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Dell Curry

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Dell Curry
Curry in 2016
Personal information
Born (1964-06-25) June 25, 1964 (age 60)
Harrisonburg, Virginia, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight205 lb (93 kg)
Career information
High schoolFort Defiance (Fort Defiance, Virginia)
CollegeVirginia Tech (1982–1986)
NBA draft1986: 1st round, 15th overall pick
Selected by the Utah Jazz
Playing career1986–2002
PositionShooting guard
Number30
Career history
1986–1987Utah Jazz
1987–1988Cleveland Cavaliers
19881998Charlotte Hornets
1999Milwaukee Bucks
19992002Toronto Raptors
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points12,670 (11.7 ppg)
Rebounds2,617 (2.4 rpg)
Assists1,909 (1.8 apg)
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Wardell Stephen Curry Sr.[1] (born June 25, 1964) is an American former professional basketball player. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1986 until 2002 and retired as the Charlotte Hornets' all-time leader in points (9,839) and three-point field goals made (929).[2] Curry currently works as a color commentator, alongside Eric Collins, on Charlotte Hornets television broadcasts. He is the father of NBA players Stephen Curry and Seth Curry.[3]

Early life

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Born in Harrisonburg, Virginia, Curry was raised in Grottoes and played high school basketball at Fort Defiance, where he used his coach's barn to practice shooting daily. He finished as the all-time leading scorer in school history, and was named a McDonald's All-American in 1982. Curry also played baseball, and won state championships in both sports; he was selected by the Texas Rangers in the 1982 Major League Baseball draft.[4]

College career

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Curry was a four-year starter at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg along with contemporaries Bobby Beecher, Perry Young, Al Young, and Keith Colbert. The Hokies appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) in 1983 and 1984, finishing third in the latter. Although the team qualified for at-large bids to the NCAA tournament in 1985 and 1986, it lost in the first round on both occasions. In his senior season in 1986, Curry was named the player of the year in the Metro Conference. Prior to the 1986–87 season, NCAA basketball did not feature a three-point line; Curry's accurate long-range shooting was not rewarded, as it would be later in his NBA career. (In the early and mid 1980s, the three-point line was introduced in many conferences at varying distances, but it was not recognized by the NCAA.)

Curry also played baseball for Virginia Tech.[5] He was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 14th round of the 1985 MLB draft but opted to continue playing basketball.[6]

Curry finished his Virginia Tech career with 2,389 points (second all-time) and 295 steals (all-time leader) in basketball, and a 6–1 record with a 3.81 ERA in baseball.[5]

He was inducted into the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 1996, his first year of eligibility.[7]

Professional career

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Curry was selected with the 15th overall pick by the Utah Jazz in the 1986 NBA draft. He played one season in Utah before being traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1987, where he spent the 1987–88 season. He was left unprotected by Cleveland for the 1988 NBA expansion draft and was the second player selected, the first by the Charlotte Hornets. Curry spent 10 seasons in Charlotte, mostly coming off the bench to provide instant offense with three-point shooting. He was a regular in the discussions for Sixth Man of the Year and won the honor in the 1993–94 season. He was once the franchise's all-time statistical leader in points, games played, three-point field goals made and attempted, and three-point field goal percentage. When he left the team in 1998, he was the last player remaining from its inaugural season 10 years earlier.[4]

Curry played one season for the Milwaukee Bucks before playing his final three seasons in the NBA for the Toronto Raptors. He holds career averages of 11.7 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.8 assists. Curry retired as the all-time leading scorer in Hornets history with 9,839 points.[8]

NBA career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
 *  Led the league

Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1986–87 Utah 67 0 9.5 .426 .283 .789 1.2 .9 .4 .1 4.9
1987–88 Cleveland 79 8 19.0 .458 .346 .782 2.1 1.9 1.2 .3 10.0
1988–89 Charlotte 48 0 16.9 .491 .345 .870 2.2 1.0 .9 .1 11.9
1989–90 Charlotte 67 13 27.8 .466 .354 .923 2.5 2.4 1.5 .4 16.0
1990–91 Charlotte 76 14 19.9 .471 .372 .842 2.6 2.2 1.0 .3 10.6
1991–92 Charlotte 77 0 26.2 .486 .404 .836 3.4 2.3 1.2 .3 15.7
1992–93 Charlotte 80 0 26.2 .452 .401 .866 3.6 2.3 1.1 .3 15.3
1993–94 Charlotte 82 0 26.5 .455 .402 .873 3.2 2.7 1.2 .3 16.3
1994–95 Charlotte 69 0 24.9 .441 .427 .856 3.4 1.6 .8 .3 13.6
1995–96 Charlotte 82 29 28.9 .453 .404 .854 3.2 2.1 1.3 .3 14.5
1996–97 Charlotte 68 20 30.6 .459 .426 .803 3.1 1.7 .9 .2 14.8
1997–98 Charlotte 52 1 18.7 .447 .421 .788 1.9 1.3 .6 .1 9.4
1998–99 Milwaukee 42 0 20.6 .485 .476* .824 2.0 1.1 .9 .1 10.1
1999–00 Toronto 67 9 16.3 .427 .393 .750 1.5 1.3 .5 .1 7.6
2000–01 Toronto 71 1 13.5 .424 .428 .843 1.2 1.1 .4 .1 6.0
2001–02 Toronto 56 4 15.8 .406 .344 .892 1.4 1.1 .4 .1 6.4
Career 1,083 99 21.7 .457 .402 .843 2.4 1.8 .9 .2 11.7

