0:06
That's good. show. This is the show. That is Oh, shoot.
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Hey, what's going on everybody?
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From First We Feast, I'm Sean Evans and you're watching Hot Ones.
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It's the show with hot questions and even hotter wings.
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And today we're joined by Steph Curry.
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He's the greatest shooter in NBA history, a four-time NBA champion with a pair of MVPs and nine All-Star game appearances to his name.
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But it all had to start somewhere and you can see his journey from overlooked prospect to NBA legend in the new documentary Underrated, which is now available on Apple TV Plus.
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Steph Curry, welcome to the show.
0:41
Thank you for having me, Sean. I appreciate it, man.
0:44
How are you around spicy food before we get started?
0:46
Uh so, growing up I didn't want anything to do with spicy food and then uh when me and Ayesha got married and she's got the Jamaican uh heritage and a lot of that cuisine has to do with the spice.
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So, I learned pretty quickly.
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So, now I'm pretty comfortable with it, but I don't want to talk myself up knowing what's going on what's going on here.
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I'm ready to get started. What we What we got? Okay. All right. That's mild. There we go. That's mild. That's pretty good, man. Finger-licking. That is phenomenal.
1:46
So, Underrated, which is phenomenal by the way, details your genesis as a three-star recruit, dismissed by the juggernaut colleges, called too small, and according to one 09 NBA draft scouting report, will never be a star in the league because of a lack of explosiveness.
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How do you think things would have been different if you would have ended up at Virginia Tech or Duke?
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Like, do you think you'd be where you are right now?
2:07
It's a great question cuz I I don't think so because it you know, the brand of basketball that I play now was predicated on a system that Davis in college Bob McKillop mastered.
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And the only reason I I think I'm as successful at it cuz I got to learn with reps.
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So, having gone to Tech or Duke or whatever, maybe I'd like ride the bench my freshman year and I don't get that experience.
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I don't know if I'd be the same player.
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So, it's kind of a message of go go where the best, you know, fit is for you.
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As much as you might want to have the the pedigree or the resume to say I played in the ACC, I played in a power conference. That's all cool.
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But um you know, myself, you know, Damian Lillard, Ja Morant, guys who went to mid-major colleges, they'll find you wherever you're at.
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And so, that's kind of the I didn't I had faith at the time.
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I didn't know how it would plan out, but um yeah, I wouldn't change that experience for anything.
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So, I'd rather play than just sit on the bench and say I got a I got a you know, power conference school on my chest. I already like it.
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It's probably going to be my favorite one. It's good.
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You know what time it is? Going in. Mhm. Mhm.
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Little Thai green curry hot sauce? Does the name proud? Oh, absolutely.
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I like the flavor though. There we go. It's really solid.
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I'm really I'm I'm not I'm getting too ahead of myself.
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This is really this is really solid. That's right.
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You can be proud of yourself. I know.
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I I like I like I like the flavor, too.
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Like, the spice is one thing, but the flavor is pretty solid. Mhm.
3:43
So, I want to congratulate you on an amazing weekend of golf, winning the American Century Championship, an eagle on a 18, a hole-in-one earlier in the weekend.
3:52
What is hitting a hole in one like for you?
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Like is it like hitting a shot from 75 ft on the court or is it a uniquely singular sport experience?
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Uniquely singular experience just because when I shoot a 75 footer whatever heave I've probably made that shot before as if it's in practice or maybe in a game before and honestly I expect to make it.
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versus a hole in one even if you hit a shot and it's right online like the odds of it going in are slim to none.
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That's when it goes in when I lost my mind and started sprinting 150 yards down the hole.
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I celebrate I basically blacked out.
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Like if I act like that when I make a 75 footer unless it's to win the NBA finals then you'll celebrate but it's kind of like ah I was I meant to do that versus a hole in one it's different different.
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Zesty lemon pepper I like lemon pepper though.
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I'm trying to chew you freaking chew fast as hell.
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Well that's when you're the when you're the host of this whole thing you have to think about the timing.
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to keep up with your rate I don't know.
4:54
no because I tried to get it down first cuz I got a question you know what I mean?
