Dell Curry's #30

Dell Curry was drafted 15th overall by the Utah Jazz in 1986 and wore various numbers his first three seasons (Utah, Cleveland, Charlotte) — including #5 in his rookie year. He settled on #30 with the Charlotte Hornets in 1989 and kept it through the rest of his career — Charlotte (1989-98), Milwaukee (1998-99), Toronto (1999-2002). Stephen was born in March 1988, so the #30 era of Dell’s career coincided with Stephen’s entire childhood.

Dell wore #30 in 13 of his 16 NBA seasons. He retired in 2002 after the Toronto Raptors lost in the second round of the playoffs — Stephen was 14 at the time and Seth Curry was 11. Both brothers had been hanging around Hornets and Raptors practices throughout their childhoods; Dell was their first basketball coach.

Stephen's #30 from Davidson onward

Stephen wore #30 his three seasons at Davidson College (2006-09) and explicitly told Davidson coach Bob McKillop in his recruiting visit that he wanted #30 specifically because of his father. McKillop assigned it. The Warriors were equally happy to give him #30 in 2009 — the Warriors organization had previously honored Wilt Chamberlain’s #13 and Rick Barry’s #24, but #30 had never been retired, so it was available.

Stephen has worn #30 throughout his entire NBA career, including the four NBA championships (2015, 2017, 2018, 2022), his two MVPs (2015, 2016 unanimous), and the 3,747+ career three-pointers that made him the all-time NBA leader. Dell Curry attends most Warriors home games and wears Stephen’s #30 jersey rather than his own old #30 jersey.

Other father-son jersey-number stories

The Curry tribute is unusual because Dell Curry was a real NBA player whose number is now held by an NBA player son. Other notable cross-generational jersey honors: Patrick Mahomes Sr. wore #25 in MLB; Patrick Mahomes II wears #15 in the NFL (the numbers don’t match because pitchers don’t have jersey-number constraints like NFL QBs do). Bobby Bonds (#25) and Barry Bonds (#25) — Barry intentionally wore his father’s number.

Seth Curry — the younger Curry brother — has worn #30 in some NBA stops (Sacramento, Brooklyn, Charlotte). He’s also worn #31 (his own preference, mostly because Stephen has the family #30) and other numbers when 30 wasn’t available. Seth has said in interviews that having Stephen ‘take’ the family’s #30 motivated him to stop competing for the same NBA real estate.

Background facts cross-referenced with the Wikipedia article on Stephen Curry and Pro-Football-Reference / Basketball-Reference public records.