The greatest sixth man from each NBA team

Greatest sixth man in Charlotte Hornets history: Dell Curry

Perhaps best known today as the father of two-time MVP Steph Curry, the second “Wardell Stephen Curry” was first an NBA player himself, coming off the bench for the Charlotte Hornets. Dell Curry was selected in the 1988 expansion draft by the Hornets and would play 10 seasons in Charlotte.

Altogether Curry appeared in 701 contests and started just 77 times, generally as an injury replacement. He came off the bench as a shooter, dropping in 20.1 points per-36 minutes over his Charlotte career. Despite rarely starting Curry averaged 25 minutes, carving out a substantial role as the Hornets’ sixth man. In 1993-94 Curry won the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award, averaging 16.3 points per game in just 26.5 points per game.

Curry’s best skill was his long-range shooting, unsurprising given his son’s unique gifting. Although the last decade has seen a 3-point revolution, in the 1980s and 90s shooting 3-pointers was a more limited gifting.

Prior to 2000, there are only eight individual player seasons where a bench player (less than 30 starts in a season) hit 150 3-pointers and shot at least 40 percent. Curry represents three of those seasons as a quintessential “bench shooter” for the Hornets; no other player put up more than one such season. Since 2000 that has happened 15 times, including six times from 2016-18. Dell Curry was, in a way, ahead of his time.