Doc Rivers Says Steph Curry Has Influenced the Game More Than Anyone From His Generation
Kids just wanna be like Steph.
There have been many eras in the universe of basketball.
The sport evolved from players dribbling the ball with only their dominant hand to players crossing over defenders for layups to players doing dribble combinations before taking a step-back three-pointer.
And many times, these eruptions in the sport are caused by one player.
In the 80s, young players imitated Magic Johnson. In the 90s, they copied Michael Jordan. In the 2000s, they wanted to be like Kobe Bryant and Allen Iverson.
But according to Doc Rivers, the player that has changed the game most is the Golden State Warriors’ Steph Curry.
On an episode of KG Certified, Rivers told Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce that because of how Curry plays, kids don’t really care about dunking anymore and would rather shoot the ball.
“Steph is as much of a game changer as anybody in our lifetime. Like, if you go to an AAU game, ain’t nobody dunking. You remember when you go to an AAU game, ain’t nobody taking a jump shot. Now, you go to an AAU game, people shooting from half-court -everybody shooting. That’s from one dude.”
Pierce added that part of the reason Curry has shaped so many kids’ styles is because kids can see themselves doing what Curry does.
The reason, he says, is because it’s hard for them to imagine themselves playing like LeBron James or Kevin Durant because of genetics.
“But what the kids do is they say, ‘I can be Steph because I can’t be Durant because I’m not growing to 7 feet. And I can’t be LeBron because I can’t grow to 6-8 and be buff.’ But kids look and say, ‘I can probably be Steph.’ 6-2, 6-3 and can shoot really well and move without the ball.”
Additionally, Steph’s influence can be seen in jersey sales.
Curry’s jersey has been the top-selling jersey five times in his career. And in 2024, more of his were sold than young superstars Jayson Tatum, Luka Doncic and Devin Booker.
Final Thoughts
When I was a teen, all of my friends wanted to be like Kobe or Iverson. We were either constantly attacking the basket for flashy layups or trying to break our defender’s ankles with a shifty crossover.
But I’ve noticed that kids today like to ISO and then shoot deep threes.
The game has changed a lot since the early 2000s and much of it has to do with the Steph-fluence.
(Sorry, I just had to throw that in there.)
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