CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Friday night after Thanksgiving. Stephen Curry’s at the charity stripe. Swish! Golden State 18, Charlotte 10.
Curry ranks third in NBA free-throw percentage – .931. He’s made more foul shots than the two guys ahead of him combined.
I first wrote about Steph in 2007. When, as a freshman, he led the Davidson Wildcats to a 29-4 record and an NCAA Tournament bid, scoring 21 points per game and making 848 of his free throws.
I wrote about him again in 2008. As the Cats won 25 consecutive games, Steph scored 26 ppg, shooting .894 from the foul line. The last three W’s came against Gonzaga, Georgetown, and Wisconsin in the NCAA. The Cat’s loss to ultimate national champ Kansas in the Elite Eight ended “the feel-good story of the year in college basketball.”
The next year Steph was leading the nation in scoring (35 ppg) when I wrote about him again. A school double-teamed him all game long. He hung out at mid-court all game long, scoring 0 points. His teammates played four-on-three, prevailing by 30.
Tournament time 2009 found Steph with a gimpy ankle, and Davidson was upset in its conference tournament. After beating South Carolina in the first round of the NIT, the Cats fell to St. Mary’s. At season’s end, Steph had averaged 29 ppg and shot .876 from the stripe.
He declared for the NBA, was drafted by Golden State, and now is in year two of a four-year, $44 million contract. The Warriors play the Hornets at home once a year. The irony is that Charlotte is Steph’s home, too.
The occasion doubles as a Davidson alumni event. A couple hundred grads gather early for the “shootaround.” This freewheeling pregame activity involves coaches, the occasional celebrity, and players, who warm up before the formal warm-ups.
There I sat 90 minutes ago. Visiting with old friends. A lawyer friend from Raleigh tells me he’s retiring and needs an agent to help sell his first novel. A middle school history teacher, who drove with me from Davidson to Memphis in 1973, introduces me to his daughter, a 2012 Davidson grad.
Steph Curry greets several dozen elementary-age kids as he enters the arena. They’re lined up in the order of their arrival. The first 10 get to stand with him during the National Anthem. He begins his warm-up routine.
Back to the first quarter: Steph’s got six points, two assists, and it’s early, … but then he goes cold. The guy who hit eight of 11 threes against Miami four days ago, and six of eight against Orlando night before last, misses eight in a row. The Hornets grab a double-digit lead in the third quarter.
But (“ho-hum”) come the fourth quarter, Curry makes three crucial lay-ups and six of six foul shots. He finishes with 26 points, six assists. Golden State wins by five, extending its record to 13-2. (It’s 15-2 as this column goes to the publisher, tops in the NBA.)
Steph, by the way, is within two credits of finishing the senior year he skipped. When he gets his degree, Davidson will hang his jersey from the rafters and retire his number.
Vic Fleming is a district court judge in Little Rock, Ark., where he also teaches at the William H. Bowen School of Law. Contact Vic at vicfleming@att.net.