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I tried to I tried to you know I tried to load. I feel you I feel you.
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It's a timing game over here too you know.
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You mastered this craft for sure for sure.
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So NBA Jam popularized the concept of being on fire all right?
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But there was an influential study in the 1985 edition of cognitive psychology that said that hot hand theory or streak shooting is a myth.
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As the NBA's all-time leading three-point shooter what's your take on that whole thing?
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Like does being on fire feel real to you? Oh absolutely.
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There are times you catch the ball and you maybe made one or two in a row and this is in practice or a game whatever the case is but mostly in the game like everything else does not exist.
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The only thing that exists is as long as I can get this shot and it's not going to get blocked, the rim feels like the ocean.
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And it's one of the most rewarding feelings for us, and you know, myself and other great shooters, like that's all you work for is the muscle memory and the mechanics that develops that confidence, so that when you're in a game, like, you're not surprised you're in those moments, but when it happens, it's like, yeah, this is what I've been waiting for.
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a psychological or physical phenomenon that you can feel.
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Like, they study, they don't know what they're talking about.
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know what they're talking about at all.
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Unless you've been in that 94 feet, and you know, like, you've seen Klay Thompson score whatever, 37 in a quarter, and, you know, 60 in three quarters.
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You know, when I had 60 in one game, that's literally a tangible physical sensation of all I need to do is just get this ball off of my fingertips, and it's going to go in.
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Um cuz you also know the opposite of that when you can't hit the broadside of a barn, um and everything feels good, but it the results aren't there.
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So, you that balance of, like, where you are on that spectrum is is like the ultimate game within the game.
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I don't like anything that has "de fuego" in the title. Oops.
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As hot sauces get hotter, the labels turn into like warnings.
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They don't want no liabilities on the right there.
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All right, now we're talking.
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In your opinion, what is the NBA team staff role that's most important to keeping the machine moving, but doesn't get enough of the credit?
7:17
We have a guy named Rick Celebrini.
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And shout out to Rick, who is in this crazy I know Rick, and we've formed a great relationship, and I don't even know what his title actually is.
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He's like the go-to on injury management, injury prevention, like, all those things that, you know, allow our bodies and our minds to be sharp for peak performance.
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We've had a couple run-ins at times because I want to be a lot more aggressive on like, when I get to a labrum my shoulder or ankle and sprains and all that like I'm thinking about the shortest timeline possible for me to get back on the court. He's more realistic.
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He's more realistic and more player-friendly in terms of being on the conservative side of like let's take all the variables into play.
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Let's make sure we're talking about longevity and not just the here and now.
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That's why you see guys playing you know a lot longer.
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I know there's a slowed management conversation and a lot of that falls from the narrative perspective on the players like we don't want to play 82 games. It's not it.
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It's you know, there's smart professional well-studied individuals that understand how to you know, prepare athletes to play not just now but for you know, years and years and years and years and performing at a very high level and that's why I'm you know, I'm going into my 15th year I feel as as fresh as I've ever been. So shout out to Rick. Shout out to Rick. Los Calientes Rojo. My lips are burning.
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I just wanted to let you know that.
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that's what's going to happen.
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You know, keep me updated.
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Keep me updated as we go.
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Yeah, I don't know if like acknowledging the heat is a good or bad thing.
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You want to block it out or you want to just I'm here.
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I think you bask in it, you know, that's what I think you do.
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Yeah, my lips are on the fire right now.
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Yeah, speaking of the uniquely singular experiences, you know, like hot ones just like that, you know, while you're here you might as well soak it in. Absolutely.
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So you're a self-described popcorn addict and in 2019 The New York Times published your power rankings of NBA popcorn throughout the NBA throughout the entire league and you rated all on a proprietary one-to-five scoring system of freshness, saltiness, crunchiness, butter and presentation.
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How would you articulate the difference between your top-rated popcorn, the kind that they serve at Dallas Mavericks games and then the lowest-rated popcorn that they serve at Clippers and Lakers games.
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Basically, you got presentation like I want it to, you know, it should lock on your eyes.
