NBA star Steph Curry is one of the most well-known athletes in the world. So when a reporter addressed a question to the Golden States Warrior guard in January 2021 using the first name "Wardell," fans were taken a little off guard. Of course, nobody was as surprised as Steph Wardell himself:
While Curry is rarely referred to as Wardell, this is his genuine birth name. Curry was born March 14, 1988, as Wardell Stephen Curry II.
As indicated by the "II" above, Curry is a family name. Steph was named after his father, Wardell Stephen Curry, who is much better known by the name Dell Curry. Dell, like Steph, was also an NBA player.
In 2018, after the birth of Curry's son, the NBA star said that he and his wife, Ayesha, debated naming the baby boy Wardell Stephen Curry III. The couple eventually landed on the name Canon, but kept Wardell as their son's middle name.
NBC News reported:
When they learned their third child would be a boy, Canon came back to their minds. The Warriors star also debated naming his son Wardell Stephen Curry III to continue the family tradition, while nicknaming him Trey.
“We thought about that,” Steph said, “but Ayesha has four or five people in her family who are named Trey. I wanted to have something special.”
He continued: “Canon just stuck. I passed down his grandfather’s name through his middle name to keep the family ties there.”
Canon’s full name is Canon Wardell Jack Curry.
While fans (and most reporters) know the three-time NBA champion as Steph, the basketball star said that some of his close friends still refer to him by his birth name.
USA Today wrote:
His real name is Wardell Stephen Curry II.
In a Warriors World Q & A, he says that he was named after his father, and even though he is widely known as "Stephen" or "Steph," his close friends still refer to him by his birth name.
Steph's viral reaction occurred during a press conference on Jan. 20, 2021. The moment can be glimpsed at around the 12-minute mark of the following video: