Steph Curry discusses how he changed the game and influenced kids on the court today.
Steph Curry is, without a doubt, one of the most influential basketball players of all time. His three-point shooting is often imitated, but never duplicated but players in the league and kids around the world.
Speaking to Vince Carter, Steph was asked about his influence and how he changed the game.
"It's just how I play the game. There was no determination or goal of this is the stamp I want to have on the game. This is just how I know I can be successful."
"My creativity kind of expressed that way. Just recently, maybe the last three or four years, I have come to realize how much the game has changed from when I came into the league to now, everybody being capable of shooting threes, and how that's trickled down to the grassroots level," said Steph.
Steph mentioned that Vince did the same thing, with kids wanting to imitate Vince's dunks in their driveway. He joked that most kids had to lower the rim to be Half Man, Half Amazing.
"I love that kids are inspired. I want kids to have fun playing the game, and that's mimicking what they see on TV. I want them to start with the idea of what they can turn out to, but put the work in," he said.
Steph Curry's Influence
The three-point line was introduced in the NBA in 1979-80.
In the first season with the three-point line, there were only 2.8 attempts per game. The big leap happened in 1994-95 when the attempts jumped from 9.9 to 15.3.
Curry entered the league in 2009-10, when attempts per game were at 18.1. He attempted 4.8 per game. That number jumped to 7.7 in 2012-13 and up to 11.2 in 2015-16. He became the first player in NBA history to average double-digit three-point attempts per game.
A decade later, multiple players per season average double-digit three-point attempts, but Curry still leads the way.
Still Going Strong
In his 17th season in the league, Curry is still shooting at a high volume, attempting 12.2 threes per game, the second-highest mark of his career.
He's shooting 46% from beyond the arc, in line with his career average. Despite being 37-years-old and a resume that stacks up with anyone in the Hall of Fame, Curry garners just as much attention now as he did a decade ago when he was the unanimous MVP.