Considering he’s become the world’s most popular basketball player, it’s hard to remember Stephen Curry as anything but what he is right now: a potential NBA MVP and the best player on the 67-win Golden State Warriors.
But as a 160-pound high school senior, his chosen school in Virginia Tech would only take Curry as a walk-on. He instead ended up at Davidson College, a school that hadn’t won an NCAA Tournament game in almost 40 years.
Along the long road to NBA stardom, Curry faced down tests from all corners—injuries, haters, getting drafted behind names like Jonny Flynn and Hasheem Thabeet in 2009—and with a self-reliance that only comes through years of tireless work and belief, he not only survived, he prospered.
His eventual partnership with Under Armour made perfect sense. Challenging the status quo against larger, more recognizable brands, UA emerged with the same underdog spirit that drove Curry. They’ve earned their respect by staying true to the game, to the streets, and their overall realness is something you can’t discredit.
And in a unique twist of fate, this all came together in the Bay Area, a region nourished by a spirit and confidence that can only come from being an outsider.
In the right hands, belief can be a weapon, a muscle. Over the next six weeks, the new “Welcome to The City: Bay Area Stories” series from Mass Appeal and Under Armour will showcase key Bay Area figures, from rappers to entrepreneurs to business owners, who, like Curry, never let the shackles of doubt deter them. Surviving wasn’t enough for them. They needed to live.
You can’t fake real, and beginning with Benny Gold in Episode 1 the series will pull back the tarp on some of the most intimate, life-changing moments The City has to offer.
As Stephen Curry says, “All that matters is our belief in what we can do.”
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