Confident, and nervous

Langston:

Seven years ago, I met Stephen Curry for the first time. He was 14 and skinny, about 5-foot-8. He told me that one day he was going to play in the NBA.

I wasn’t sure, at the time, he’d be a good high school player.

Last week, I visited him at Time Warner Cable Arena where Curry, about to make good on his NBA dream, was working out with a diabolical trainer, who made him run sprint after sprint, dribble backward and forward, then run three quarters of the court and make 10 NBA-range 3-point shots in a row. Of course, if you miss, you start over.

“This is what it takes,” said Curry, a lottery pick by the Golden State Warriors this summer. “You’ve got to go to training camp at the top of your game and not use it to get in shape.”

Curry, now 6-3 and towering over me, is starting to look like a guy who’s spending extra time in the weight room. He talks confidently about averaging 20 points per game as a rookie. Curry, who recently signed a Nike shoe and apparel deal, speaks confidently of a goal to be NBA Rookie of the Year. But he’s also nervous about leaving home.