‘Underrated’: Why Stephen Curry finally agreed to star in a documentary

All those pitches Stephen Curry heard asking him to be the focal point of a documentary just rim-rolled but never went in.

Then along came the “Stephen Curry: Underrated” team of Oakland director/co-producer Peter Nicks and others associated with Proximity Media, including Oakland native and “Black Panther” filmmaker Ryan Coogler. Their proposal arrived at the perfect time and proved to be just what Curry wanted.

The phenomenal Golden State Warriors point guard and sensational golfer (check out his hole-in-one last weekend at the American Century Championship in Lake Tahoe) particularly liked the fact that Nicks sought to juxtapose his underdog 2006-2009 collegiate basketball career at Davidson College in North Carolina with the Warriors’ comeback chew-your-nails-to-itty-bits 2021-2022 season. Factor in the talent backing the documentary, recently released on Apple TV+, and one of the greatest basketball players of all time was all in.

“This one made the most sense because from a top level it was closing in on 15 years of our Elite Eight (appearance at the regional final round of the NCAA Division) we had at Davidson,” Curry said during a Zoom interview promoting the documentary, which debuted at January’s Sundance Film Festival, where Curry attended with Nicks, Coogler and others.

Other reasons that contributed to clinching the deal included a collaborative desire to impart positive messages in the documentary about achieving one’s goals, and about persevering and triumphing when seemingly everyone expects you to fail.

“It was the through line of me trying to complete my Bachelor’s degree since I had left early in my third year and fulfilling that promise to Coach (Bob) McKillop and my mom,” he adds. “It was also just a moment of reflection on all the things that I learned and the underrated mindset I had developed pre-Davidson, but that exposed itself though those three years. And some of the other themes and lessons that I took away from those formative years at Davidson. All that, you know, I think took the success that I’ve had in the league and gave it a home of why it mattered, why it would be impactful.”

While the 35-year-old father of three, whose family lives in Atherton, hopes “Underrated” inspires young athletes, he dually hopes it appeals to “anybody from any walk of life” who has felt undervalued and is able to “adopt that underrated mindset as a badge of honor.”

Davidson coach McKillop, now retired, was one such person who saw something special in Curry even though skeptics thought the player was too short and didn’t possess the right stuff to be a star. Curry played for three seasons at Davidson from 2006-2009 before leaving for the NBA in his senior year.

The moving bond between McKillop and Curry, and Davidson’s astonishing 2008 NCAA Tournament run, play commanding roles in Nicks’ feature. Both on and off the court, McKillop and Curry have high praise and respect for each other.

“Steph checked every box in the area of character, work ethic, toughness, and coachability,” McKillop said in an email. “His shooting, ball-handling skills, and basketball IQ were easily evident. His capacity to live in the moment because of his tough-minded emotional makeup and his selfless spirit heightened his ability to transcend time. He learned and consistently demonstrated the ability to be in the present moment while seeing one step ahead into the future, and did it all at the same time.”

Curry found McKillop to be a perceptive coach and mentor who saw his potential and challenged him in all the right ways.

“He did it with a perspective that I was good enough … (that) I didn’t need to change. I needed to continue to be myself. … From a leadership perspective, he’s like a master at connecting to the human being and not just the athlete.”

Curry also praises “Underrated” director Nicks — known for the acclaimed Oakland documentary trilogy “The Waiting Room,” “The Force” and “Homeroom” — and says the award-winning filmmaker did an unbelievable job, particularly when tagging along during the Warriors’ crazy 2021-22 season while allowing everyone to “exist in these spaces and still be present and be human in the process.”

But Nicks said he had doubts about making the documentary when the idea was floated his way.

“I almost didn’t do it,” he admits. His reticence was due to the flood of celebrity and music documentaries that were coming out at the time. And unlike his previous films, which take a cinema vérité look at governmental institutions, this one would focus on one person who would be partnering with him to tell the story. But as Nicks got to know Curry and his story he was won over and wanted to shape it partly as a coming-of-age story “that had not been told before.”

The documentary is coming out at a time when people are still talking about two recent remarkable sporting feats – Curry’s win and hole-in-one in the Tahoe tournament and tennis player Carlos Alcaraz’s stunning Wimbledon title victory at the age of 20.

Since Alcaraz is so young and Curry is so familiar with fame, does he have any wisdom to impart to the young Spanish player about dealing with sudden fame and public attention?

“Stay true to who you are and what got you there — first and foremost,” he said, adding it’s crucial to strike a balance between living in the public eye and living your real life, and being aware of “people taking bits and pieces of you away from the main thing.”

He finds that what he has learned “going through these last 14-plus years in the league is the behemoth of the platform as it grows. It can eat away at your joy for what you do and you can tell Alcaraz plays with joy. I was out there on the golf course playing with joy. I play with joy on the basketball court. I have been trying to be intentional, intentional about maintaining that because once that flame goes down then it’s hard to light back up and reclaim.”

There is little doubt, when you play back that video of Curry’s hole-in-one, that there’s a lot of joy going on — along with surprise. He admits he did have a “blackout moment and didn’t know what he was doing” after sinking that one in.

“Somebody asked me like, ‘What’s a better feeling, you hitting a game-winning three pointer or making a hole-in-one? I was like well the hole-in-one for sure because you don’t ever expect to make one. Let alone on TV. Let alone in a tournament like that. If I’m (taking) a game-winning three pointer, as soon as I shoot it, I’m like, that better go in.”