Six teams passed on him before the Golden State Warriors selected him seventh overall.
The debate about where Curry ranks among the all-time greats will continue for years after he retires. But one thing is already clear: whether you place him 5th, 10th, or 15th on your personal list, you are almost certainly placing him too low. Stephen Curry is, and has always been, underrated.
If there was a single moment when the underrated narrative should have died forever, it was June 2022. After years of dismissing Curry as a player who could not win without Kevin Durant or a fully healthy supporting cast, the basketball world had no more excuses. Stephen Curry- Underrated
The Golden State Warriors entered the NBA Finals as underdogs against the Boston Celtics, a younger, longer, more athletic team that had dominated the Eastern Conference. Curry responded with one of the great Finals performances in modern history. In Game 4, with the series tied 2–2 and the Warriors' season potentially slipping away, Curry erupted for 43 points on the road, single-handedly willing his team to victory.
The word "underrated" and "Stephen Curry" are rarely used in the same sentence unless you are discussing basketball's most paradoxical superstar. By almost any objective measure—four NBA championships, two MVP awards (including the first unanimous MVP in history), an NBA Finals MVP, and a legacy as the greatest shooter the game has ever seen—Curry's place in the pantheon of legends seems secure. Six teams passed on him before the Golden
Curry took the doubt personally. In a Players' Tribune piece titled "Underrated," he later recalled the litany of critiques — "undersized," "not a finisher," "extremely limited" — and admitted he could "still reel them off to this day." Those slights forged a competitive fire that has never dimmed.
At first glance, a documentary about Stephen Curry—a four-time NBA champion, two-time MVP, and the undisputed greatest shooter in basketball history—seems to have a title problem. How can a man with his resume possibly be "underrated"? Stephen Curry is, and has always been, underrated
As Barnes noted, "He changed it completely. Not even just the NBA, but the way basketball is played, period". However, this has led to a standardization of the game. Where once there were back-to-the-basket big men like Shaquille O'Neal and Hakeem Olajuwon, there are now centers like Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic who live on the perimeter. "Are the big men gone? Yeah…There’s no more back-to-the-basket," Barnes lamented.
The 2009 NBA Draft scouting reports on Curry read like a list of reasons why he would fail in the pros: "Not a true point guard." "Too small to guard his position."
The documentary "Stephen Curry: Underrated" attempts to unpack this paradox, tracing Curry's journey from overlooked recruit to cultural icon. Director Peter Nicks described the film's mission simply:
It comes down to human nature and aesthetic bias. Basketball traditionalists prefer icons who look like gods among men—flying through the air or overpowering opponents with brute strength. Curry looks like an ordinary human who simply perfected a skill.