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The uh the butter, the salt ratio. Very important. Very important. Like I'm a traditional.
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I don't need the bells and whistles.
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Just make it, you know, good and nice and buttery and salty.
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Uh the the crispiness, right?
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It can't be like too mushy, you know, it has to have like a nice little crispiness to it, a little more texture in the mouth.
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So, I just I That was my ranking system.
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I went through every arena, gave them like a one through five on each of those, added them up.
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And it was kind of exactly what I expected in terms of, you know, the arenas that I know where I look forward to playing in those arenas, not just cuz the environment, because of the popcorn. Popcorn's on point. Absolutely.
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But I I I'm not lying when I That came out the next year, everybody dialed the game up.
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It was uh it was impressive.
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So, I want every NBA player to thank me for, you know, the popcorn that's going around the league right now. You deserve it. Absolutely. Absolutely. All right.
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Are you ready to move on second half here? All right. Kicking things off.
10:39
This is the spicy quarter player, so this is the You got to get through this.
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You just got to get through this. All right, where we at? The spicy shark here. The spicy shark.
10:57
Ooh, we Man, kind of sweet up front. Mhm.
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And then Yeah, it's coming in. I was confused.
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I thought I grabbed the wrong wing at first, but But no, you grabbed the wrong one. I did not. Yeah.
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I'm right there with you.
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I'm right there with you. Keep going.
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I just got I'm starting to sweat now.
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That's what's going to happen.
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It's going to be like you're at the free throw line in the third quarter here as we go on, you know. Ooh. All right.
11:26
Given your unique insight as a child of a '90s pro, I am curious.
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When you and your dad talk about like his NBA your NBA, what are the things that you guys end up talking about?
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I mean, the physicality is always the one thing that everybody talks about.
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Like all the hard fouls they had back then.
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They was just real and the league is, you know, adapted appropriately.
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But, just the overall spacing, right?
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You like when you watch games back in the day in the '90s, at all times they looked like there was at least nine people inside the three-point line.
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Usually five to six people in the paint.
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And just the different, you know, X's and O's and and floor spacing and and and play calls that they did.
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Um he told a story today about a a game-winning shot that he had in in Madison Square Garden.
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The way he described the play, he's like somebody double-teamed the post and kicked it out to him on the strong side corner.
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I'm like, that hasn't happened in like 12 years in the NBA.
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I don't remember the last time you had a double-team to a strong side kick-out for a butt-naked open, you know, game-winning three in Madison Square Garden.
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So, it wasn't just the game-winning shot.
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It's just like how it happened.
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And he said it so casual.
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He's like, "Oh, yeah, that was a good defensive read."
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It's like that's Now everybody's fanning out to the three-point line.
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They'd rather you try to shoot a shot in the paint and you know, for a game-winner instead.
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So, game has changed drastically, obviously.
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I feel like I've had a lot to do with that.
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But, those are the probably the main call-outs he he likes to talk about. And the contracts. Jalapeno Chico here.
12:59
I swear to you when you said the name. All right.
13:05
I'm I'm trying to do what you just said.
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I'm trying to acknowledge what's happening right now. I'm basking in it. It's okay. Going to be all right. Mhm. You're not the only one. Come on. Mhm. I'm competitive as hell.
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I really I really want to And you know, not to lead the witness, but we've never had an NBA player tap out. No. No, I'm not.
13:29
It won't be It won't be today.
13:31
However, you got to wheel me out of here. Come on.
13:36
So, I've heard you credit Klay Thompson's shooting form as being more pure from a textbook standpoint than yours.
13:41
Can you explain what you mean by that?
13:43
Cuz from sitting on the couch, like they both look pretty good to me.
13:46
Uh how would I explain it?
13:46
I I'd say his is more repeatable for the average person.
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What I mean by that it's it's more kind of uniform from the ground up.
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So, for all the hoop heads, you know, like you get your you get your uh I'm losing my You get your balance uh from your feet and then your power from, you know, the base and you work your way up from there.
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Like you can't really get you consistency and repeatability without trying to throw it and sling with your hands and your arms and your wrist.
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So, he has like the most stacked kind of form.
