NBA DNA

Recently I've been checking up to see how the newly drafted lottery picks have been doing and as expected, some have been doing what they do best: Blake Griffin doing his all around game, Hasheem Thabeet block shots, Tyreke Evans over powering smaller guards, Stephen Curry shooting the ball like there is no tomorrow and the list goes on. After looking at the stats of these players I stopped to think about how young and skilled they are for such a young age. Many of these summer league players are not able to drink (legally). How did these players get to become so good at such a young age? Maybe they've trained endless hours.. or maybe it's more than that.

Stephen Curry was the leading scorer in the NCAA last year. He is known for his quick release and ability to get the ball into the basket. His father, Dell Curry played in the NBA for 15 years; playing in over 1,000 NBA basketball games. After thinking about this father and son duo, I started to think, could Dell and Stephen become one of the greatest Father/Son Duos in the NBA?

Many people will argue that most of an individual's traits, tendencies, and skills are attributed to genetics. If this was the case, what if Stephen Curry was able to not only learn from his father, but genetically be as good as his father?

Here are Dell's Career High stats:
16.3 PPG (93-94)
47.6% 3PT% (98-99)
92.3% FT% (89-90)
49.1% FG% (88-89)

Stephen already has the shooters touch, but if he is able to polish his game and create stats like his father, he is going to go pretty far in the NBA. Going back to the original question of could they become one of the best Father/Son Duos in the NBA? After doing some research, it is definitely possible, but they have quite a bit of competition:


#1 Rick and Brent Barry- This father and son duo definitely understand what it means to win Championships. Rick won multiple championships with the Warriors and Brent won a couple with the Spurs. Rick Barry was definitely a pioneer in the lost art of become a "pure" shooter. His son, Brent although winning the slam dunk championship, took a page from his fathers book on what it means to become a good shooter.


#2 Joe "Jellybean" and Kobe Bryant- Joe "Jellybean" Bryant played 8 seasons in the NBA before heading over seas to play in the European League. Joe was most notably know for scoring 53 points in the European League. Joe's son Kobe, has simply become one of the most electrifying players in the NBA since he entered the NBA. "The Black Mamba" is the best closers in the game and is a complete nightmare to guard. If you play him to close, he will fly by you, but if you give him the slightest bit of space, he will make you pay with his jumper. I believe Shane Battier (a great defender in the NBA) said it best, "You cannot guard Kobe Bryant, you can only hope to contain him."


#3 Jimmy Walker and Jalen Rose - Jimmy Walker was the #1 overall draft pick in the 1967 NBA Draft and played 9 seasons in the NBA. Before becoming a sports analyst, Jalen Rose was most notably known for being apart of the Michigan State Fab Five (along side Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King, and Ray Jackson). During his NBA career, Jalen played his best seasons with the Indian Pacers.

Honorable mentions: Bill and Luke Walton, Henry and Mike Bibby.

So we have yet to see an NBA game played by Stephen Curry, he definitely has the genetics to back him up. As for Dell and Stephen becoming one of the Greatest Father/Son Duos, it's not going to be an easy task, for they will be with some good company. Only time will tell whether Stephen can continue to develop his game.