finally be the year.

olympics basketball logo photo
Getty Images | Jamie Squire

He Can Quote ‘The Princess Diaries’

Like many people who came of age in the early 2000s, Steph Curry knows “The Princess Diaries” very well. In fact, Sydel Curry has stated that her older brother has seen the movie so many times he can quote it. She told ESPN that when they were growing up, she was a big fan of the Disney movie and would watch it every day. She said Steph watched it with her enough to where he still knows lines from it. He can also apparently quote lines from “A Walk to Remember” and “The Master of Disguise.”

stephen curry smiles photo
Getty Images | Jason Miller

He Once Got So Pumped Before A Game That He Hurt Himself

Everyone needs to get their energy up before a big moment — but Curry has apparently been known to overdo it. His sister Sydel told ESPN about a time when the NBA star was younger and hurt himself trying to get pumped before a game.

“In high school, Stephen and his team were in the locker room getting super hyped before a Christmas tournament game, jumping up and down,” she said. “The next thing I know, Stephen’s in the back getting stitches right before the game starts. He jumped so high that he hit his forehead and busted it open.”

Getty Images | Ezra Shaw

He’s Serious About His Beliefs

Another thing you’ll quickly figure out if you pay attention to Curry in interviews or on social media is that he’s very dedicated to his religious beliefs. Curry attended several Christian schools growing up, and that certainly left a mark on him. In addition to his production company focusing on faith-based projects, he’s spoken a lot about his own belief in a higher power.

“People should know who I represent and why I am who I am, and that’s because of my lord and savior,” Curry said during his NBA MVP acceptance speech in 2015.

2017 NBA Finals - Game Five
Getty Images | Ronald Martinez

He’s A Great Golfer

As much as Curry loves basketball, he might even love golf more. He seems to constantly be on the golf course, when he’s not in the gym, as evidenced by his many Instagram posts celebrating that game. Curry is so good at golf that he has even competed in events for the Web.com Tour, which is a super-competitive, professional golf tour that’s essentially the minor leagues for the PGA Tour. At one Web.com Tour event in 2018, he shot a 71 in a round, which was better than many other players for whom golf is their everyday job.

curry golf photo
Getty Images | Ezra Shaw

He’s Tight With President Obama

Curry’s got plenty of famous friends — and family members, for that matter — but his most impressive pal is probably Barack Obama. The duo has been known to play golf together many times over the years, with Curry saying Obama is a vicious trash-talker on the course. On Presidents Day in 2019, the former POTUS had dinner with Curry and his wife, Ayesha, at her restaurant in San Francisco. Curry has also worked with Obama on initiatives to fight malaria around the world.

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He Ditched Nike Over An Egregious Mistake

These days, it’s hard to imagine Steph Curry representing any athletic-wear company other than Under Armour, but he was once signed to Nike. In 2012, Under Armour pulled the heist of the century in taking Curry away from Nike, after the company made an embarrassing mistake.

According to reports, when Nike was trying to renegotiate a new deal with Curry, people from the company mispronounced his name as “Steph-On” and left another player’s name in the pitch presentation they gave to him. Today, Curry’s business is worth an estimated $14 billion for Under Armour. Yes, billion.

stephen curry under armour photo
Getty Images | Thearon W. Henderson

He Gave His Sister The Most Epic Wedding Gift

When you’ve got an NBA superstar for a brother, you can probably expect some great gifts — but Steph Curry went to a new extreme to honor his sister, Sydel, before her wedding in 2018. Along with his brother, Seth, Steph put up the money to have the women’s locker room at Elon University, where Sydel was a star volleyball player, named in her honor. Sydel’s big brothers surprised her with the news when she was visiting her old school, bringing her to tears in a sweet video.

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He Has A Popular YouTube Series

Curry is major on YouTube. His official channel on the streaming video site has more than 600,000 subscribers, and he’s posted more than 40 videos there since 2011, when he first launched it. His most popular videos have been a series called “5 Minutes From Home,” where he interviews celebrities while they ride in a car together around the Bay Area. So far, Curry has had people including Daveed Diggs, Joel Embiid and the late rapper Nipsey Hussle on the show.

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His Family Has Been Known To Rock Matching Pajamas

OK, so Curry is a bit of a dork, but that’s one of the things that makes him so endearing to millions of his fans. The dedicated father of three is not above posing for a family picture in matching pajamas as his little ones and wife. At Christmas in 2017 and 2018, Curry shared Instagram photos of himself and his family decked out in matching pajamas and enjoying the holiday.

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He’s Had Some Great Halloween Costumes

Christmas isn’t the only holiday Curry loves getting dressed up for. The “Baby-Faced Assassin” has shown off some pretty sweet Halloween costumes on social media over the years as well. Highlights include in 2017, when he showed up to Oracle Arena dressed as the creepy puppet, Billy, from “Saw.” He was even riding a red tricycle to complete the outfit! Another great one was a throwback shot Curry shared in 2018 that showed him dressed as Ben Stiller’s evil character from “Dodgeball.” He must have a thing for playing villains.

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He Played Football And Baseball As A Kid

Despite having a dad who was an NBA star, Curry grew up interested in other sports. Like many kids, he played multiple sports growing up, even dabbling in football and baseball. Curry showed off a few photos from his youth sports days on Instagram, and they’re pretty much adorable. Just look at him in those massive shoulder pads! Who could be intimidated by that cute little kid coming to tackle them? In the post, he gave a special shout out to all the multi-sport athletes out there.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BP6gwGqD0wL/

He Loves That He Was Born On ‘Pi Day’

In case you haven’t noticed, Curry is a bit of a nerd. One of the ways he proudly flies his geek flag is by loudly celebrating the fact that he was born on March 14, aka “Pi Day.” For his birthday in 2016, he even went so far as to carve the pi symbol into a pumpkin, making what he called a “pumpkin pi.” In 2017, his birthday celebration included an impressive cake that included part of the Golden State Warriors logo, his signature mouthpiece and, of course, the pi symbol.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BRo8G_wD8i_/

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About the Author
Clint Davis
Clint has watched way too many TV shows and movies and makes a great partner for trivia night. He lives in Cincinnati with his wife, baby son and two massive dogs.

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