Nobody believed in Stephen Curry’s ability when he first entered the NBA. At just 6-foot-2, he was considered undersized for a point guard, far from the prototype the league was used to. Yet his character and outstanding play at Davidson College under legendary coach Bob McKillop propelled him to stardom and eventually to greatness with the Golden State Warriors.
McKillop didn’t just coach Curry on the court — his influence went far beyond the game. From the very beginning, he recognized something special in Curry, long before the rest of the basketball world saw the potential of a future superstar.
In a recent interview with ClutchPoints, McKillop shared several stories from Curry’s time at Davidson, including a revealing memory from Curry’s very first appearance at a scouting camp. “He was awful,” McKillop recalled. “He dribbled it off his foot, he threw a ball out of bounds, he shot an air ball, he missed a foul shot, and he got beat on defense.”
But for McKillop, greatness wasn’t only about how a player performed. It was about how they responded when things didn’t go their way. “Never once did he stop competing,” McKillop said.
Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors speaks with Davidson head coach Bob McKillop prior to Game 1 of the 2017 NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers
“Never once did he have the body language of ‘woe is me.’ Never once did he say, ‘I can’t do this.’ He never complained to the refs. He listened to his coach during timeouts, looked him in the eye, and cheered for his teammates when he was on the bench.”
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That resilience convinced McKillop that Curry had something extraordinary. “I said to myself right there that he has the remarkable capacity to live in the moment… and that was the defining moment for me as a coach to give him the scholarship.”
Another turning point came during a game against the Wildcats, when Davidson lost but Curry exploded for 32 points. With national media watching him closely for the first time, Curry didn’t bask in the spotlight. Instead, he thanked each of his teammates by name for helping him shine.
“He showed what a great teammate he was,” McKillop said. “He showed humility, but also a belief in himself that grew stronger because the coaches stuck with him.”
McKillop also made it clear what truly separated Curry from everyone else — the qualities that later turned him into a star. “After what I saw in those workouts, I went to an alumni meeting and told them, ‘Stephen Curry is going to surprise everybody. He will go down in history as one of the greatest to ever play Davidson basketball.’”
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Watching Curry in practice, McKillop noticed skills that were almost impossible to teach. “He’s got fast-twitch eye muscles and fast-twitch ear muscles. He doesn’t just see where the ball is, he sees where it’s going to be. He doesn’t just see where his man is, but where his man and his teammates will be. And with his ears, he hears what’s happening in the moment while anticipating what’s coming next. That’s something remarkable”. and it’s something we still see every day in the player Curry has become with the Golden State Warriors and his eternal legacy.