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Like everything's in line.
14:23
All of his his angles are right.
14:28
And um like if I was going to take somebody who's never shot a ball before and put a ball in your hand, I would put you in Klay Thompson's positions.
14:36
Uh cuz like everybody shoots differently.
14:37
Like all the greatest shooters in the league, we all have different releases and different forms, but Klay's is the one that if you just took a snapshot, it's just right here.
14:46
It's extremely It's pretty.
14:46
I call it the prettiest jump shot I've ever seen.
14:49
And then if you were giving advice on how to shoot, what movements and idiosyncrasies in someone's mechanics, which ones are adaptable with enough practice and then which ones are fatal if done wrong?
15:00
The getting really technical there, angle of your elbow.
15:03
Cuz it's really hard to if you're able if you have like the two call it the chicken wing or the the I don't know what the I You rarely see this one, but there have been some that kind of come up through here and then bring it back out, but this is the one you see the most.
15:16
The chicken wing is deadly just because it's hard to create the same arc with it and the same power.
15:22
Uh you can get everything from here, but as soon as you get here you lose it.
15:27
As long as your your elbow is kind of as close to 90° as possible, I'm much more confident in somebody being able to repeat that.
15:34
Cuz that's the one I hate to see.
15:36
It's like the deadliest sin in in basketball shooting. Uh the chicken wing. The chicken wing. On topic. Yes. This next chicken wing.
15:44
Speaking of lethal chicken wings.
15:46
So this is the one that like It's reputation precedes it.
15:50
This is the like the popcorn thing. Like presentation.
15:52
You came and look at your eye goes right here first. Talk to me. All right, here we go. The bomb. Beyond insanity. Woah. Yeah, immediately.
16:10
All right, I didn't even get that thing in my mouth. Right.
16:13
Like on my teeth and then it hit me.
16:16
Oh man, I'm I'm for real sweating now. Yeah. Like for real sweating.
16:21
All right, and then just be careful around the eyes. I got it. I ain't doing that.
16:23
I wouldn't backhand on you. Smart. All right.
16:30
Do you remember THE FIRST TIME SO THAT'S GOOD. THIS IS THE SHOW. THIS IS THE SHOW. That is oh shoot.
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But it was just sitting on my tongue like right it's right in the front.
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It keeps growing and keeps growing.
16:44
Like the worst is never over. All right, cool.
16:51
Do you remember the first time that you ever pulled up from 40 ft in a game?
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Like how old were you and do you remember what your coach's reaction was? Oh my god. That is an insane. I know.
17:01
I I almost have to apologize. do this every day.
17:05
Now you you get paid for it. I know. Yeah, yeah. You know, willingly. Oh my god.
17:08
And you And you're passionate about your job. Yeah. Oh my god. I did it in high school. Uh, and I know I missed.
17:19
And thankfully my dad was on the sidelines, so my head he was assistant coach.
17:23
My head coach couldn't really like overstep and like chastise me in the middle of the game, but I definitely got an earful when I got in the car on the way home.
17:33
You trying to get through this freaking sauce. That is ridiculous. I get it. I can't believe.
17:36
It doesn't get any better. No, it only gets worse. It only gets worse. I know. I know. I know.
17:42
You know, during my middle school era, all right, kids in games would try that like Allen Iverson spin crossover a lot.
17:49
Usually to disastrous results.
17:52
Do you remember like the player that you would emulate when you were that age?
17:55
Like so many kids now it's like you for them. Like who was your model?
17:59
The model was Steve Nash and Reggie Miller.
18:03
See this tear on my left eye?
18:04
It's very dramatic, yeah.
18:05
I get real emotional when I talk about these two legends that were such great influences on my game.
18:12
Reggie because he was a master of creating space without the ball, find a way to get separation to go out and get a core get a pass and and quick release.
18:21
I never could emulate his form cuz he'd do like this when he'd shoot.
18:23
It was You never You never teach that, but the movement out the ball.
18:26
So, I tried to blend those two guys together.
18:30
Um, but then the funny is me and my brother there's a guy Alonzo Mourning.
