Michael Jordan once famously said, “Maybe it’s my fault. Maybe I led you to believe it was easy when it wasn’t.” As the glamour, success, and prowess of an NBA player gain the spotlight, it is easy to remove focus from the hard work, constant failures, and repeated attempts they had to go through to reach that high pedestal. Despite his father being a prominent NBA player, Stephen Curry earned everything on his own. Today, Steph is a recognizable NBA player in large part due to the hard work he put in, since his childhood.

No one knows more about the struggles of the Warriors star than his parents, Dell and Sonya Curry. During a conversation on the latter’s Raising Fame podcast, Sonya highlighted how her eldest initially had the same shot-making skills as she did during her volleyball days. However, basketball is a different sport. And young Steph had to make some changes in order to compete at the college level.

Dell described that his son’s shooting skills took almost a whole summer to be brought to a commendable level. When Dell couldn’t be present to train him, Sonya would take charge. Despite the encouragement from both parents, it was easy to get disheartened when success wouldn’t come quickly. “He got really frustrated to the point where he would get upset, teary-eyed, and then come in the house. Dell and I would go, ‘No, we can go back outside and work through that frustration,’” Sonya revealed.

“We always know there is a point wherein anything we’re trying to accomplish, that we get frustrated and almost feel like there’s no hope or you’re just not gonna do it,” she added. “And why? Why put in the extra little oomph? And so, we always try to encourage him that way. ‘Go back out. You got it, you got it.’”

Both Dell and Sonya not only acted as mentors but also as inspirations for the Warriors star. In Steph’s words, “I saw my dad and how he carried himself as a professional, and it helped me transition into the NBA.” About Sonya, he believes that “a lot of people say whatever defensive abilities I have, I get from her.” Despite separating three years ago, Dell and Sonya have been a continuous source of support for Steph.

Steph’s mother also mentioned that it didn’t help the fact that Steph’s younger brother, Seth, was already excelling with his shots. The struggle he endured to prepare for college allowed him to develop a skill. It was just his second NBA game against the Suns when baby-faced 21-year-old Steph pushed off his defender, a contact that opened up just enough space to not call a foul, sprinted back the 3-point line while grabbing a pass to take a jump shot. His reputation forever changed after that from being “the little guy with skinny arms” to a “catalyst for the 3-point shot.”

Despite being 36 years of age and achieving all the success he has in the NBA over the past 15 years – arguably, in large part, due to the changing his shooting form – he still does not carry fond memories of that grueling summer.

How did Stephen Curry describe his practice regime?

Eleven years before Dell and Sonya made the revelation to the world, Stephen Curry had already made his thoughts known on the decades-old training session. According to reports, Curry’s release point was far too low for the level of a college athlete. He had to rework his whole shooting form. And this left a sour experience for Steph.

“[It was] the most frustrating summer for me,” said Curry during a 2013 interview. “I really couldn’t shoot outside the paint for like the first three weeks. All summer, when I was at camps, people were like, ‘Who are you, why are you playing basketball?’ I was really that bad for a month and a half [before] I finally figured it out.”

The frustration became noticeable to Seth, who described how his elder brother would cry at times. When the time came to put what he learned to the test, however, Curry did not disappoint. During his three-year stint at Davidson College, he went on to average 24.7 points by going 41.7% with his three-pointers, 47% with his field goals, and 87.5% with his free throws. After all, as Michael Jordan said, “If you do the work, you get rewarded. There are no shortcuts in life.”

Before you go, remember to check out this crossover between BG12 and Georgia Bulldogs star Silas Demary Jr.