Let’s imagine for a moment that we live in a world where Lebron James does not exist. In this world there would be a lot of questions left in his absence. What team would have represented the East in the finals the last seven years? Who would have won his six MVP awards? How bad would the Cavaliers be? All these questions could be debated to no end but I think I have an answer to a good one. Who would be the face of the NBA?
Now to be the face of the NBA is not just about being the best player, it’s also about being the most popular. So taking this into account, you can argue that the new face would be sporting a long black beard or a thick unibrow. It might have a constant blank expression on it, devoid of all emotion, or it might be the exact opposite, constantly scowling while hunting triple doubles. The new face might think the earth is flat or it might have joined a team it had recently blown a 3-1 lead to or it might belong to a young star who hasn’t shown us what they can do yet. There’s a lot of mights here but I think the answer is clear. The new face of the NBA looks like it belongs on a 15 year old.
No one saw the rise of Steph Curry coming. Drafted with the 7th pick in 2009, many people viewed Curry as a potential bust. His style of play was seen as gimmicky. The league hadn’t yet experienced the three point renaissance that it’s going through today, and that was Curry’s bread and butter. Many scouts deemed him to be too small, not a good enough finisher at the rim, or as a flash in the pan who caught fire at the right time in the NCAA tournament. He proved them all wrong. Today Curry is a two time NBA champion, two time MVP, the league’s first unanimous MVP, a scoring champ, and one of the most marketable players there is. Curry has it all right now.
Curry plays in a way that we’ve never seen before and that’s what makes him so popular. Many of the league’s greatest players commonly have an incredible level of athleticism that is not so common in us regular people. This is why they’re idolized by fans everywhere, because they do what we can’t. Curry doesn’t necessarily stand out though. He stands at 6’3 and has a baby face that makes him look closer to 20 years old than 30. He looks ordinary yet what he does on the court is not. Curry is the first player in the NBA that must be guarded as soon as he crosses the half court line. In the 2015-16 season, Curry shot 33-49 on field goals from 28 feet out and beyond. For reference, the NBA 3 point line is 23.75 feet away from the basket. What he does couldn’t be further from ordinary.
In the year before Curry was drafted, the New York Knicks (who would go on to draft two point guards before Curry was selected) lead the league in 3 point attempts with 27.9 per game. This season the Houston Rockets averaged 42.2 attempts. 27.9 would be good for 20th in the league. Curry lead this 3 point revolution, as coaches started to give their players the green light to shoot them more often. Curry has four of the top five seasons with the most three pointers made. His 2015-16 season (when he became the first unanimous MVP and lead his team to a record setting 73-9 season) tops the list with 402 three pointers made. The next closest player is his splash brother, Klay Thompson, with 276.
I could write all day about all the records Curry has broken or how he’s radically changed the league but that’s not all it takes to represent the NBA. His contributions off the court speak volumes about who he is as well. His image is squeaky clean. Curry is a family man, spending much of his time with his wife, Ayesha, and their two daughters. He gives his father, Dell, who also played in the NBA, much of the credit for teaching him how to shoot and grow into the player he is now. Curry also works with the Nothing But Nets campaign to donate mosquito nets to the people of Africa, donating three for every three pointer he hits. He’s contributed through other donations to hurricane relief, the Ada Jenkins Center for families in need, and through basketball camps around the world.
Another thing that benefits Curry’s image is the exuberance that he plays the game with. He’ll celebrate an and one by shimmying from where he was knocked down or he’ll count on his fingers the points his opponent gave him by fouling him on a made three. I think his best celebration comes when he grabs an offensive board and scores off it, then shows off by flexing his muscles at the other team, as if to say,”You really let me do that?” Curry loves his big plays and he’ll let you know it about it. If he’s having fun, the only people who aren’t are the other team.
Everyone wants to be Steph Curry when they play. Not everyone has the athleticism of Russell Westbrook or the size of a seven footer, but Curry’s skills can be emulated to a degree. This is apparent when I play pick up ball in the Bay Area. Everyone wants to shoot like Curry does, for better or worse. Guards will dribble down the court and immediately chuck an ill advised three or try to put on a dribbling display that they’ve seen Steph pull off hundreds of times. It rarely results in a bucket much to the dismay of their teammates, but that’s what Steph does. He inspires those who watch him to think, “If I practiced enough, I bet I could do that too.”
Curry’s transcendent skills on the court mixed with his character off of it is what makes him so popular. He’s lead the league in global jersey sales 3 straight years now as his fame has continued to rise. He’s incredibly marketable due to his relaxed attitude and the joy that he plays with. Curry’s Warriors will likely be the league’s best for years to come and he’s their undisputed leader. While Lebron James may be the face of the NBA now, the league will be in a good place when he inevitably retires and the attention shifts to Curry.