Quick Facts
Biography
Wardell Stephen "Dell" Curry I (born June 25, 1964) is an American former professional basketball player who 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 currently works as a color commentator, alongside Eric Collins and Stephanie Ready, on Charlotte Hornets television broadcasts. He is the father of current NBA players Stephen Curry and Seth Curry.
High school career
Curry was raised in Grottoes, Virginia. He played basketball at Fort Defiance High, where he used his coach's barn to practice shooting daily. He finished as the all-time leading scorer in school history, and was named a McDonald's All-American in 1982. Curry also played baseball, and won state championships in both sports. He was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 1982 MLB draft.
College career
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 third 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 also played baseball for Virginia Tech. He was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 14th round of the 1985 Major League Baseball draft but opted to continue playing basketball.
Curry finished his Virginia Tech career with 2,389 points (second all-time) and 295 steals (all-time leader) in basketball, and a 6–1 record with a 3.81 ERA in baseball.
NBA career
Curry was selected with the 15th overall pick by the Utah Jazz in the 1986 NBA draft. He played one season in Utah before being traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1987, where he spent the 1987–88 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. Curry spent 10 seasons in Charlotte, mostly coming off the bench to provide instant offense, utilizing three-point shooting. He was a regular in the discussions for Sixth Man of the Year, but didn't actually win the award until the 1993–94 season. He 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. Upon departing the franchise in 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.
NBA career statistics
| Legend | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
Regular season
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986–87 | Utah | 67 | 0 | 9.5 | .426 | .283 | .789 | 1.2 | .9 | .4 | .1 | 4.9 |
| 1987–88 | Cleveland | 79 | 8 | 19.0 | .458 | .346 | .782 | 2.1 | 1.9 | 1.2 | .3 | 10.0 |
| 1988–89 | Charlotte | 48 | 0 | 16.9 | .491 | .345 | .870 | 2.2 | 1.0 | .9 | .1 | 11.9 |
| 1989–90 | Charlotte | 67 | 13 | 27.8 | .466 | .354 | .923 | 2.5 | 2.4 | 1.5 | .4 | 16.0 |
| 1990–91 | Charlotte | 76 | 14 | 19.9 | .471 | .372 | .842 | 2.6 | 2.2 | 1.0 | .3 | 10.6 |
| 1991–92 | Charlotte | 77 | 0 | 26.2 | .486 | .404 | .836 | 3.4 | 2.3 | 1.2 | .3 | 15.7 |
| 1992–93 | Charlotte | 80 | 0 | 26.2 | .452 | .401 | .866 | 3.6 | 2.3 | 1.1 | .3 | 15.3 |
| 1993–94 | Charlotte | 82 | 0 | 26.5 | .455 | .402 | .873 | 3.2 | 2.7 | 1.2 | .3 | 16.3 |
| 1994–95 | Charlotte | 69 | 0 | 24.9 | .441 | .427 | .856 | 3.4 | 1.6 | .8 | .3 | 13.6 |
| 1995–96 | Charlotte | 82 | 29 | 28.9 | .453 | .404 | .854 | 3.2 | 2.1 | 1.3 | .3 | 14.5 |
| 1996–97 | Charlotte | 68 | 20 | 30.6 | .459 | .426 | .803 | 3.1 | 1.7 | .9 | .2 | 14.8 |
| 1997–98 | Charlotte | 52 | 1 | 18.7 | .447 | .421 | .788 | 1.9 | 1.3 | .6 | .1 | 9.4 |
| 1998–99 | Milwaukee | 42 | 0 | 20.6 | .485 | .476 | .824 | 2.0 | 1.1 | .9 | .1 | 10.1 |
| 1999–00 | Toronto | 67 | 9 | 16.3 | .427 | .393 | .750 | 1.5 | 1.3 | .5 | .1 | 7.6 |
| 2000–01 | Toronto | 71 | 1 | 13.5 | .424 | .428 | .843 | 1.2 | 1.1 | .4 | .1 | 6.0 |
| 2001–02 | Toronto | 56 | 4 | 15.8 | .406 | .344 | .892 | 1.4 | 1.1 | .4 | .1 | 6.4 |
| Career | 1,083 | 99 | 21.7 | .457 | .402 | .843 | 2.4 | 1.8 | .9 | .2 | 11.7 | |
Playoffs
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Utah | 2 | 0 | 2.0 | .000 | .000 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | 0.0 | |
| 1988 | Cleveland | 2 | 0 | 8.5 | .250 | .000 | .5 | 1.0 | .0 | .5 | 1.0 | |
| 1993 | Charlotte | 9 | 0 | 24.7 | .433 | .286 | .818 | 3.6 | 2.0 | 1.4 | .0 | 11.0 |
| 1995 | Charlotte | 4 | 0 | 26.8 | .471 | .429 | .909 | 2.3 | 1.5 | .0 | .0 | 12.8 |
| 1997 | Charlotte | 3 | 1 | 16.7 | .294 | .250 | 1.000 | .3 | 1.7 | 1.3 | .0 | 4.7 |
| 1998 | Charlotte | 9 | 0 | 19.0 | .593 | .250 | .857 | 2.1 | 1.1 | .8 | .3 | 5.8 |
| 1999 | Milwaukee | 3 | 0 | 16.3 | .404 | .125 | 1.000 | 1.3 | .3 | 1.0 | .0 | 3.0 |
| 2000 | Toronto | 3 | 0 | 10.0 | .133 | .667 | .500 | .7 | .3 | .7 | .0 | 2.3 |
| 2001 | Toronto | 12 | 0 | 15.2 | .500 | .378 | .833 | 1.2 | .8 | .5 | .1 | 6.5 |
| 2002 | Toronto | 4 | 0 | 14.8 | .422 | .800 | 1.000 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 1.3 | .5 | 7.0 |
| Career | 51 | 1 | 17.5 | .400 | .350 | .870 | 1.7 | 1.1 | .8 | .1 | 6.7 | |
Post-playing career
In 2004, Curry was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.
On June 18, 2007, Curry 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.
In 2009, Curry started working as a color commentator, alongside longtime play-by-play announcer Steve Martin, for the Charlotte Bobcats (now Charlotte Hornets).
In 2016 Curry was the recipient of the Bobby Jones Award at the Athletes in Action All Star Breakfast, which is held each year at the NBA All Star Weekend.
Personal life
Curry lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with his wife Sonya Adams, who played volleyball at Virginia Tech, where they met; the couple have three children. His older son, Stephen, plays in the NBA for the Golden State Warriors. In 2014–15, Stephen won the NBA MVP award and led the Warriors to the NBA championship, and in 2015–16, he led his team to the highest regular season win total in NBA history with 73 wins, once again being voted league MVP. He has two grandchildren, Riley and Ryan Curry, through Stephen, with his wife Ayesha. His younger son, Seth, currently plays for the Dallas Mavericks, while his daughter, Sydel, plays volleyball at Elon University.
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.