Most NBA fans know that Steph Curry is not only one of the best basketball players ever but an outstanding golfer as well. That multi-sport aptitude must be genetic, as his mom Sonya played volleyball and basketball and ran track, while his dad Dell played college baseball before enjoying a 16-year NBA career.
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Steph won the 2023 American Century Championship, and he’s even been quoted as saying that he’d like to make a run at the Champions Tour after his basketball days are over.
Golf could be a smooth transition for Steph when he hangs up his high-tops. His dad once had a tougher decision to make. Now known as one of the best outside shooters of the 1990s, Dell nearly chose the diamond over the hardwood. He was drafted to play baseball, first by the Texas Rangers out of high school, then by the Baltimore Orioles while was still at Virginia Tech.
Dell’s collegiate baseball career was a rocky one, as he missed his freshman season after contracting mononucleosis, then missed his sophomore season so that he could take part in the Olympic basketball trials. The Orioles liked what they saw after his junior season, though, and they took a chance by drafting him in the 14th round of the 1985 draft.
As he told host Paul Jones on an episode of Off the Hardwood that was taped during his final NBA season back in 2001, Dell wasn’t willing to give up on school just to go through the grind of working his way through the minor leagues.
“I decided to stay in school and get my degree and try basketball,” he said. “In baseball, number one, they wanted me to leave school, and I knew I had to go through rookie league, single-A, double-A to get to the major leagues.”
That decision paid off, as Dell fulfilled a promise he had made to his mom to get his degree. He then was taken 15th overall by the Utah Jazz in the 1986 draft before embarking on a 16-year NBA career that took him to Utah, Cleveland, Charlotte, Milwaukee and Toronto.
Steph also made a similar promise to his mom, and, like his dad, he graduated with a degree in sociology. He took a slightly different path than Dell did, though, as he returned to Davidson 13 years after leaving early for the NBA to finish his course requirements and wear his cap and gown.
Who knows how things would have gone for the Curry family if Dell had chosen to play baseball once upon a time, but things definitely worked out in the end.
