"The underdog mentality and mindset will always be a part of who I am. Humbled beginnings in the game, being overlooked and having to really, on the court, fight for everything."
Stephen Curry arrived in Charlotte for his sixth All-Star selection.
He was home.
It was a reunion for Curry who had spent his childhood in the area and throughout his college years when he played for Davidson College about 30 minutes away from Charlotte.
But, it was not an easy process, getting there. And not only because Momma Sonya Curry didn't want her son necessarily playing for the school.
Let's fast forward to Curry's sophomore year -- that's when the recruiting process began.
"This is my time," he said in the fourth episode of his Facebook series "Stephen vs The Game."
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During his junior year was when he started "getting feelers" from Virginia Tech. He played in front of Roy Williams and Coach K, but the phone wasn't ringing.
"That's where it kind of sunk in, like, 'All right, what's going on?'"
His dad Dell mentioned the reason why he didn't get recruited by any D-1 schools was his size.
"He was a small guy who didn't pass the eye test," Dell said.
They all complimented him of course, His shooting was there, he was intelligent, but he didn't have the stature they wanted. How would he be able to defend against guards bigger than him in the ACC?
Head coach at Davidson, Bob McKillop watched the "small" Curry, play in high school one day in Las Vegas. And if you can believe it, Curry was awful. He turned the ball over, he missed a shot -- missed another shot, and he couldn't keep up defensively -- but there was something that still stood out to him about Curry.
"Never once did he stop playing," McKillop said. "Never once did he show the frustration, never once did he get impacted by the demons of failure. And I said to myself 'This is a young man who transcends time. He lives in the moment.'"
That was the easy part, so far. McKillop still had to meet the parents, and Sonya wasn't going to be easy to convince.
"I have the reputation of being the tough one in the family, so my interviewing techniques can be a little daunting sometimes," she smiled.
Sonya wanted to hear all the right things. She wanted to make sure he was the coach that would hold Steph accountable.
And he hit all the right notes, according to her.
"He went to leave and I walked him to the door and I said 'Coach, we'll get him fattened up for you. And he turned around and once again blew me away.'"
He then patted her on the shoulder and told him he would take the young Curry just the way he was. She laughed and said she offered to let the coach take him right then and there. She was sold.
That's when both Dell and Sonya knew the coach had the confidence to turn Steph into the best player he was going to be. And most importantly, the two-time MVP felt valued.
However, there was a bit of a record scratch moment when he told everyone at school he was committing to Davidson -- it wiped the smile right off of his face when his peers were confused as to what school that was.
Remember those turnovers the coach talked about when watching Curry in high school? They would soon come back to haunt him during his first start -- all nine of them heading into halftime.
"We as a coaching staff said 'Remember Las Vegas,'" McKillon explained.
They kept him in the lineup and he ended with a double-double. The coach believed it was 14 points -- and 11 turnovers. But that was the beginning of the Curry confidence, both in himself and in the staff.
[RELATED: Curry stops by alma mater, celebrates with students]
What do you expect from a competitor who is told "no?"
The series showed a clip of when Curry began to bloom into the Curry we now know and he was right back where it all started, sporting a Davidson uniform over his black sweatshirt singing "Sweet Caroline," and cheering on the team as a fan.
It all came full circle. From the time he was swimming in a red Davidson uniform, to holding his son, Canon, after the Warriors swept the series and head to the NBA Finals. He was still the same guy -- maybe with a little more facial hair.