18:35
He had like this really methodical free throw routine that me and my brother would really emulate and we did it, you know, when we were playing AAU.
18:40
He'd have his wrist band and he'd do like a methodical like wipe off the sweat and I get he'd get locked in and then he'd do another little bounce and another little bounce and do it again and then he'd shoot a free throw.
18:50
So, we we always I don't know why we just loved that iconic free throw routine cuz it was very big man of him.
18:55
Like we were little guards and it was like kind of out of pocket for us, but yeah, that was just a roundabout way of saying Steve Nash and Reggie Miller were my my guys.
19:06
With a little splash of Alonzo Mourning.
19:08
A little splash of the big fella. How are doing? Fantastic. Freaking fantastic. Let's do it.
19:17
I need a sweat band for real.
19:19
Yeah, you need the morning routine. Deep breaths. Oh my goodness, man. Fourth quarter. Fourth quarter.
19:33
I just want to know I'm winning a real real significant bet in my family right now. Oh, you are?
19:39
They didn't think you'd make it through? had no faith in me. Underrated. there. Underrated. Talk to me. Underrated. Come on.
19:45
Told you I'm competitive. Come on. Bring it.
19:48
How much did it mean to you that Kobe picked up on your baby face assassin nickname?
19:51
You know, it seems like he saw the killer instinct in you before a lot of others.
19:56
That is one of my favorite memories and like compliments I've ever gotten in my life because it was like two or three different um kind of interactions there.
20:05
One I didn't even know about till way after the fact.
20:10
It's my rookie year and we're playing the Lakers at home and he's on the bench.
20:13
I think we're getting beat at the time but I come down the court and I do like this little pump fake situation hit a uh a leaner off the glass.
20:23
And as I'm running down the court the camera um locks in on him for some reason and he like points to or leans to the guy sitting next to him one of his teammates.
20:34
Uh and uh kind of mouths like yo, like he's nice.
20:39
I'm like that's the that's the dopest thing in the world.
20:40
Kobe's validating your game and he's just saying you play like for real for the first time and that's just freaking amazing.
20:45
Then the second time we played in a preseason game, he's doing that Mamba mentality thing where he's picking me up full court in a preseason game in the first quarter.
20:53
I'm like you turn around and he's like this like standing there and I'm doing defensive slides like standing in front of me and I'm like yo, what is happening right now?
20:59
This is freaking Kobe Bryant.
21:02
So he stays with me for like four or five slides and then he bumps me and I kind of like fall off balance.
21:05
So, I'm actually gassed at this point. I'm tired.
21:09
This is trying to get in a shape in a preseason game and he's just going, you know, all out on the defensive pressure and he's like way bigger, way stronger than me.
21:17
He's bumping me and doing all that.
21:19
So, after I fall, I got no option.
21:21
I'm like, I'm just going to shoot it and live with it.
21:22
And I shot it from probably 30 ft and I made it.
21:27
And then I act like nothing happened.
21:28
So, it's like the biggest uh keep your cool kind of moment in your life cuz, you know, it's freaking Kobe.
21:33
You're trying to be super chill.
21:33
But all right, but I just, you know, drained one from 30 on him after he picked me up.
21:39
And he gave me like the little ass tap on the way back.
21:40
And I couldn't even acknowledge that either.
21:42
I kind of just like knocked him off and like act like I was playing on defense.
21:46
I went right back in at halftime.
21:46
I was like, I need that clip. Like bring me that back.
21:50
I got to save that on my phone.
21:52
And the third time is what you're referring to in terms of him kind of breaking down the the killer instinct.
21:58
And I just hide it behind the smile like there's a guys that he was that had like the scowl and the game face and like the killer mentality.
22:05
He didn't have to say anything. You could see it.
22:06
Like he's like the joy that I play with and the smile that I have, you get deceived by just the killer instinct that I had underneath and the competitor spirit that I had.
22:15
For somebody to validate you like that, especially he's not giving out compliments like that. No, no.
22:21
That was that was truly special for sure.
