Curry Playfully Reflects on Enduring Mispronunciations of His Name

There’s more than one way to pronounce the name “Stephen,” though fans of Warriors star Steph Curry typically don’t use his full name.

But Wardell Stephen Curry III has dealt with confusion about his name his entire life, he told reporters Friday, with many over the years opting for the “Steven” pronunciation rather than “Stefan.”

“You’ve got to ask Jack and Juanita Curry out of Grottoes, Virginia, where my pops was born,” Curry said of his name’s pronunciation before the Warriors’ preseason win over the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena. “Because he was Wardell Stephen Curry the first, I guess you would say.

“The Wardell name is a family name that’s been passed down, but yeah. I don’t know where they got the pronunciation [for Stephen from]. I suffered my whole childhood because everybody called me Steven when they read it on the paper. Still to this day, I get it every once and a while.”

Curry joked that he even contemplated putting some sort of pronunciation symbol on his name in high school. But luckily for him, he has risen to such heights in his NBA career that these days he goes by Steph alone. And really, that’s the only name he has ever known.

“From the jump,” Curry said.