Exclusive: Stephen Curry's Davidson coach reveals details of 'Popcorn Game'

MENLO PARK, Calif. — Before he became the greatest shooter of all time with the Golden State Warriors, Stephen Curry once ate popcorn during a college game at Davidson. Speaking exclusively to ClutchPoints, Curry's former coach Bob McKillop shared the story of how Curry was once so bored, he started looking for his favorite snack in the middle of the game — and how that, surprisingly, showed his leadership and unselfishness.

In November 2008, Curry's Davidson squad was up against Loyola Maryland. McKillop recalled the circumstances around this game, and why Loyola tried a unique tactic.

“[Curry] is the leading scorer in the country in his junior year,” McKillop explained. “And the coach of Loyola decides that he's gonna go down in history as holding Stephen Curry scoreless.”

Loyola employed a triangle-and-two defense against Curry. Two defenders stayed glued to Curry's side the entire game, while the other three defenders zoned up the remaining Davidson players.

With about 16 minutes left in the first half, Curry went to the coaches. McKillop vividly remembered what his star player told him.

“[Curry] comes to the bench and says, ‘Coach, two of their guys are guarding me. I'm gonna stand in the corner at half-court and let those two guys guard me. And we play four-on-three. I don't care if I shoot.”

McKillop was in awe. There was no strategy to get Steph into the game or to get him rolling on offense. Curry was content with allowing his teammates to shine, even if it meant taking a big hit to his status as the nation's leading scorer.

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Davidson won the game in a blowout, 78-48. But Loyola succeeded in their plan: Stephen Curry was held scoreless.

“He sacrificed for the team,” McKillop emphasized. “That's a clear example of one of the basic building blocks of his life and his career and his persona: sacrifice equals reward.”

But there was one more detail McKillop revealed. During the game, since Curry merely stood at half-court the entire time, he grew bored. So he started looking around.

“One of the guys at press row had popcorn,” McKillop added. “And [Curry] said to Joey, ‘Hey Joey, can I have some of your popcorn?' And he loves popcorn, so he's eating popcorn in the second half. And we win the game by 30 points.”

Curry's love of popcorn is well-documented. He even hand-picked the popcorn used at the Los Angeles Clippers' Intuit Dome.

But long before that, his obsession with the snack once surfaced in a Davidson game — when he took a back seat, grabbed some popcorn, and let his teammates finish the job.

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