Drafted in the NBA in 2009, Stephen Curry is one of those rare players that have truly revolutionized the game of basketball. Now regarded as one of the best shooters of all time (if not the best from behind the arch), he completely took the league by storm with his Golden State Warriors team in the last 5 years.
With this kind of player, it’s always interesting to look back and see what were the first signs of greatness displayed. For Curry, this first sign came against the Clippers in early February 2010.
Way before the Warriors were even a title contender, way before all the records and the MVP titles, Steph was simply a rookie trying to make his way into the big boys league.
Drafted 7th by the Dubs, Davidson’s sniper rapidly showed his abilities and proved that he was in fact, an All-Star in the making.
His performance against the Clippers came just before the All-Star Break and definitely showed what the kid was capable of. On this night, February 10th, 2010, at the Oracle Arena, Steph simply took-off and never looked back.
Before we dive into his individual performance, let’s take a look at how the Golden State Warriors were doing at the time. The Dubs had only won 13 games for 50 losses this season, coming off a losing streak of 9 games with a lot of injuries (including Monta Ellis, their top scorer).
The Warriors had indeed a long way to go before becoming the powerhouse we now know. Anthony Morrow, Ronny Turiaf, and Anthony Tolliver. These were the names on the box score along Steph Curry.
Now let’s get back to that game where Curry would go on and break several individual records including points scored in a game, assists, 3 points made and a first triple-double for the 21-year-old.
Curry was absolutely on fire in every aspect of the game and puts Golden State in a commanding position against the Clippers.
Scoring 36 points in 46 minutes, 50% field goal made, 63% from 3 point range, 87,5% from the free-throw line.
Throw 13 dimes in there along with 10 rebounds and you got yourself a triple-double with an absolute stomp 132 to 102 over Baron Davis and Blake Griffin’s Clippers.
Curry’s game this night will long remain as the most complete one in an NBA season where he would finish second in the Rookie race behind Tyreke Evans (4th Rookie in the history after Oscar Robertson, Michael Jordan, and Lebron James to have a 20/5/5 season).
The rest is history, after a few necessary seasons of maturing and improving, along with a few injuries for Steph, his Warriors team took over the league starting in the 2014-2015 season, up until becoming the team we know: probably one of the all-time best.
Jonathan is a marketing specialist, passionate about sports, technology, and travel. He writes about soccer, tennis, basketball, and owns a blog that caters to all athletes aspiring to reach their full potential. Learn more at TheChampLair.com