Curry played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1986 until 2002. He retired as the Charlotte Hornets’ all-time leader in points (9,839) and three-point field goals made (929). Curry now works as a color commentator, alongside Steve Martin, on Charlotte Hornets television broadcasts.
Curry was born in Harrisonburg, Virginia. He broke his left wrist at the age of 9 and practiced shooting with one hand until his wrist fully healed.
Curry went to Fort Defiance High School in Fort Defiance, Virginia, and won state championships in both basketball and baseball. He is the school’s all-time leading points scorer with 1,922. A McDonald’s High School All-American in 1982, Curry was drafted out of high school by the Texas Rangers in the 1982 MLB draft.
Curry was a four-year starter at Virginia Tech along with contemporaries Bobby Beecher, Perry Young, Al Young, and Keith Colbert. The team appeared in the 1983 and 1984 NIT tournaments, finishing 3rd in 1984. Although the team qualified for at-large bids to the NCAA tournament in 1985 and 1986, it lost in the first round on both occasions. In 1986, Curry was named the Metro Conference Player of the Year.
NCAA basketball did not feature a three-point line during Curry’s collegiate career; his accurate long-range shooting was not rewarded, as it would be later in his NBA career.
Curry finished his Virginia Tech career with 2,389 points (2nd all-time) and 295 steals (all-time leader) in basketball, and a 6-1 record with a 3.81 ERA in baseball.
Curry also played baseball for Virginia Tech. He was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 14th round of the 1985 MLB Draft but opted to continue playing basketball.
The 6 ft 4 inch (1.93 m) Curry was selected 15th overall by the Utah Jazz in the 1986 NBA Draft. He played one season in Utah before playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1987 for another season.
He was selected by one of the NBA’s two newest teams for the 1988-89 season, the Charlotte Hornets, in the expansion draft after he was made available by the Cavaliers. In Charlotte, Curry was primarily used off the bench where he was utilized as an instant scoring threat, especially from behind the three-point line.
He played ten seasons for the Hornets (1988-1998) and currently ranks among the franchise’s all-time statistical leaders in points, games played, three-point field goals made and attempted, and three-point field goal percentage. He was a regular vote-receiver for the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award and the conclusion of the 1993-94 season finally saw him become the recipient of the trophy. When he departed the franchise after 1998, he was the last player remaining from its inaugural season 10 years earlier.
Curry played one season for the Milwaukee Bucks before playing his final three seasons in the NBA for the Toronto Raptors. He holds career averages of 11.7 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.8 assists. Curry retired as the all-time leading scorer in Hornets history with 9,839 points; his record is currently with the newly renamed Charlotte Hornets (formerly the Charlotte Bobcats).
On June 18, 2007, he was named an assistant coach of the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats, but he stepped down before the season began so that he could attend his sons’ basketball games.
Curry started working as a color commentator, alongside longtime play-by-play announcer Steve Martin, for the Charlotte Bobcats (now Charlotte Hornets) at the beginning of the 2009-10 NBA season.
In 2004, he was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.
In 1988, Curry married Sonya Adams.[7] They have three children: Stephen, Seth and Sydel.
Wardell Stephen Curry II (more commonly referred to as “Steph” or “Stephen”), Dell’s oldest son, was born in 1988. Curry plays as a guard and is listed at 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) and 190 lb (86 kg).
He played high school basketball at Charlotte Christian School in Charlotte, North Carolina and was named all-state, all-conference while leading his team to three conference titles and three state playoff appearances.
Curry played college basketball for the Wildcats of Davidson College. There, he was twice named Southern Conference Player of the Year and set the all-time scoring record for both Davidson and the Southern Conference. In his sophomore season, he set a single season NCAA record for three-pointers made.
Curry was drafted 7th overall in the 2009 NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors. In the 2014–15 season, Curry set the NBA record for three-pointers made in a regular season with 286 and was named the league MVP. The Warriors won the NBA Finals the same season.
Seth Curry, Dell’s youngest son, was born in 1990.
Curry also played basketball for Charlotte Christian School where he earned all-conference, all-state, and first team CSAA All-American accolades. He then attended Liberty University before transferring to Duke University.
Curry currently plays for the Sacramento Kings.
Sydel Curry, Dell’s only daughter, was born in 1994.
Sydel was a four year starter and three year captain volleyball player at Charlotte Christian School (the same school Stephen and Seth went to). She is a sophomore at Elon University where she plays on the women’s volleyball team.
In 1998, Curry established a charitable foundation, the Dell Curry Foundation, which is a youth oriented program in Charlotte, North Carolina. The foundation runs five learning centers in Charlotte to provide educational training and drug abuse counseling.[2]
- NBA Sixth Man of The Year (1994)
- Charlotte Hornets all-time leading scorer
- Consensus second-team All-American (1986)
- Metro Conference Player of the Year (1986)
- 3x First-team All-Metro Conference (1984–1986)
- No. 30 retired by Virginia Tech
- Virginia Sports Hall of Fame (2004)
