Stephen Curry in Golden State Warriors white #30 jersey with nose bandage

Stephen Curry

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Published September 29, 2026

Stephen Curry is the Golden State Warriors point guard whose absurd three-point range turned him into an ongoing source of internet jokes, from the cruel 'Meth Curry' lookalike thread in late 2015 to the widely mocked Under Armour Curry 2 Low sneakers in 2016. His on-court dominance made him meme fuel long before he racked up MVPs and championship rings.

basketball memes celebrity nickname memes doppelganger memes sports memes mid 2010s memes

Overview

Stephen Curry is an American basketball player for the Golden State Warriors who was drafted 7th overall out of Davidson University in 20091. His deep-range shooting, unusual body type for an NBA star, and constant highlight-reel plays turned him into recurring meme fodder across Twitter and Instagram, with fans coining nicknames like 'The Sniper,' 'Greatest Shooter Ever,' and 'Chef Curry'2.

The jokes usually fall into two buckets. One is fan-driven celebration, exaggerated reactions to logo-range threes, photoshops crowning him as a shooting god, and the 'CURRY!' shout people yell when tossing crumpled paper into a trash can3. The other is mockery, most memorably the 'Meth Curry' comparison thread and the pile-on over his Under Armour signature sneaker2.

Origin & Background

Platform
Twitter
Date
2015

Curry became a Warriors franchise player after being drafted in 2009, and by the 2014-2015 season he led the team to an NBA championship and won league MVP1. That run made him a constant subject on basketball Twitter, where fans traded highlight clips like the one embedded on his Know Your Meme entry4.

The first widely circulated meme format tied specifically to him surfaced on December 24, 2015, when Twitter users started pairing a photo of Curry next to a photo of a gaunt-looking stranger under the caption 'Meth Curry'2. News.com.au later identified the second man as Leon Mitchell, a Tacoma, Washington resident who had survived cancer that damaged his neck and face, and Mitchell responded in an Instagram post calling the meme 'distasteful and cruel'2.

How It Spread

The 'Meth Curry' comparison bounced around Twitter through late December 2015 before mainstream outlets picked it up in early January 2016, with the New York Post and News.com.au reporting on the misidentified subject2. Mitchell's response Instagram post pulled in over 77,800 likes as sympathy for him spread2.

A second major meme wave hit on June 9, 2016, when photos of Curry's new Under Armour Curry 2 Low sneakers went viral for looking like something a suburban dad would wear to a barbecue. Steph's brother Seth Curry tweeted a picture of the shoes with the caption 'I thought I had em looking straight last week,' pulling more than 5,600 likes and 4,100 retweets within a day2. Sports Illustrated, Deadspin, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today all wrote up the roast within days2.

Beyond the specific formats, Curry stayed a general punchline generator through the late 2010s. Urban Dictionary entries from his early career already cast him as the shooter fans invoke by yelling his name while throwing anything at a trash can, a bit that stuck around long after his rookie season3.

Timeline

2009

Curry is drafted 7th overall by the Golden State Warriors out of Davidson University.

2015

Curry wins his first NBA MVP and leads the Warriors to the championship, fueling his meme status.

2015-12-24

The 'Meth Curry' comparison meme starts circulating on Twitter.

2016-01-06

News.com.au identifies the man in the 'Meth Curry' photo as cancer survivor Leon Mitchell.

2016-06-09

Twitter roasts the Under Armour Curry 2 Low sneakers; Seth Curry's tweet about them pulls 5,600+ likes.

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