Mental Buckets Recap: Seth Curry
October 08, 2020
In our next set of blog posts, Ellie Lieberman will recap the highlights from each of our guests on our first season of Mental Buckets. Here’s what you missed in Episode 1: Making the Most of Your Opportunities feat. Seth Curry, and why you should listen.
By Ellie Lieberman
For those who… want to make the most of their current situation, regardless of team, want advice on staying calm and collected, transfer colleges, or genuinely adore the game of basketball.
Seth Curry currently has the second-highest three-point percentage in NBA history. Just a touch under Steve Kerr, Curry has converted 44% of his three-pointers. But his success carving out a role as a shooting assassin doesn’t give justice to the mental fortitude it took to get to his current role as a cornerstone of the Dallas Mavericks.
Curry was only a three-star recruit coming out of high school and got overshadowed by “highly rated” talent in the college recruitment process. After committing to Liberty and excelling on the national level as the highest scoring freshman, with 20.2 points per game, he transferred to Duke to showcase his skills on the national level.
Such a transition would prove to be difficult for almost anyone, but Curry’s ability to make the most of his sit-out year, and then explode off the bench with an average of 9.9 points per game, highlights his ability to put his head down and get to work. As a senior he was named to the All-ACC third team, and maintained the highest free-throw percentage in the ACC. Curry explains to Packie Turner and Mike on Mental Buckets how this pattern of staying calm and collected is one of the most important aspects to him succeeding in basketball.
Even after proving the depth of his work ethic at Duke, Curry still went undrafted and bounced around the G-League. He had stints with the G-League affiliates of the Grizzlies, Cavaliers, Suns and Magic, but was unable to find footing until the 2014-2015 season. There, in the mid-sized town of Eerie, Pennsylvania, Curry shined for the BayHawks, a Pelicans affiliate.
“I woke up every day with a nice schedule of going to the gym, getting my work in before practice,” Curry said on Mental Buckets, when asked about how he dealt with his frustration that he was in the G-League rather than the NBA. “For me, I was just enjoying it because I was getting to play basketball and I had a huge role, I was playing 35-40 minutes each game.”
Such an even-keel, go-with-the-flow attitude is what makes Curry able to overcome challenges as a pro basketball player. Some fault him because as he said in the podcast, he “doesn’t get stressed about anything,” but his ability to stay relaxed regardless of what gets thrown at him, is what makes him unique. Even in the most-remote G-League cities, with grueling travel and logistical issues, Curry had the time of his life. He was getting paid to play basketball.
Curry’s grit and grind, one day at a time mentality, led to productive seasons with the Kings, Blazers, and eventually now the soaring Mavericks. Curry completed 100+ three-pointers in three of the last four seasons. For the ins and outs of Curry’s complete path, listen to his appearance on Mental Buckets.
