Documentary film “Stephen Curry: Underrated”, which was released on Apple TV+ in last week, looks into the past and present of the professional athletic career of Stephen Curry, one of the most prominent NBA players at present. As a guy not so interested in sports, I could only observe and assess what is presented in the documentary, and I can only tell you for now that it gives us a fairly engaging underdog narrative although it could show us more about Curry as a human being in my inconsequential opinion.

At the beginning, the documentary mainly focuses on how much Curry was underrated in his early years. Just like his father, Curry wanted to be an NBA basketball player, but he did not look that promising just because he was rather skinny in addition to being not so tall, and this actually came to motivate him a lot. As advised by his father, he trained himself more and more in addition to improving his athletic strength further, and this eventually helped him distinguish himself as a young nut promising basketball player.

However, Curry still did not receive much attention when he was about to enter the college basketball league in 2006. At first, he really wanted to go to Virginia Tech because it was where both of his parents studied and played, but then he could not go there to his disappointment, and then there came an unexpected offer from Davidson College of North Carolina. Bob McKillop, who was the coach of the Davidson Wildcats at that time, clearly recognized considerable potential from Curry, and he was quite willing to nurture and support Curry as much as possible even though nothing much was expected from Curry at that time.

Anyway, Curry’s first year at the Davidson Wildcats was rather disappointing in the beginning, but McKillop continued his support toward Curry nonetheless, and a series of archival footage clips show how Curry gradually got better in addition to becoming another substantial part of the team. There later came a big moment of defeat and frustration for not only Curry but also many of other team members, but McKillop did not give up at all, and Curry and his several ex-team members reminisce about how McKillop gave them some hard criticism while never losing his usual supportive stance at that daunting time.

What followed next is your typical underdog drama, and that is certainly the most engaging part of the documentary. After discerning that they really had to play together as perfectly as possible, Curry and other main team members tried hard to excel themselves besides building up more team spirit among them, and, what do you know, they became almost invincible once they eventually found a way to click well with each other on the court. At the Southern Conference, the Davidson Wildcats surprised everyone as winning the Championship three times during 2006-2008, and this significant achievement eventually led to its participation in the NCAA tournament in 2008. Because the Davidson Wildcats never entered the NCAA tournament for almost 40 years, everyone in the Davidson College went wild to say the least, and that was certainly another highlight in Curry’s years in the Davidson Wildcats.

I will not go into details on what happened next, but I can tell you instead that director/co-producer Peter Nicks, who previously impressed me with two very good documentaries “The Force” (2017) and “Homeroom” (2021). did a competent job of building up narrative momentum. Around the point where it the documentary eventually arrives at a big dramatic moment to remember for everyone at the court, you may brace yourself for a bit even though you are much more knowledgeable about Curry’s professional athletic carrier than me.

This narrative is often intercut with Curry’s current status as a prominent NBA player. As already told to us at the beginning of the documentary, Curry was underrated again around the time when he entered the NBA draft in 2009, and many people showed doubts as his rather disappointing records during first several years, but, of course, he was not so deterred by this as eventually becoming one of the most valuable players of the Golden State Warriors.

2021 was rather daunting for Curry despite a little historic moment for his professional athletic career, and the documentary attempts to look closer into his life, but I must say that this part feels relatively banal to the part focusing on his years in the Davidson Wildcats. The documentary surely interviews Curry’s several family members including his parents, but what they say in front of the camera is not particularly revealing in my humble opinion, and that is a shame considering that they might talk more about Curry’s life and personality. Things get a bit more interesting when the documentary shows us Curry’s sincere efforts on getting a college degree, but that still does not show much about him, while only leading to an eventual feel-good moment where he finally receives the college degree in front of his proud family members and numerous attendees.

In conclusion, “Stephen Curry: Underrated” is mostly informative and engaging on the whole, so I recommend it despite some reservation due to its relatively weak aspects. As far as I can see from the documentary, Curry is an interesting human figure to watch in addition to being a remarkable basketball player to remember, but his life and career are still going through their middle chapter even at this point, and now I wonder whether the documentary is a bit too early. As shown at the end of the documentary, he is already ready for whatever will come next to him, and we may get more interesting stories about him later in the future.