Before he was the NBA’s best point guard and MVP, Stephen Curry was a shooting guard at a small college in North Carolina, playing next to a point guard named Jason Richards.
Together, they led Davidson on a magical NCAA tournament run seven years ago. They played Cinderella, knocking off Gonzaga, Georgetown and Wisconsin on the way to the Elite Eight.
Curry is now one of the world’s biggest stars, and time and distance have separated the college teammates. But the bond between them remains strong.
It’s why Richards will fly to California from Pittsburgh on Thursday night to watch Curry’s Golden State Warriors take on the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. It’s why he will take a red-eye flight back to Pittsburgh on Sunday after Game 2, arriving back just in time for morning workouts with the Pitt men’s basketball team, where Richards now serves as the team’s video coordinator and director of analytics. It’s why Richards won’t miss Games 3 and 4, either, with road trips planned to Cleveland.
On the heels of being named the NBA’s MVP, Curry — in his sixth season out of Davidson — led the Golden State Warriors to the NBA Finals for the first time in 40 years. Led? Curry is averaging a playoffhigh 29.2 points, including a record 73 3-pointers. They face the Cleveland Cavaliers in a bestof- seven series that begins Thursday night in Oakla
He once had NBA dreams, too. Injuries took them away, but they live on through Curry. Davidson fell short of a national title when they played together, but Curry’s success keeps the basketball aspirations of all of his college teammates alive.
“We all kind of live vicariously through Steph and what he’s doing in the NBA, I think because he wears Davidson still on his chest and talks about what Davidson did,” Richards said.
Curry was the star at Davidson, the maestro with the basketball. He was the face of the program, the young sophomore shooting guard guiding Davidson to the Elite Eight with an endless string of improbable shots and acrobatic plays.
But next to him was Richards, his trusty sidekick and senior point guard who led Division I in assists his final season.
“It’s always nice when you have somebody you have a history with, that helps you in your college career, and the bond that we had can continue even when we’re not in the same area,” Curry said Friday. “That’s kind of what Davidson’s about, which is pretty cool.”
Davidson coach Bob McKillop told people his guards played together like a hand and glove. They were the perfect fit. They even had their own goofy celebration, where Curry would make a glove shape with his hands and Richards would pretend to put it on.
“They told us to have fun, be college kids, enjoy the moment,” Richards said. “And I think that’s what helped us, is that we were out there having fun.”
After Richards missed a shot in the final seconds against Kansas that would have sent Davidson to the Final Four, the basketball careers of Curry and Richards diverged.
Richards signed with the Miami Heat for the 2008-09 season but tore his left anterior cruciate ligament in the preseason. Richards twice tried to come back, but his professional basketball career ended in 2010, after three left ACL tears in two years.
“There was sadness for him, sadness for us,” McKillop said. “He had invested so much, he had dared to chase a dream, and he was knocking on the door of living that dream.”
Curry returned to Davidson for his junior season and shifted over to Richards’ point guard spot, parlaying another strong season into a selection as an NBA lottery pick.
Richards turned to coaching, and in 2010 he landed a spot as a graduate manager at Pitt, where his father played for a 1974 Elite Eight team after starring at Moon High School. His sister is an assistant women’s basketball coach at Pitt.
In his current position, Richards plays a large role in the team’s use of film, scouting and player development. He also works with head coach Jamie Dixon, looking for ways to best implement an analytical approach to the game.
But after long days of work, Richards often settles in to watch Curry play for the Warriors. He bought the NBA package on his TV to watch his old friend play in late-night games on the West Coast. Richards, 29, still talks to Curry, 27, once or twice a week, and even stayed with Curry during the Warriors’ first-round series against the New Orleans Pelicans.
“We’re still great friends,” Curry said. “We talk a lot about our careers and him coaching and reminiscence a lot about the Davidson days. He’s supported me so much, coming out to games after his season’s over with.”
Other Davidson teammates keep in close contact with Curry. Bryant Barr, Curry’s college roommate and a backup point guard on the 2007-08 Davidson team, is the godfather of Curry’s daughter, Riley.
“I don’t think any of us are surprised by what he’s been able to do, but we’re pretty amazed at what he’s accomplished,” Barr said.
McKillop hasn’t noticed a change in Curry’s demeanor from his Davidson days. Curry just has a bigger audience.
“We’re talking about a small community theater, and he’s the star actor in the show,” McKillop said. “All of a sudden, because that star actor is so impressive and he had such a cast of supporting actors that were so impressive, he took that community show to the Broadway stage.”
The only place where things are different is on the court. This season especially, his former teammates have watched Curry in awe. They have long text message threads during games to discuss the play of their former teammate.
“We’re still amazed,” Richards said. “He shocks us every game. There’s something he does, we’ll text each other, ‘Can you believe that?’ We say, ‘Yes and no,’ because we’ve never seen him do it, but we’ve always believed he could.”
Though critics doubted them both, Curry’s rise to stardom mirrors Davidson’s success seven years ago. This time, though, they hope for a more perfect ending.
“When Steph has success,” Richards said, “I feel like the whole Davidson family and community feels like they have a bit of a part of that, too.”
Max Cohen: mcohen@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1720 and Twitter @MaxACohen. Bay Area News Group contributed to this report.
First Published: May 31, 2015, 4:00 a.m.