There are many similarities between the two stars who are at the top of their sport.

Renowned sports journalist Jonathan Liew once gave his opinion on the greatness of Lionel Messi. In 2016, when the Argentine star won his fifth Ballon d’Or, he said that Messi was not only the best player in football history, but also more excellent than many talents in other fields, such as Einstein or Michelangelo.

The reason Liew gives is that football is a widely popular sport, accessible globally and touches hearts easily. The competition to reach the highest level in football is more fierce than in any other field.

Like Messi in football or Michelangelo in painting, Curry is also considered a genius in basketball.

That view is controversial. But one thing is certain: Messi’s popularity and brilliance have made his name a shorthand for excellence in many areas. Even if it sometimes sounds a little bit sloppy.

On Merseyside, Jamie Hughes is known as the “Water Messi” because of his excellent fishing skills. Similarly, Alex Marshall was dubbed the “Bowling Messi” after winning seven World Cup gold medals. And after winning the 2012 London Olympics, Dujardin’s horse Valegro was dubbed the “Equestrian Messi”.

In the NBA, Stephen Curry is called the “Messi of basketball” . They have both reached the highest level, despite their small stature in their respective sports. In terms of playing style, both are athletes who pursue sophistication, and dare to do things that are out of the ordinary.

If Lionel Messi defines a new style of scoring and sets records, Stephen Curry is no different. Curry shoots three-pointers as easily as anyone else shoots free throws. 

The Golden State Warriors guard broke several NBA records related to long-range shooting, such as most three-pointers made in a game (13), in a regular season (402), and most consecutive three-pointers made (157).

Like Messi, Curry doesn’t just score big points, he scores big ones, from seemingly impossible shots. It’s impossible to list the number of times the 29-year-old has made baskets from midcourt, or scored last-second game-winning shots. Curry plays by his own rules.

For Curry, there is no offensive situation on the court that he cannot score. If he is blocked from shooting long and has to dribble the ball to break through, he will successfully score with the softest movements, or assist his teammates with a mindset that is ahead of his opponents, just like Messi.

Twice named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player (2015, 2016), helping the Warriors end a 40-year drought, Curry has become a new standard in basketball. But before becoming an idol to most American kids, “Chef” Curry had to spend years breaking the limits of a genius.

Curry was rejected many times because of his small body.

Not to the extent of lacking growth hormones or being suspected of being stupid like Messi when he was young, but Curry was also abandoned many times before coming to the Golden State Warriors.

“My high school years were great, and I thought I was on top of the world. Everything seemed to be going in the right direction, and I was going to go to a varsity school, play football, and go pro, make it to the league. But those schools, they never called me,” Curry recalls. “They all said I was too small. I didn’t have the physical attributes to go pro. That was really upsetting. I didn’t think my career would end right after I started college.”

Davidson, a not-so-prestigious NCAA school, decided to salvage Curry’s college career. There, the diminutive, innocent-looking kid set an NCAA record with 113 three-pointers in his freshman year. In his sophomore year, Curry almost single-handedly led his team to the quarterfinals, before being named ESPN’s Most Improved Player of the Year. But he was still rejected when he turned pro.

Five teams passed on a player who averaged 25 points per game in college. They thought a “slim” player, who was “only” 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighed 190 pounds, would be limited defensively. And being good at offense in college doesn’t mean you’ll be able to do the same in the NBA. The Minnesota Timberwolves even had two chances to draft Curry, but passed on both.