Dell Curry can take credit score for two of the NBA’s finest all-time shooters: oldest son Stephen (left) and youngest son Seth.
When the Charlotte Hornets snookered Dell Curry into what he thought was a courtside chat with his play-by-play man, Eric Collins, in regards to the franchise’s historical past and nice moments, he wasn’t ready for what adopted.
Choking up a little bit and briefly being puzzled are reactions to be prevented within the broadcasting enterprise. But that’s what occurred to Curry when Collins dropped the news on his TV associate that his jersey quantity was going to be retired.
Curry’s No. 30 might be hoisted into the rafters at Spectrum Center throughout a halftime ceremony when the Hornets host Orlando on Thursday. It will be part of Bobby Phills’ No. 13 – Phills was an energetic participant when he died at age 30 in an car crash close to the previous Charlotte Coliseum in January 2000.
“I had no idea it was happening,” Curry informed NBA.com in a telephone interview final week. “They kind of pulled the rug out from under me.”
A participant for the Hornets for 10 of his 16 NBA seasons and a recreation analyst for the previous 17, the 61-year-old guard from Fort Defiance, Virginia, is the closest the franchise has to a lifer in a public-facing place.
“From [the announcement] to now, I’ve had so many people reach out, well-wishes and congrats,” Curry mentioned. “I’m super-excited. Grateful, humble, clearly blessed to be on this group endlessly. The Hornets have been conserving me within the loop with out telling me precisely every part that’s going to occur.
“It doesn’t just represent me. It’s all my teammates, coaches, and the fans as well.”
Curry, after single seasons with the Utah Jazz (1986-87) and Cleveland Cavaliers (1987-88), grew to become the primary participant chosen by the Hornets within the 1988 expansion draft. Ten years later, he was the final of that group to go away.
Finding a job that matches on courtroom
He performed for Charlotte longer than anybody else and higher than most. Curry retired as the franchise’s leader in video games (701), factors (9,839), area objectives (3,951) and 3-pointers made (929). Kemba Walker finally handed him in factors, buckets and 3-pointers. Still, Curry ranks within the workforce’s Top 10 in 10 classes, together with steals (fourth) and assists (tenth).
Before his son Stephen made 3-point taking pictures his model with Golden State, Dell Curry put the household identify on it as one of many NBA’s sharpest of shooters. He was the one participant within the Nineteen Nineties, as an example, to shoot higher than 40% from the arc in seven consecutive seasons.
More than a marksman, he was additionally an excellent sub, ending seventh or increased in balloting for the NBA Sixth Man of the Year award for 5 straight years. Curry gained it in 1993-94, when he helped Charlotte to its second .500 end by taking part in all 82 video games off the bench. At 29, he set profession highs in appearances, photographs, area objectives, assists and scoring (16.3 ppg).
Curry, at 34, spent the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season with the Milwaukee Bucks, hitting a career-best 47.6% of his 3-pointers. Then he wrapped up with three seasons with the Toronto Raptors, for whom he performed 19 of his 51 playoff video games.
He retired because the NBA’s all-time chief in bench scoring (11,147), and he nonetheless ranks third, trailing solely Lou Williams (13,396) and Jamal Crawford (11,279). He began solely 99 of the 1,083 video games he performed – uncommon among the many retired-jersey set until your identify is, oh, Mariano Rivera.
“Any young player wants to come in and be a star,” Curry mentioned. “But as you mature and age and determine how to make a profession within the NBA, I discovered this function would match me and finest assist my workforce. I didn’t really feel I used to be diminished as a participant in any respect. It’s a rattling vital function to have anyone depend on you to that diploma.
“The year I won [Sixth Man], Hersey Hawkins sacrificed a lot as a starter and I finished a lot of games. That’s just the chemistry we had in that locker room.”
Seth Curry, Steph’s youthful brother who additionally performs for Golden State, has spent most of his 12-year profession coming off the bench. He has been with 10 groups, making 43.3% of his 3-pointers, but he has solely stayed with one workforce for greater than two seasons. So he admires his father’s endurance.
