Warriors' Curry returns home a budding star

DAVIDSON, N.C. -- Stephen Curry had fielded his last question from reporters, so it was time for his father to slide in front of the cameras lined up in the shade on this sweltering morning. "There was a time when I used to go first," Dell Curry said, smiling. Not long ago, Dell was the sharp-shooting crowd favorite of the Charlotte Hornets. Now his son is the sought after star, the big name who helped line up numerous celebrities to compete in his first charity golf tournament on Monday in the same town where he became a college star. Curry is playing 2,700 miles away with the Golden State Warriors these days, but he's still a favorite in a community that first met him as a baby-faced kid who used to tag around with his dad at Hornets games. Then he became the local hero with the perfect shooting stroke who overcame being ignored by the big schools to nearly lead unheralded Davidson to the Final Four in 2008. His stardom continued in March, producing a packed house for his only game against the Bobcats in Charlotte last season. "It's nice to know that people in Charlotte and Davidson still follow me even though I'm on the West Coast," Curry said. What they saw was surprising to many, but maybe shouldn't have been. Despite questions about how his slight frame would hold up to the rigors of an 82-game schedule, the 6-foot-3 Curry averaged 17.5 points and 5.9 assists, shot 44 percent from 3-point range and finished second to Sacramento's Tyreke Evans in the voting for NBA Rookie of the Year. "I thought Tyreke deserved it. He was consistent throughout the course of the year," Curry said. "I had a very strong end of the year. I think it could have gone either way, but I'm not upset about it or anything like that." Curry was clearly the better player toward the end of the season. He scored 42 points in a win over Portland in the finale, looking a lot like the player who dominated in the 2008 NCAA tournament. "You knew he was going to be a player," said Dell Curry, now a broadcaster with the Bobcats. "But I don't think anybody could have imagined, himself even, a year that he had." Chris Paul begged to differ. The New Orleans Hornets point guard, who has worked out with Curry in the past, participated in the golf tournament to benefit a community center Curry volunteered at when he was in college. "Stephen was unbelievable," Paul said. "He didn't surprise me by anything he did. I'm fortunate enough to get the opportunity to be around him and see his work ethic and things like that." That work ethic has been on display with Curry just finishing a summer Spanish class. Curry has five more classes to take to complete a promise he made after leaving Davidson following his junior season. "Hopefully in the next three summers I'll be right where I want to be with only one class left and not have to wait until after I'm done playing to get my degree, which would be nice," Curry said. Curry is headed back to Oakland, Calif., later this week to begin offseason preparations. He's been spending five days a week in the weight room to gain strength. "I think he has to get to the free-throw line more," Dell Curry said. "Get to the hole and draw contact. If he adds that part to his game where he can get to the free-throw line, he's going to be even harder to guard." The Warriors face many questions, including the future of impending free agent Anthony Morrow. Curry said he believes if they "treat him right" with a contract offer that Morrow's first choice is to stay with Golden State. One change Curry insists he doesn't want is a breakup with Monta Ellis, who announced in training camp that he couldn't play in the same backcourt with a similarly undersized Curry. Curry eventually won over Ellis, too. "It was a rough start," Curry said. "He told me he was just frustrated with the way things were unfolding with the organization. There was a lot of unhappiness going throughout the locker room. I guess I was just the recipient of all that attention. "We definitely bonded over the course of the year, learned to play with each other. He's the most talented guy I've ever played with." Curry on Monday was comfortable. He messed around with his college point guard, Jason Richards and chatted with the celebrities. "It's a proud day for me," his father said. "For one, that he has the status to put his name on a charity tournament to give back to the community. He grew up watching me do things like this. That's one thing he said, when he got to the league he wanted to still be a part of this community."