Welcome to LWOS Basketball department “NBA Time Traveler Series,” the column that imagines which retired player from an NBA franchise one would most want to travel back in time to see them play again in their prime. The LWOS Basketball department will review each of the 30 NBA franchises and which retired player would be their “NBA Time Traveler Player.”
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Time Travel to See Dell Curry Play for the Toronto Raptors Again
The Toronto Raptors have a brief and mostly unsuccessful history, but their fans have seen some exciting players over the years. When the Vince Carter era was at its peak in Toronto, another player was featured on the wing for the Raptors: shooting guard Dell Curry.
Most people know Dell Curry best for his son, Wardell Stephen Curry, being so successful in the NBA. The younger Curry won last season’s MVP and was widely considered to be the best player on the NBA champion Golden State Warriors. Many have even proclaimed Dell’s son the greatest shooter of all time. However, the older Curry had much success of his own during his NBA career. Dell Curry played 16 seasons from 1986 until 2002. Despite playing most of his career – 10 seasons – as a member of the Charlotte Hornets, Curry still contributed to what is, to this day, the most successful three year stretch in Toronto Raptors history.
Curry signed with the Raptors before the 1999-00 season, and he played through that season and two more to finish off his career in Toronto. In the Raptors 20 year history, they have only made the playoffs seven times. Three of those playoff appearances came with Curry on the team. The Raptors made the playoffs in all three of Curry’s seasons with them, and the team’s only playoff series win in franchise history in 2001 was right in the middle of Curry’s time in Toronto.
While Curry was never a major contributor to the team, and he happened to be on the Raptors at the same time that Vince Carter and Antonio Davis were thriving All-Stars in Toronto, I would still argue that it’s no coincidence that the Raptors success came with Curry on the roster. In Curry’s first season with the Raptors, he was already a veteran with seven years of playoff experience, including three straight playoff appearances with the Hornets before coming to Toronto. Curry was also a very good spot up shooter – not as prolific or as good off the dribble as his son, of course, but still solid. Curry shot 40.2% from three point range in his career, which may seem not great now, but would actually be one of the top three point percentages in the 1990’s and early 2000’s. Curry’s combination of veteran leadership and spot up shooting from deep certainly contributed to the Raptors solid seasons with him, even if they were not a key factor. Role players such as Curry are crucial on every quality team – for example, it’s no coincidence that Robert Horry has seven NBA championships, even if he wasn’t a top four player on a single one of those championship teams.
Objectively speaking, the Raptors did not have a great era with Curry, as the furthest they made it in the postseason was the second round of the playoffs. Nevertheless, Curry’s time in Toronto still saw the most successful stretch in team history, and without Curry there to do the little things, the Raptors may not have gone as far as they did. Shooting and veteran leadership are two things that prove to be valuable to playoff teams, time and time again, in any era. Those are the things that Curry provided the Raptors, and those skills are still important in today’s game. As Canadian basketball has grown and Canadians flourish in the NBA, many of these Canadian players reminisce about watching Vince Carter’s Raptors. They talk about how those exciting teams made them want to play basketball themselves, and become as popular as Carter once was in Toronto. It’s rare to hear anyone mention Dell Curry, the sharpshooter whose experience helped guide the Raptors’ young stars from the bench. History tends to repeat itself, and as Stephen Curry continues his run as a top five player in the league, players like his father will continue to do the things that allow star players to shine.
