Steph Curry names the toughest moment of his NBA career: "I felt like Forrest Gump without the big braces"
Before Steph Curry became the NBA’s greatest three-point shooter and changed the way basketball is played, he could hardly stay healthy to showcase his talents. The Davidson superstar went through seemingly endless ankle injuries earlier in his career that could have altered a huge part of the league’s history.
In an interview with Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers, Curry had this to say about that crucial and dark times of his career:
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“The [ankle] injuries keep you off the court so consistently, so frequently that you start to doubt everything that you poured into your craft and the cloud hanging over, ‘Will I be healthy enough just to get my two feet on the floor and give myself an opportunity to be the player that I wanna be?’
“That was over a two-year stretch, off and on, where a lot of dark days, a lot of patience, a lot of support from family, people that you trust who can speak positivity in life into you, confidence into you.
“I felt like Forrest Gump without the big braces, so it was a weird time.
The diminutive Steph Curry surpassed expectations during the 2009-10 season, his rookie year. He was a virtual ironman, playing 80 games while averaging 36.2 minutes per contest. Fears about how he would stand up to the physicality and speed of the NBA, particularly given his small stature, seemed overblown.
On Dec. 8, 2010, he inexplicably injured his right ankle against the San Antonio Spurs. It looked bizarre as he didn’t have any defenders and there were no previous instances that could have caused the injury. It was during that game that Curry would later explain how he felt like “Forrest Gump.”
Curry played 74 games in his sophomore year, but the ankle he rolled against the Spurs was only a harbinger of things. He had off-season surgery to repair torn ligaments in the same ankle. The lockout-shortened 2011-12 season only made it worse.
Steph Curry injured his right ankle a few more times, which limited him to just 26 games. Before he could make his unique mark in the game, he was in danger of falling by the wayside due to injuries. It got so bad that the Golden State Warriors reportedly considered trading him as part of a package for the Milwaukee Bucks' Andrew Bogut.
The Bucks medical staff is the only reason why we don't have a Giannis x Steph superteam.
In 2012, the Bucks nearly acquired Steph Curry in a trade for Andrew Bogut.
Here's how a team doctor prevented the Warriors from making the worst trade ever: https://t.co/kYHBr7ZVxZ
Milwaukee supposedly balked at the state of Curry’s ankles, which prompted them to ask and eventually get Monta Ellis instead. NBA history would have been so much different had the future two-time MVP played for the Bucks.
Joe Lacob gambled on the oft-injured point guard to stay healthy and won big.
Steph Curry never looked back once his ankles became stronger and more durable
The arrival of Keke Lyles as the Golden State Warriors' Performance Director has been consistently overlooked despite their success. It was Lyles who came up with the training regimen that strengthened and made Steph Curry’s ankles more durable.
Two years after he was drafted, Curry would lead the Warriors back to the playoffs. He won the only unanimous MVP win in NBA history during the 2014-15 season while leading his team to the championship.
It was Golden State’s first title since the 1974-75 season when the team swept the Washington Bullets. Steph Curry continued his incredible run by leading the Bay Area team to five straight NBA Finals appearances from 2014-15 to 2018-19.
Night Night https://t.co/fIMwW4eeSk
"Chef Curry" also won his first NBA Finals MVP in 2022 against the Boston Celtics to silence his doubters. It was his fourth championship in eight years with the Golden State Warriors.