--- --- Jun 09, 2026 # Stephen Curry by [Sean Gregory](/author/sean-gregory/) ## Sean Gregory Senior Correspondent  David Gonzales—Imagn Images/Reuters See all those 7-ft. pros, and little kids in the park launching three-point shots? You have Stephen Curry to thank for that. It’s difficult to think of anyone who has changed athletic behavior, strategy, and decisionmaking more than Curry. In 2008-2009, the season before Curry entered the NBA, teams were launching, on average, 18.1 three-pointers a game. That total has more than doubled to 37 per game, and it’s not coincidental: Curry’s Golden State Warriors dynasty, which claimed four [NBA titles](https://time.com/3923874/golden-state-warriors-nba-champions/ "undefined") from 2015 through 2022, demonstrated the value of long-range shooting and a more spaced-out, free-flowing offense. An entire league followed suit. Curry’s 4,248 career three-pointers lead his closest competitor James Harden’s by 858\. Curry owns five of the top six single-season three-pointer totals, including the all-time high of 402 in 2015-16\. Though his peak is behind him, Curry is still one of the best guards in the NBA and averaged 26.6 points in an injury-interrupted 2025-26 season. His influence transcends hoops: this year’s animated sports comedy _GOAT_, which was inspired by his story, made nearly $200 million worldwide; Curry, a producer on the film, made his voice-acting debut—as a giraffe. The [foundation](https://time.com/collections/time100-philanthropy-2025/7286064/stephen-curry-ayesha-curry/ "undefined") he started with his wife, Ayesha, has pledged $25 million to narrow the literacy gap in Oakland’s underserved communities. Stephen Curry: TIME100 Most Influential People in Sports 2026 ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collection/time100-sports/2026/stephen-curry/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collection/time100-sports/2026/stephen-curry/"},"headline":"Stephen Curry","datePublished":"2026-06-09T12:00:53.045Z","dateModified":"2026-06-09T12:00:53.165Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collection/time100-sports/2026/stephen-curry/","keywords":["list","franchise"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf6e16d2ac0585914/6a2322d23e2f9f641a10fd7a/T100SPORTS-2026-Web-Stephen-Curry.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675%2Coffset-x100.00%2Coffset-y23.77&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sean Gregory","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/sean-gregory/"}],"creator":"Sean Gregory","articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf6e16d2ac0585914/6a2322d23e2f9f641a10fd7a/T100SPORTS-2026-Web-Stephen-Curry.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675%2Coffset-x100.00%2Coffset-y23.77&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collection/time100-sports/2026/stephen-curry/","name":"Stephen Curry"}}]}] ```