This short Sound Bite comes from the documentary on Apple+: Stephen Curry – Underrated.
There were so many gems we just had to share some of the most inspirational moments from the film. We hope you’ll be left with a feeling of ambition and tenacity just like Steph.
Enjoy the listen!!
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Welcome to episode 90, which is a girl Take the Lead Sound Bite,
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which is a short episode that may be a bit more about a topic
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we've covered or a quick inspiration like our hope for
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today. Would you be inspired if you
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heard about an underrated basketball player who went on to
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become a four time NBA champion, two time league MVP and NBA
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Finals MVPI recently watched the Mordell Stephen Curry, the
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second who is the point guard for the Golden State Warriors of
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the NBA documentary on Apple Plus and knew I needed to share
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his story with you. Regardless if you're a Warrior
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fan or not, I think we can all acknowledge his greatness today.
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Steph is 35 years old, 6 foot two inches and 185 pounds.
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But when he was nine years old, he played in a 10 and under
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basketball team and he looked around and thought, I'm not as
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tall as him, not as strong as him, undersized and scrawny, he
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said in the documentary. I'm just trying to make it at
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whatever level I was playing. It was then I realized for the
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first time I'm different and the temptation was to think about
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what I couldn't do. But I knew I could shoot.
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That was part of what I brought to the team, and in his fear, he
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learned how to embrace the challenge.
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He knew he could play and he loved the game, even if he
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didn't grow. In his sophomore year in high
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school, he declared he wanted to play in college.
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At the time he was 5 foot 10-5, foot 11, still very skinny,
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shooting baskets from his waist. His dad said he had to change
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his shot from his waist to his shoulders, which meant he had to
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develop a totally different set of muscles to make a change like
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that. Steph was all in until he had to
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start shooting, and it was a very tough summer for him,
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spending countless hours every day and he was lost.
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For months he couldn't shoot outside the paint, and the paint
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refers to the rectangular lane underneath the hood on a
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basketball court. And he was struggling.
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He told his mom, I can't keep going.
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And she said you've got a choice, son.
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You always have choices. If this is too frustrating for
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you and you don't feel that it's valuable, stop now, go back to
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how you've been shooting and let's move on with this thing.
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But if you're really buying in to what your dad has prescribed
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for you, keep going. In case you don't know, Steph's
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dad is a former NBA player from 1986 to 2002, and he retired as
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the Charlotte Hornets, all time leader in points and three-point
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field goals made. Steph had wanted to go to
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Virginia Tech like his mom and dad, but they didn't recruit
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him. They said he was too little.
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He's not big enough to play major D1 basketball.
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He's going to get pushed around looking back on this, Steph
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says. I think that speaks to how much
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I didn't pass the eye test, but I really felt like I could play
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with those guys if I could just get an opportunity somewhere.
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So he was recruited and played at Davidson and his coach said
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this. We watched, we saw, we liked.
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It was interesting because he missed shots, he made turnovers,
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he made bad plays, but he never stopped playing.
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The next opportunity he had, he would make a spectacular play.
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He showed a real emotional toughness, which is so rare when
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Davidson offered Steph the opportunity to join their team.
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Steph's mom said Don't worry, Coach, we'll fatten him up for
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you. And Coach said don't worry about
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that. We'll take him just the way he
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is. Steph says that gave him so much
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confidence in terms of his appreciation for what he brought
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to the table. Like, I'm different, but I have
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something to offer. Coach told him this, I can get
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you on the stage, Steph. It's up to you what you'll do
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when you get there. And to Steph, it wasn't about
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proving other people wrong. It was about proving himself
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right. In the film, he asks, how did I
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get here? And he answered it like this.
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If you walked into a gym and saw me 20 years ago, there's no way
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you would think any of this would be possible.
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And that feeling of being overlooked or underrated will
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always be part of the drive that keeps me going.
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But I've just been blessed to have so many people in my life
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that took the time to get the sense of who I really was.
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I'll remember that forever. One other note of inspiration I
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found was his commitment to getting his college degree.
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Steph declared early and didn't finish college, and he kept at
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it and completed August 31, 2022, 14 years after being
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drafted with a Bachelor of Arts. His proof?
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It's never too late, and his thesis was on gender and
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inequality in sports. How can you not love this man?
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He said this at his graduation. This is an absolutely amazing
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day, an amazing moment. Every single person that I got
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to play with lives with me every single time that I stepped foot
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on the court. It speaks to how much this place
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means to me. And most importantly, I played
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for an amazing man, somebody who has so much compassion, care,
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love for every single person that came in contact with him.
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None of this was possible without you, and that was a
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tribute to his coach and teammates.
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He knows they all contributed to who he is.
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Maybe we can all look around and be grateful for all the
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teammates we had along the way that helped us become who we are
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today. Thank you for being here, my
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podcast listeners, and you're my team.
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Please join us at our Girl Take the Lead Facebook group, visit
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our Girl Take the Lead pod.com website, or check out our New
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Girl Take the Lead YouTube Sound bite videos.
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In case you'd like to check out the documentary, it's called
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Stephen Curry Underrated and it's again on Apple.
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Plus, maybe you'll be motivated like me that whenever I think of
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quitting or wimping out on something like doing my weight
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training, I think of Steph learning to shoot from his
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shoulders and developing a new set of muscles.
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And I say to myself, you got this, Yoli, just keep at it.
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On Thursday, I will be posting A Girl Take the Lead interview
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with Dena Patton, author of The Greatness Game and Leadership
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Coach. After hearing about Steph, we'll
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continue this conversation a bit more talking about greatness
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with Dina, who will provide us a game plan for our own greatness.
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Join us and talk to you soon. Bye.