The Golden State Warriors are not the only franchise to have had a player named Curry make NBA history.
Unfortunately for the Chicago Bulls, that fact and their surnames were the only things that linked their version to two-time MVP Steph.
‘Chef Curry’ has endured endless debate surrounding his diminutive size in comparison to his NBA rivals throughout his all-star career.
However, the word short will forever be attached to his surname for an event outside his career thanks to another Curry of no relation.
Over 4,500 players have played a game in the NBA – only JamesOn Curry holds the record for the shortest career at 3.9 seconds.
He didn’t take a shot, grab a rebound, or even touch the ball.
Six years later, Curry served 10 weeks in Oklahoma County jail and logged 40 hours of community service after being arrested twice within four months.
In October 2014, he was busted for marijuana possession and false impersonation (for telling the cop his name was James Davis). The following February, possession of Xanax was added to his charges.
“All that thug s***, yes. Hood s***, yes. But I’m not some bad guy,” Curry explained to ESPN in 2020. “Ain’t no stealing, no killing, none of that. Some selling, some hustling, that s*** I did.”
Following his release, Curry was involved in a severe car accident in April 2017 that dislocated his ribs and broke his back.
Any hope of a basketball comeback was extinguished, but as a convicted felon, work proved thin on the ground – “Burger King wouldn’t even hire me, man,” he added.
He worked various jobs to support his family, including at a dog food factory, delivering packages for UPS, and a three-month role laboring 12-hour days, 60-hour weeks loading and driving trucks before finding his calling as a youth basketball coach.
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It is a far cry from the headlines Curry was once synonymous with generating in his early days as a basketball prodigy in North Carolina.
His unique first name, an amalgamation of his great-uncle James and his father Leon’s monikers, saw him stand out before he ever played.
On the court, the now-39-year-old surpassed Michael Jordan when he broke the state’s high school scoring record with his 3,307 points.
In his senior year, he averaged 40 points a game, which included his 47 against crosstown rival Graham on February 3, 2004.
The next morning, Curry was called into the principal’s office, where he thought the Sheriff’s deputies waiting inside wanted autographs.
Instead, they placed him in handcuffs.
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Curry was caught selling marijuana to an undercover police officer as part of a sting operation that yielded the arrests of 60 students from six high schools for drug dealing.
He pleaded guilty to six felony counts of possessing marijuana and selling it on school grounds but was handed a suspended sentence and placed on probation.
“If I was looking at it and I heard what happened to me,” Curry said, as reported by The Oklahoman in 2005.
“Who do you believe? You don’t know me. You don’t know what happened. You don’t know where it is where I lived. You don’t know how the people is back there. You don’t know.”
North Carolina rescinded its scholarship, but Curry made the most of his second chance by committing to Oklahoma State three months later.
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After his junior year, the Bulls selected him 51st overall in the 2007 draft and then sent him to the D-League (now the G-League).
However, at the D-League Showcase in January 2008, Curry was arrested for urinating in an alley and was suspended for one game.
Curry attributed that incident, along with missing a team flight to New York because he got lost driving to the airport, as major factors behind the Bulls waiving him after one season.
“This isn’t the only reason, but that’s a big reason I’m not in the NBA,” he told ESPN. “When I missed that flight, it really messed things up.”
Curry returned to the D-League after stints at pro teams in France and Cyprus, and was the Springfield Armor first call-up when the Los Angeles Clippers signed him in 2010.
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January 25 was the day his name was etched in the record books.
With 3.9 seconds remaining in the third quarter and the Clippers losing to the Boston Celtics, coach Mike Dunleavy Sr turned to Curry.
The point guard, who had signed a 10-day contract with the Clippers just 72 hours beforehand, checks in while wearing No.44.
Curry was tasked with guarding Rajon Rondo, but a fumble from Ray Allen kept him out of the limelight in the seconds until the buzzer.
DeAndre Jordan subbed in for Curry at the start of the fourth, who watched the rest of the 95-89 loss from the bench.
“It was the quickest four seconds ever,” Curry said after the game.
“I wish it would’ve lasted longer. Being out there, I just felt like a regular person, felt like a regular basketball player.
“I felt like I was home, like this is where I belong.”
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In a cruel twist of fate, Curry found himself homeless in one sense when the Clippers waived him 12 hours later.
Over a decade later, the retired 6-foot-3 guard has no idea what he did with the jersey or the headband he used that night.
His high-school record has since been taken by now-current Bulls guard Coby White, after his 3,573 points in 2018.
Curry hasn’t played professional basketball in years, but what the sport can never take from him is his smile.
“You know, if you think about it,” Curry added to ESPN with a smile, “I’m probably the highest-paid player per second in NBA history.”