“It ought to be inspirational to everybody,” Seth informed NBA.com on Wednesday. “You can make an impact in a lot of different ways as a player. They kept him around for 10 years, which is almost unheard of for a bench guy. I’ve tried to mimic that as far as being a star in my role and filling whatever need the team’s had.”
After retirement, a brand new profession beckons
Dell Curry (middle) is an analyst for Prime Video and nonetheless holds that function with the Hornets, too.
In Dell Curry’s most prolific season, 1995-96, he took 406 3-point photographs, making 164 (40.4%). Twenty years later, Steph made 402 for the Golden State Warriors, setting the single-season document that nonetheless stands.
“Honestly, Steph and the Warriors changed the landscape for how the game’s played,” Curry mentioned. “I’m willing to take a lot of credit – that’s my son. I laid a foundation for how to shoot the basketball. Steph is the best ever, and Seth is right there as well.”
After retiring in 2002, Curry returned to Charlotte to work as a workforce ambassador and coach in participant growth. But he discovered these roles unfulfilling and was making ready to exit when the sport analyst spot opened. That was 17 years in the past.
“Eric Collins has said to me, ‘You had a great 16-year playing career but don’t get mad at me saying this, you may have a better broadcast career,’” Curry mentioned. “I love talking about the games, I love watching games. Dream come true. It’s a fun time, too. We’ve got great momentum with the franchise, great chemistry. For this [honor] to happen now is perfect timing.”
The Hornets have been one of many brightest tales this season, with a 24-12 document in calendar 2026, a prime Kia Rookie of the Year candidate in ahead Kon Knueppel, a decent group constructed round younger veterans LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller and Miles Bridges, a (*30*) risk in Charles Lee and a 35-34 document that has them fascinated with a spot within the SoFi Play-In Tournament and, from there, who is aware of?
Curry estimated he would have about 100 relations and associates readily available Thursday. That contains Steph and Seth, whose Warriors might be between video games in Boston and Detroit (no accident in scheduling this occasion).
While Golden State followers have oodles of fine issues for which to thank Dell and Sonya Curry, the youthful Currys’ mother and father, the brothers owe much more to the family through which the
Asked one time what affect his father’s occupation had on him, Steph, in a Bay Area interview, mentioned: “Basketball IQ is just being around it and enveloping yourself in it. And watching him … just being in that atmosphere and seeing what he did and how he talked about the game off the court. You kind of pick up stuff a lot quicker. And when you get on the court, you rely on those nuances of the game. They kind of gives you an edge.”
Not surprisingly, the four-time champion and two-time Kia MVP — broadly thought-about one of the best shooter in NBA historical past — introduced nuance to his favourite reminiscence of the previous man’s taking part in days. It got here on a game-winner, clinching the primary playoff collection victory in Hornets historical past.
But another person’s shot.
“They were playing the Celtics in the playoffs, in the [1993] first round, and they ended up beating them,” Steph informed NBA.com this week. “[Alonzo Mourning] hit a buzzer-beater at horn, and my dad was the inbound passer and the primary one on the dogpile after ‘Zo made the shot.
“Off the court, [two years later] they were playing the Bulls in the playoffs and the whole team decided they would shave their heads for playoff solidarity. We didn’t know about it, so when my dad came home he scared the daylights out of me and my siblings.”
On May 5, 1993, Dell Curry performed a key function in Alonzo Mourning’s series-clinching shot vs. the Celtics.
In time, Steph Curry might be enshrined on the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. Odds are, he’ll be honored outdoors San Francisco’s Chase Center with a kind of statues dotting the sports activities map as of late.
But being the primary “30” within the household to see it raised to the rafters of an NBA enviornment is thrilling sufficient for Dell.
“The Hall of Fame is great, but you actually have to go to the Hall to see who’s there,” Dell Curry mentioned. “For Hornets fans, anybody who visits Spectrum Center for games or concerts, whatever, is going to see that.”
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Steve Aschburner has written in regards to the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him here, discover his archive here and follow him on X
