Apple recently debuted Stephen Curry’s newest documentary, Underrated at the Sundance Film Festival. Directed by award-winning filmmaker, Peter Nicks, the documentary also features Producers world-renown Ryan Coogler and Erick Peyton.
The remarkable coming-of-age story of one of the most influential, dynamic and unexpected players in the history of basketball: Stephen Curry. This feature documentary — blending intimate cineìma veìriteì, archival footage and on camera interviews — documents Curry’s rise from an undersized college player at a tiny backwater Division I college to a four-time NBA champion, building one of the most dominant sports dynasties in the world.
Speaking about the Underrated at Sundance, Stephen Curry said, “The fact I have so many of my old teammates coaches in the film that are part of the Davidson Community [is amazing]. [There are people from] Charlotte where I grew up and even now to the Bay Area.”
“[I have been] playing for the Warriors for 14 years. There are so many people that have been a part of this and to hear the story from their vantage point as well, not just mine, and the ability to share that with the world that may not know a lot about the origin story that I came from Davidson and the things that I learned to help me get to where I am today. I’m excited to share.”
The documentary provides an intimate look at NBA superstar Stephen Curry’s improbable coming of age at tiny Davidson College, where, under the wing of coach Bob McKillop, the team made a thrilling run in the 2008 NCAA tournament. With access to Curry throughout the 2021 season, the film also weaves the Golden State Warriors’ attempt to win another NBA championship following one of the worst seasons in franchise history.
“Basketball is part of my life and it’s the craft I’ve poured my heart and soul into, but sports and life are synonymous with the lessons that it teaches you; the confidence that it builds. I think that’s something we can carry and hopefully inspire for athletes and not athletes. [I hope they] find their full potential, have belief in themselves to be part of something greater than themselves.”
“I’m very surprised where I’m at but it’s not surprising knowing all the work I’ve put in the way I’ve tried to approach it. It sounds so cliche, but it’s literally just living every day, just trying to get better just a little bit and [being] appreciative. [Just] having a sense of gratitude of not just the experience that you have, but the people you get to have it with.”
As one of the most influential, dynamic, and unexpected players in the history of basketball; the documentary reveals Curry’s rise from an undersized college player to a four-time NBA champion; with intimate cinematic video, archival footage, and on-camera interviews.
[Stephen Curry is] “one of the most famous athletes on the planet. [He is] somebody who really transcended the sport. He plays the game of basketball and in many ways has changed it; but it’s about the little-known stories that that led to his rise and how you have to overcome a lot of obstacles in order to get there. For Steph, his expectations were very low in terms of the outside looking in but the expectations he had for himself internally were so outsized. Watching that conflict as it comes up [is thrilling]. Basketball is a game where it selects for height, it selects for size, and for him to be an undersized guy who had the impact on the college level and then later on in the pro level, it was really unexpected. Watching what he what he goes through, it’s bigger than a sports film honestly. It’s really inspiring. I think people will get a lot out of it no matter what they’re interested in.”
Stephen Curry: Underrated gives us a glimpse into Curry’s personal life as he juggles the demands of his professional career to fulfill a promise he made to his mother when he left Davidson early to declare for the draft: he would get his college degree. Nicks successfully weaves the parallels he finds in video footage of Curry, as an aspiring athlete and as a professional basketball star, to tell the remarkable story of a kid who rose from an undersized and inconspicuous high school basketball player to an NBA icon.
