If you comes across a Charlotte Christian basketball team photo from the early 2000s, you would see a row of bearded, jacked-up guys only to stumble on a skinny kid in the front row. You might be wondering, how did this ‘skinny’ kid make the team? Well, as it turned out, he went on to lead that team to three conference titles and three state playoff appearances. That kid would become a NBA star, it was none other than Stephen Curry.

Size has always been an issue in the game of basketball, but the NBA seen many players dislodging the ‘size matters’ theory, including Allen Iverson, Isaiah Thomas, Chris Paul, and many others. However, Stephen Curry went on to not only outmatch all of them in terms of accolades but also became a game-changer. He is widely regarded as one of the best PGs of all time. But the road to success was paved with challenges, as his father Dell Curry discussed in the Heat Check Audiobook, openly blaming his wife Sonya for his son’s height issues.

“You were always the smallest, shortest, skinniest kid on all your teams, from 6 yo, 6th grade and all the way up and I contribute that to your mother,” Dell told his son in chapter 2 of the audiobook. During his high school days, Steph was 5’5″ and barely over 150 lbs. Sonya is 5’3″ and was a volleyball player at Virginia Tech. As Dell Curry is 6’5″, it became easy to shift the blame on his wife.

For Steph, it was something different, something that became a part of his identity. Once people around him started to realize Curry’s unique abilities, he wore the stigma as a badge of honor. The Golden State Warriors star previously talked about the challenges he faced growing up before he ultimately reached the 6’2″ height. “The physicality deficiencies I had early, and, you know, there was always just an encouragement to just work, figure it out, build confidence as you go,” Steph said in his Underrated documentary.

But how did he exactly cope with this adversity? For that, he thanks his father’s former teammate, Charlotte Hornets star, Muggsy Bogues. The 5’3″ PG had a 14-year career in the NBA before turning to coaching in 2005. That’s when he met Steph Curry and began to further enhance the youngster’s god-gifted talent.

Stephen Curry credits how Muggsy Bogues showed him the way to utilize his size

Even before his college career took shape, Curry was already a high-school sensation. But some mentoring was needed and he found Muggsy. “I didn’t know at the time how much of an influence he (Muggsy) has, but looking back any interaction you’ve with him…when I was going to watch a game. You can’t take your eyes off him. Visually like how he’s out there doing it, just the confidence he walked onto every court. It’s just contagious,” Curry talked about Muggsy’s influence.

The 36-year-old also revealed a fun encounter he had with Muggsy. “We were at the Charlotte one time playing pick up. I think I was freshman at high school…He was out there, he was playing and like one game we talked for 5 minutes and he was talking about how he used to overcome playing against bigger guys.”

“He punched me in my stomach, his arms were so strong, I think you’ll be fine (Muggsy said to Curry) and I was like alright, I just gotta figure out how to make that happen,” the 4-time NBA champion said. His coach, Shonn Brown, also advised him to be more aggressive with his shooting, calling a faster release. Despite showing his shooting prowess, Virginia Tech only offered a walk-on spot due to his size. The Davidson Wildcats took the chance on Stephen Curry and the rest is history, including 3-points after 3-points after 3-points.