Before the NBA: How Dell Curry Almost Chose an MLB Career Over Basketball

With Stephen Curry lighting up the NBA with his surreal playmaking ability, it is almost unfathomable to envision him having an athletic career away from the family trade on the basketball court. Yet his father Dell Curry, who enjoyed a 16-year NBA odyssey, almost shifted the Curry legacy from the hardwood to hardball a quarter-century earlier in 1991 when he suited up for the Class-A Gastonia Rangers.

Dell Curry 1991 Gastonia Rangers / TradingcardDB.com

The elder Curry was drafted as a right-handed pitcher twice by major league franchises, first by the Texas Rangers in the 37th round of the 1982 MLB Draft, and then again in the 14th round of the 1985 MLB Draft by the Baltimore Orioles after posting a 6–1 record at Virginia Tech during his junior year. The latter was made even more impressive as Curry did not play baseball during his first two years in college.

Dell Curry Pitching for the Gastonia Rangers / Archive Photo

Curry and Charlotte Hornets teammate Muggsy Bogues were selected by George Shinn, who owned both the Hornets and the Gastonia farm club, to sign one-day minor league contracts to suit up for an official minor league baseball game. As one Gastonia player recalled, their presence gave a much-needed shot in the arm for attendance that evening.

“They built it up around the community quite a bit and I’m sure it was the biggest crowd we had all year,” pitcher Steve Dreyer said during a recent phone interview from his home in Iowa. “Normally we could count the fans on two hands and that would be about it.”

The 46-year-old Dreyer, who is now teaching elementary physical education after playing two seasons in the majors with the Rangers, recalled how Stephen Curry’s recent performance gave him the opportunity to share with his students his role in the events which allowed Dell Curry to have a roster spot on June 21, 1991.

“I was just talking to some of my students about this the other day because Steph Curry is doing so well,” he said. “It was really exciting for us as players because at the time Dell and Muggsy were NBA stars, and just to be around that atmosphere was a lot of fun for us.

"I remember, to put Dell and Muggsy on the roster, they had to take two of us off the roster for one night, and I was one of those players that they took off the roster for one night. My manager was Bump Wills and he basically just told me this is what we’re going to do. I was a starting pitcher and I was not scheduled to pitch that night and would have been watching that game from the dugout anyway. For me to be taken off the roster to allow them play was great and a bit of an honor.”

Another teammate who had a bird’s eye view of Curry on the mound was fellow pitcher Terry Burrows. The lefty was in his second season in professional baseball and thought the basketball players taking the field was just another of the myriad of promotions during the course of a minor league baseball season.

"At the time they were at the pinnacle of their profession,” the 47-year-old Burrows said during a recent phone call from his home in Louisiana. “We honestly thought it was just another gimmick to sell tickets.”

Once the 6’4” Curry hit the mound and started to throw strikes, Burrows quickly changed his tune. After watching Curry strike out four batters in three innings, Burrows saw why two separate organizations were convinced Curry had a future in professional baseball.

“When Dell pitched, it was actually pretty good,” he said. “He threw 85–86 miles per hour and for not having thrown in a long time, the guy did pretty well. He showed pretty good stuff at the time, although he was a little unorthodox.”

Curry wasn’t the only NBA player that Burrows crossed paths with on the diamond. In 1994, while a member of the Texas Rangers, Burrows watched attentively as Michael Jordan made his official spring training debut against their club. Based upon his observations of watching both Curry and Jordan try their hand at baseball, Burrows felt Curry was the better prospect.

“He was just an incredible athlete, but it would be like one of us playing in the NBA or NFL,” he said. “You’re good at what you do, but to be a hitter in the big leagues is a different story; it’s tough. Dell Curry might have had a better chance to play in the big leagues if he pursued it from what I saw. It’s such a long road, but he had the ability.”

Both Bogues and Curry stuck around long enough with Gastonia to be photographed for the team’s minor league baseball card set, further cementing their fleeting moments on the diamond. At the time, both hoopsters put their livelihoods in harm’s way at the peak of their respective careers for what amounted to a one day promotional stunt. It is a feat Dreyer feels is unlikely to be repeated.

“There’s too much at risk nowadays to deviate from your one true job,” he said. “As many professional athletes are very capable of performing other sports at a high level, you still can’t take that chance. It was a pretty unique thing.”

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