New Steph Curry documentary ‘Underrated’ is a love letter to Davidson basketball

We first meet Steph Curry on December 14, 2021 — the night he will break the NBA’s all-time 3-point record and add another milestone to a career that has changed basketball forever.

There’s an aerial shot of Madison Square Garden. There is music that builds tension. And there are sports talk audio clips that seem to plot the trajectory of a film you’ve seen before: A basketball player with limitless potential was doubted before he was dominant — was labeled too small before he became larger than life — and that outside doubt is the exact source of what makes that player so great, so special.

But Curry’s soon-to-be-released documentary, entitled “Steph Curry: Underrated,” has something in common with its calm and compelling subject: There is more to it than what initially meets the eye.

The authorized documentary on the life of Curry — which was produced and directed by Emmy Award winner Peter Nicks and was shown on the campus of Davidson College on Monday evening — is an authentic love letter to Davidson basketball.

The film has plenty of crowd-pleasing archived footage of a young Curry swimming in an oversized uniform, yes. And it has plenty of footage showing an old Curry hitting 3s like they’re layups and spending time with his three children and his wife, Ayesha. But “Underrated” truly lives in the three transformational years between 2006 and 2008.

It spends the most time, in fact, charting the Wildcats’ NCAA tournament run to the Elite Eight — a Cinderella story that still draws tears from those who lived it.

Bob McKillop, the now-retired Davidson legend who coached Curry, admitted with a laugh that he was among the teary-eyed on Monday.

“I think every student here, and every faculty member and staff member, should feel some ownership of this film because Stephen Curry has made that happen,” McKillop said Monday.

McKillop and Jason Richards (Davidson’s all-time assists leader and Curry’s teammate) and Dell Curry (an all-time great Charlotte Hornet and Steph’s father) all watched the film on Monday and briefly talked on a panel after it was shown.

“Everyone knows where Stephen Curry went to school,” McKillop continued, “because Stephen Curry wanted it known.”

The film is a product of Apple Original Films and A24. It debuted at Sundance Film Festival and San Francisco Film Festival earlier this year, and it is set to be released in select theaters and premier globally on Apple TV+ on July 21.

But for as large of an audience as this will probably draw, the movie is endearingly focused on Davidson: The students and community members on-hand in Davidson’s student union on Monday broke into laughter when the film described Davidson as a “small liberal arts college” just a few miles “north of Charlotte,” and the crowd audibly gasped when the film recounted the Davidson-Michigan State NCAA tournament game of March 2022.

The in-house reactions made it feel like this movie was made specifically for Davidson.

In many ways, it was.

“Davidson is such a big part of his life that I think he wanted to let everybody know that,” Dell Curry said after the showing Monday. “It’s a big part of where he’s at, how he got there, and the person that he is.”

Dell Curry added: “(He’s) telling Davidson ‘thanks’ because they played a tremendous part in his life.”

It’s true that Curry’s story has been told before, from his days as an undersized guard at Charlotte Christian, to his 13-turnover college debut versus Eastern Michigan, to the afternoon he officially graduated from Davidson College.

It’s even true that tales like Curry’s undersized-and-overlooked one sprout all the time in sports. This fact is addressed early on in the movie: NBA great Reggie Miller, in the middle of the aforementioned opening sequence, is in a sit-down interview with the filmmakers when he’s asked to read what sounds like a scouting report. Miller reads a bunch of bullet points — mostly ones about how this one particular player is too skinny, and how he shoots too much, and how he isn’t tough enough to last in the NBA.

The film leaves you wondering, for a moment, if Miller is reading a dated report about a younger Curry or about his younger self. In this creative decision, the filmmakers touch on another remarkable part of the Curry phenomenon: Steph Curry, despite his undeniable one-of-a-kindness, is lovingly relatable.

And as “Underrated” doesn’t have to work too hard to show, so is his alma mater.