22:29
I'm doing what you do, brother. Come on. I want to bump it. Oh, shoot. All right, whatever. I'm showing out today. Yeah, for real. Come on. So, little brother. Zac. What a run. Absolutely. Look at us, right?
22:46
Hey, who would have thought? Who would have thought? Oh, man. I know. I know. But it's all over.
22:59
Wings of Death are behind us.
22:59
And you know, when I was watching the documentary When I was watching the documentary and reliving all these moments, you know, they're so indelible to us sports fans, but I couldn't help but to think what it must have been like for you to experience them.
23:14
So, with your brain on fire, your mouth ablaze, what I want to do is bounce a few moments from the doc off of you, some career highlights, and you just tell me the first couple of things that come to mind when you think about that night. Okay.
23:26
Turning the ball over 13 times in your college debut against Eastern Michigan.
23:31
I can't wait for everybody to see this cuz when I saw the clip, like you have a memory of how bad it was in your head, then you imagine a hundred times worse when you see it.
23:40
So, I literally like a like a baby giraffe out there.
23:43
Like I couldn't even stay on my feet.
23:45
I could not From me to you right here, I could not throw a pass this way.
23:49
And the way that it's edited, it's all 13 turnovers literally in a row.
23:55
And just you see everybody's expression, my teammates like, "Yo, what the hell is happening right now?"
23:58
Coach Caleb, you can see his wheels are turning like, "We just gave a scholarship to this kid? Like what are we doing? We're stuck for years."
24:06
Coming back down 17 to beat Georgetown in the NCAA tournament. Unbelievable.
24:12
The highlight of of the run on We won the next game, but that like getting out of that first round and then then going to the second round and beating the team like that knowing we're already overmatched in terms of the the seeding, but we're already down 17 in the second half.
24:24
Unbelievable comeback for sure.
24:27
Breaking the all-time three record with the Ray Allen and Reggie Miller in attendance. To do it in the garden.
24:33
To do it with those two guys.
24:36
I watched when when Ray broke Reggie's record, and Reggie was on the call.
24:39
So, I remember that is kicking in right now. Yeah. Yeah.
24:44
Um and I remember that moment.
24:44
It was, you know, in Boston and they waited for a timeout and he came over and he hugged his mom.
24:52
He went over and hugged Reggie.
24:54
So, I was kind of just imagining what that would be like with me.
24:57
And it was it over it over delivered, so after a special moment I got to give the the game ball to my dad who was sitting courtside, too.
25:06
A proud moment, and you know what?
25:06
I think you're only going to add to the resume today taking on the wings of death living to tell the tale.
25:11
And now there's nothing left to do but roll out the red carpet for you, Steph Curry.
25:17
This camera, this camera, this camera, let the people know what you have going on in your life.
25:21
Hey, make sure you check out the Underrated documentary, Stephen Curry: Underrated, coming out Apple TV Plus July 21st or whenever you can get to your TVs and get these sauces with it.
25:40
MY EYES ARE FREAKING WATERING.
25:43
THESE WENT away before you get to the next wing. Mhm.
25:46
Here, it stayed, and then this one is just that's a different level.
25:50
But you know, true to form, you didn't stop.
25:51
You didn't slow down your bites, big dab at the end.
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And you know, as much as you were challenged, you never took your foot off the gas, Steph. do it. True to form. Can't do it. True to form. Oh my god.
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Thank you so much for watching today's video.
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I have a very exciting new product alert.
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Last year, Hot Ones brought the heat to the freezer aisle with our first ever Hot Ones boneless chicken bites.
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Well, now we are bringing even more heat to the freezer aisle with our brand new Hot Ones chicken strips made with our first ever season blend.
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Two boldly seasoned varieties.
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You have the spicy garlic featuring the classic garlic fresno with mild heat and garlic blasted goodness, and smoky habanero with the tropical medium spice of our Los Calientes Rojo.
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We took the sauces that you know and love, and with a little kitchen magic turned it into the perfect season blend that go great on our new Hot Ones chicken strips.
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To find Hot Ones chicken strips near you, visit hotoneschallenge. com. That's hotoneschallenge. com.
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Snack them, dip them, make them the perfect party platter.