Steph Curry’s 2020-21 Hair Habit: The Surprising Superstition That Shaped His Season

There’s something about a new season that sparks fresh energy — and Steph Curry greeted the 2020-21 NBA kickoff in a style that caught more than a few eyes. The Golden State Warriors’ sharpshooter stepped onto the court sporting cornrows—a look that lasted barely three games before he ditched it in favor of what would become his signature playoff performance. You see, Steph’s not just about making baskets; he’s superstitious, mindful of the rhythm between his game and his groove. After a rocky start, he found his stride (and his haircut change) in Chicago, where the sweat-drenched events of those early losses pushed him to peel off the braids himself, no barber in sight. The transition from “struggle braids” to what he called his “nasiest haircut” coincided with a scoring surge culminating in a stunning 62-point outburst—still the highest of his storied career. That brief flirtation with cornrows? Let’s just say it’s behind him, a quirky chapter in the book of a legend who’s all about the shot, not the style. LEARN MORE.

Against the Bulls, Curry dropped 36 points on 11-of-25 shooting (44 percent) from the field and 5 of 15 (33.3 percent) from distance.

Three games later, as he mentioned, he scored his career-high 62 points against the Portland Trail Blazers, shooting an incredible 18-of-31 (58.1 percent) from the field and 8 of 16 (50 percent) from beyond the arc.

The Warriors superstar rocked cornrows for the first three games of the campaign, but, as he explained in a recent interview with Complex’s Speedy Morman — never again.

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It is safe to say Cornrow Curry is a thing of the past.

Curry, the greatest shooter to grace the game of basketball, opened that season shooting just 13-of-38 (34.2 percent) from the field and 4-of-20 (20 percent) from 3-point range.

“And then I got hot in Chicago, and that crept. I kept that haircut — the nasiest haircut I’ve ever had — it was like a mushroom top, half-fro, half I don’t know, whatever. And when I had 62 [points], I still had that cut. That was like two weeks later. So braids to not, I won’t ever have them again — just off of that. It was a [two]-game stretch. Horrible.”

To this day, that remains the most points he’s scored in a single contest.

Steph Curry opened the 2020-21 NBA season with a new hairstyle that didn’t last very long.