When it comes to today’s NBA, there are few who have had as significant an impact on the game as Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry.
But the path taken by the 34-year-old Curry to be among the all-time greatest players ever has been anything but a smooth one.
While most associate Curry with the significant triumphs he has had in what has been a Hall-of-Fame-worthy basketball career, there have been several challenges and trials along his journey.
Curry, a winner of four NBA titles in the last eight seasons, gives us a closer look at those times in the documentary, Stephen Curry: Underrated, which will be among the featured films at the Sundance Film Festival this week in Park City, Utah.
Viewers of the documentary get an intimate look at Curry coming of age as a basketball star at Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina.
Under the tutelage of Davidson head coach Bob McKillop, the team shocked the basketball world with a thrilling, unexpected run in the 2008 NCAA tournament that ended with a 59-57 Davidson loss to eventual national champion Kansas in the Elite Eight round of the tournament.
Stephen Curry: Underrated also takes viewers behind the scenes during the 2021 NBA season as the Warriors tried to rebound from an injury-riddled 2020 season which was one of the worst in franchise history.
The documentary is directed by award-winning filmmaker Peter Nicks. Stephen Curry: Underrated was produced by Ryan Coogler (Black Panther) and Erick Peyton, who is also Chief Creative Officer of Unanimous Media, a company Peyton co-founded with Curry which develops and produces television, film and digital content.
Curry recently spoke to EBONY about Stephen Curry: Underrated.
“It’s kind of an emotional roller coaster from the sports perspective that teaches you about patience and belief and the community rallying around something special,” Curry said in an exclusive interview with Ebony.com. “Sundance is historical. There are levels to the entertainment world and how these projects get blasted to the world. It’s a great opportunity for us.”
Curry understands many see him as a successful NBA player with riches, championships, and all the trappings that come with winning.
But Stephen Curry: Underrated gives the audience a better, more complete sense of all that went into Curry’s emergence as a generational talent whose imprint on the game is significant.
As the documentary shows, there were moments of doubt and uncertainty throughout Curry’s basketball odyssey dating back to his time as a high-scoring guard at a small, out-of-the-way liberal arts school in North Carolina.
Even after showcasing the ability to score in bunches, Curry’s lithe frame and small-school background created a sense of skepticism about his chances of being a standout in the NBA, let alone one of the greatest ever.
In the 2009 NBA draft, Curry was drafted by Golden State with the seventh overall pick. However, that draft included two point guards, Ricky Rubio from Spain and Johnny Flynn of Syracuse University, who were taken ahead of Curry with the fifth and sixth overall picks, respectively.
But for those who questioned his impact as an NBA player, it only strengthened his resolve to not necessarily prove naysayers wrong but rather, simply do what he has always felt he could do when given an opportunity.
And while basketball fans are sure to have an interest in Curry’s story, there’s a certain amount of crossover appeal that goes beyond it being just a sports story.
Dealing with disappointment; overcoming adversity while maintaining faith and focus, are all things that allow Curry’s story to connect with a much wider audience beyond the run-of-the-mill sports fan.
“Sports and life are really synonymous from the sense of what they teach you and what they bring out of you,” Curry said. “Everybody has seen the finished product of what I am on the NBA level; it was humble beginnings. And again, it’s about belief— someone planting a seed for tephenwhat you can accomplish and the fact that teamwork and the ability to go through the ups and downs, to reach your potential or whatever goal you have for yourself, there’s a lot to learn from that. Hopefully, that comes through (in the documentary).”
