Stephen Curry turns the ball over on about 14.7 percent of the possessions he uses, which is a low number considering the volume of plays he uses. It works out to 3.2 turnovers per game this season, which is a nice ratio compared to his eight assists a game.
But Curry still pays for those turnovers — he pays his mother.
Sonya Curry, Steph’s mom, tracks those turnovers and he has to pay a pretty healthy fine if he gets more than three a night, reports Ann Killion of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Ball Don’t Lie).Sonya came up with the idea of fining her son a few seasons ago, frustrated at watching him lose the ball too many times in one game. She checked with her husband, former NBA guard Dell, on what would be a reasonable number of turnovers to hold Stephen to per game; they settled on three. Anything more than that, he owes his mother: $100 per giveaway. Anything under is subtracted from his total.
At the end of the season, Curry doesn’t write his mother a check; she just lets him know — usually through his wife, Ayesha — what fashion items she has had her eye on.
“It keeps me on the edge every game,” he said. “I know she’s going to text me or have some witty one-liner about what she’s going to buy with all of my gifts.”
I don’t care if Curry is making $10.6 million (which remains a steal of a contract), that’s harsh.
But it works. Curry’s turnovers are down and if the season ended right now he’d owe his mom just $600. That’s barely a handbag or good pair of shoes, according to my wife who I have to consult on such fashion issues.
As Ben Rohrbach noted at Ball Don’t Lie, if James Harden’s mom did this she would be owed $4,200 already this season.
