Stephen Curry: Underrated

It may be August, but basketball fever is here – at least it is on this side of the globe. With the prestigious FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 officially underway, hundreds of top basketball players from all over the world are descending on my home country in Manila to showcase their skills.

Few Americans are aware that the Philippines is a basketball-crazed nation, so the honor of  hosting the tournament for the first time in 45 years is nothing short of mind-boggling. The excitement and anticipation around the sport has reached fever pitch in this part of the world.

So it’s not surprising that Apple’s Stephen Curry: Underrated has been rising up the charts here over a month after it was released. The documentary chronicles Curry’s meteoric rise from an undersized underdog to a revolutionary NBA superstar. Unlike other documentaries that feature “freak” athletes, Underrated is more relatable, as Curry wasn’t born with apparent physical gifts. Instead, as we learn in the doc, his success is the result of hard work, perseverance, teamwork, and determination.

Part of the reason basketball is a way of life in the Philippines is that the sport reflects the country’s culture of resilience and hard work. Everywhere you travel, you’ll see basketball courts–makeshift or otherwise–at every street corner. People of all ages in shoes, sleepers, or even barefoot play the game passionately.

From an outsider’s perspective, the phenomenon can be quite ironic. The average height of Filipino males is just 5’4″.  Yet what we lack in size, we more than make up for our passion and determination.

That’s why a lot of young Filipinos can relate to Steph Curry. He was often overlooked by scouts in high school and college, as he was considered undersized by NBA standards. As the film reveals, the NBA pre-draft report on Steph Curry all but did him in: “Far below NBA standard in regard to explosiveness and athleticism. At 6’2”, he’s extremely small for the NBA shooting guard position. Do not rely on him to run your team…Not a great finisher around the basket due to his size and physical attributes. Needs to add some muscle to his upper body but appears as though he’ll always be skinny.”

The fact that Curry overcame the doubters –  he’s now a 9-time NBA All-Star and 4-time NBA Champion, not to mention an all-time 3-point leader – has endeared him to basketball fans around the world. Being underrated is a badge of honor, Curry explains in the film. It’s this kind of mentality that speaks to many of us in third-world countries. We are often overlooked, underestimated, and ignored in the international community. Underrated teaches us to embrace the underdog mentality: What makes us different makes us stand out from the rest.

An Underdog Story Teachers and Parents Can Embrace 

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the documentary is how Curry values education. When he left during his junior year of college to enter the NBA draft in 2009, he promised his mom (Sonya Curry) and coach (Robert McKillop) to finish his studies at some point. And in true Curry buzzer-beater fashion, he received a diploma, a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Sociology at Davidson University, months before coach McKillop retired. For a basketball superstar to do that when he’s secured financially and in the thick of his 4th Championship run, speaks volumes of who he is as an athlete and as a man.

In the Philippines, we chant the word puso (heart) at every sporting event, especially in basketball. The word serves as a battle cry for passion and fearlessness in the face of daunting odds. Stephen Curry simply has puso/heart for the game of basketball and most importantly, the game of life.