The new documentary “Stephen Curry: Underrated,” which drops on Apple TV+ on Friday, may confuse fans with its title.
After all, Curry is arguably the star of the Golden State Warriors — helping bring the team to four championships, being named NBA MVP twice, and setting the record for career three-pointers made — and inarguably one of the greatest players of all time.
“‘Underrated’ has always been a part of his identity,” says Oakland-based filmmaker Peter Nicks (“The Waiting Room,” “The Force,” “Homeroom”) during a recent chat with The Examiner. “It’s central to his story, I think.”
Born the son of Charlotte Hornets star Dell Curry and dreaming of becoming a pro ballplayer — but stalling out at a too-short 6 feet, 3 inches tall — the younger Curry suffered brutal training sessions with his father, sometimes to the point of tears.
But he persevered even when almost every college recruiter passed him by.
Davidson College, a private school in North Carolina, took a chance on him, and in 2008 Curry led the Wildcats to the NCAA tournament for the first time.
Curry left Davidson without a degree in his junior year for the NBA but earned an honorary college degree from the school years later. Some of those moments are captured in the film.
“We weren’t sure the graduation would happen. We didn’t know until the very end,” Nicks says. “Davidson takes it very seriously. They don’t just give out honorary degrees to anyone.”
It’s an incredibly powerful scene, and we can see that Curry’s mother is far prouder of this moment than all of his basketball achievements combined.
While there was plenty of material for the film, the title was still up in the air. In fact, “Underrated” was initially a temporary title for the film.
“We were always going to change it, but the longer we went on, the more it made sense,” he says. “A couple of things drove (Curry), haunted him. It was just his size, and he looks 12. Nobody recruited him. He was the son of Dell Curry, and that wasn’t even enough. That just sort of stuck with us.”
The opportunity to make a film about the legendary ballplayer came about through Nicks’ friend Ryan Coogler. They met when both were beginning their filmmaking careers, and Coogler served as a producer on “Stephen Curry: Underrated.”
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“We became fast friends and stayed in touch,” Nicks says. “Then his rocket took off with ‘Black Panther.’ He was fortunate enough to begin meeting famous people. He’s a huge Warriors fan, and Steph invited him to some games.”
Nicks says he was actually apprehensive about making the film because he has filmed mostly from a discreet distance and was uncomfortable actually collaborating with his subject.
“I sat down with Steph and Erick Peyton of his production company,” Nicks says. “It was pretty clear to them that my approach to storytelling requires a degree of trust and a degree of access. That intimacy is a hallmark of my work. Unless you don’t want that in the film, then you don’t need to hire me. They agreed, and they gave me the degree that I needed.”
One element that made it into the story was the Warriors’ surprise victory over the Boston Celtics in 2022 and the Golden State team becoming champs for the fourth time in seven years.
“You could just see the Celtics collapsing in Game 6. It was over,” Nicks says. “You could see the excitement. Steph was injured, and they were coming off of a terrible year. The expectations were not high. But that’s the beauty of documentary. They fell short in 2008. Then, for the team to realize this unexpected victory was this profound juxtaposition.”
Nicks later rode with Curry in the victory parade down Market Street in June of 2022, filming the reactions of the adoring crowd.
“I knew the parade was going to be crucial,” he says. “And our perspective was being on the inside looking out, and seeing the adulation that this kid had in the Bay Area, and even when you see Steph break down in tears. It was really emotional. I’ve never experienced anything quite like that.”
In the end, “Stephen Curry: Underrated” is a film full of lucky breaks, but it’s clear how skillfully the filmmakers were able to use their good fortune to craft a superb, moving experience.
“There’s always that thing in documentary — how do you get to the emotion?” Nicks says. “Sometimes you can do it in a manipulative way, and sometimes you can do it in a way that’s more authentic or organic.”
While the film centers on Curry, scenes with family, coaches, co-workers and community members — and Curry’s connection to them — tell a remarkable tale of how the not-too-tall kid born in the Midwest became a legend in his own time.
“It wasn’t just a story about Steph,” Nicks says. “This is an extraordinary person who is more ordinary than you’d think.”