Playoffs

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1987 Utah 2 0 2.0 .000 .000 .0 .0 .0 .0 0.0
1988 Cleveland 2 0 8.5 .250 .000 .5 1.0 .0 .5 1.0
1993 Charlotte 9 0 24.7 .433 .286 .818 3.6 2.0 1.4 .0 11.0
1995 Charlotte 4 0 26.8 .471 .429 .909 2.3 1.5 .0 .0 12.8
1997 Charlotte 3 1 16.7 .294 .250 1.000 .3 1.7 1.3 .0 4.7
1998 Charlotte 9 0 19.0 .593 .250 .857 2.1 1.1 .8 .3 5.8
1999 Milwaukee 3 0 16.3 .404 .125 1.000 1.3 .3 1.0 .0 3.0
2000 Toronto 3 0 10.0 .133 .667 .500 .7 .3 .7 .0 2.3
2001 Toronto 12 0 15.2 .500 .378 .833 1.2 .8 .5 .1 6.5
2002 Toronto 4 0 14.8 .422 .800 1.000 1.3 1.0 1.3 .5 7.0
Career 51 1 17.5 .400 .350 .870 1.7 1.1 .8 .1 6.7

Post-playing career

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In 2004, Curry was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.[9]

On June 18, 2007, Curry was named an assistant coach of the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats, but he stepped down before the season began so that he could attend his sons' basketball games.[10]

In 2009, Curry started working as a commentator, alongside longtime play-by-play announcer Steve Martin, for the Charlotte Bobcats (now Charlotte Hornets).

In 2016, Curry was the recipient of the Bobby Jones Award at the Athletes in Action All Star Breakfast, which is held each year at the NBA All Star Weekend.

Personal life

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On June 21, 1991, Curry and Charlotte Hornets teammate Muggsy Bogues appeared in a Minor League Baseball game for the Gastonia Rangers of the South Atlantic League. George Shinn, as owner of both teams, arranged the publicity stunt. Curry allowed only one run and struck out four batters in a three inning start.[11][12]

In 1995, Dell and his wife, Sonya (née Adams), founded the Christian Montessori School of Lake Norman, a preschool in Huntersville, North Carolina.[13]

In 1998, Curry established a charitable foundation, the Dell Curry Foundation, which is a youth oriented program in Charlotte, North Carolina. The foundation runs five learning centers in Charlotte to provide educational training and drug abuse counseling.[5]

Curry married his college sweetheart Sonya in 1988. They have three children, Stephen, Seth, and Sydel. Stephen is the starting point guard for the Golden State Warriors and was drafted into the league by the franchise on Dell's 45th birthday in 2009. With Golden State, Stephen has won four NBA championships, alongside two NBA MVP Awards and one NBA Finals MVP in 2022. Stephen is married to Ayesha Curry, with whom he has four children. Seth currently plays for the Charlotte Hornets. He is married to Callie Rivers, sister of current NBA player Austin Rivers and daughter of former NBA player and coach Doc Rivers, and together they have three children.[14] Curry's daughter Sydel played volleyball at Elon University and is married to NBA player Damion Lee, whom she has a son and daughter with.[15] She was featured on Say Yes to the Dress in 2018.[16]

On August 23, 2021, Curry and his wife, Sonya, announced that they were divorcing after 33 years of marriage.[17] He remarried around 2023.[18]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Whelliston, Kyle (December 20, 2006). "Ex-NBA shooter's son is star frosh at Davidson". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
  2. ^ "Charlotte Hornets Career Leaders". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
  3. ^ "Dell Curry | American basketball player | Britannica".
  4. ^ a b Dell Curry, Steph's Dad: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know
  5. ^ a b c Sumner, Jim (December 5, 2007). "Virginia Tech's Dell Curry". Looking Back... Atlantic Coast Conference. Archived from the original on June 29, 2012. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
  6. ^ "Player Bio". NBA.com. Archived from the original on November 10, 2012. Retrieved October 14, 2009.
  7. ^ "Hall of Fame - Virginia Tech Athletics". HokieSports.com. Virginia Tech Athletics. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
  8. ^ "Dell Curry NBA Stats". Archived from the original on June 16, 2010. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
  9. ^ "Dell Curry". Class of 2004. Virginia Sports Hall of Fame & Museum. Archived from the original on December 13, 2014. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
  10. ^ Dell Curry steps down as Bobcats assistant coach.
  11. ^ Monagan, Matt (February 1, 2021). "When Muggsy Bogues played pro baseball". MLB.com. Major League Baseball. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  12. ^ "Dell Curry Minor Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
  13. ^ "Christian Montessori classrooms for infants & Pre-school in Huntersville, NC". Christian Montessori School at Lake Norman | Toddler through 6th Grade in Huntersville, NC. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  14. ^ "Sources: Blazers, Seth Curry agree on contract". ESPN.com. July 3, 2018. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  15. ^ "Sydel Curry - Women's Volleyball". Elon University Athletics. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  16. ^ "Watch: Ayesha Curry help sister-in-law Sydel Curry find her perfect 'sexy' wedding dress". The Mercury News. December 29, 2018. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  17. ^ Mizoguchi, Karen; Leonard, Elizabeth (August 23, 2021). "Stephen Curry's Parents Sonya and Dell Curry to Divorce After 33 Years of Marriage". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
  18. ^ Fowler, Scott (October 18, 2023). "Exclusive: Dell Curry on Hornets, remarriage and the time Steph nearly quit basketball". Charlotte Observer. Retrieved May 17, 2024. SF: And y'all have been married how long? DC: Almost a year.
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