With the NBA season back and in full swing, I found myself in the mood to read about some of the various basketball books I’ve picked up over the years. Steph Curry and the Warriors were a juggernaut in recent years, which naturally led to the publication of a few books about the team and its stars. Originally published in 2017, I decided it was well-passed time for me to read Golden. It’s an interesting book, let down only by its subject.

How to review this biography? This is a bit of an issue with Golden. Thompson is a very good writer, and he clearly knows and loves basketball and the Warriors. (He currently writes for The Athletic, and is a long-time resident of and journalist in the Bay Area.) He uses certain key games and playoff/finals series to craft an arc of Steph Curry’s career and rise to superstardom. All of them are examples of good basketball writing/journalism. In between, Thompson provides some details and/or examination of Curry’s career and life.

The accounts of the games and series are interesting. However, it turns out that Steph Curry isn’t really that interesting a subject to read about. (I had a similar experience reading this as I do books about Bruce Springsteen: the subject is a phenomenal talent, but the biography’s a bit dull and through no fault of the author.)

Steph Curry is still rather young, of course, but he’s achieved so much already — the many shooting records, the back-to-back MVP awards (one unanimous), the championships. By all measure, he is a golden boy. While this is not something to sneer at, nor dismiss, it doesn’t make him an especially gripping subject. Sure, a book about Denis Rodman would probably be more interesting and packed with gossip, anecdotes, and shenanigans. The “unprecedented access” doesn’t really bring up much in the way of revelations. (A single profile by Carvell Wallace provided almost as much insight into the player.) Thompson provides some good analysis and theories about what drives Curry, as well as solid analysis of his game, his evolution as a player, and more.

The book ends on a hopeful and positive note. I just think it needed a bit more — maybe some more interviews with Curry, or perhaps more input from his teammates, opponents, etc. Certain aspects of Curry’s work are dealt with only in passing — for example, he’s active in the battle against malaria, but we don’t get any more than that statement. The book felt a little unbalanced. The accounts of games and series were long and detailed (not to mention stat-packed), but the analysis and story between were much thinner. Some of the most interesting portions of the book weren’t about Curry. The most interesting anecdote can be found in the caption for a photo of Curry and Obama (what Michelle Obama told Curry to say to the President during golf). These details could have made the book more engaging and interesting.

So, I’d say Golden is a must read for Golden State Warriors fans, and also anyone who is interested in a player who has helped reshape the modern NBA (for good or ill, depending on your preferences). For more casual fans, however, it might not be as gripping. I found it quite interesting, but I think I just wanted a bit more depth to the portrait. Thompson does a very good job, but maybe Curry biographies need to be held off until he’s further along in his career? The author’s follow-up book, KD, is also out now and I’ll be reading and reviewing it very soon — I imagine that one is more interesting because Kevin Durant is a generally more interesting person.

If you’re looking for a more general, and more recent book about the Warriors, I’d recommend Ethan Sherwood Strauss’s "The Victory Machine". I would also highly recommend Andre Iguodala & Carvell Wallace’s "The Sixth Man".

An inciteful, deep dive into the rise of the basketball phenom, written by a reporter on the scene on a daily basis.

Good book and brings a lot of insight to what Curry is battling on and off the court. The read itself was somewhat sporadic jumping back and forth all throughout. One paragraph you are reading about Curry's 2016 playoff run, and the next you are back in 2012.

Marcus Thompson II covered the Warriors for ten years, so he has seen the franchise emerge from the bottom of the heap to an incredibly popular, highly marketable and incredibly fun to watch team – and the centerpiece of their success is Wardell Stephen Curry, also known as Steph.

In Golden, Thompson tells the story of Curry’s rise to superstardom, and goes into a significant amount of detail about his years at Davidson, a college not known as a basketball powerhouse. As the son of an NBA player (Dell Curry), Steph was familiar with the trappings of fame and the lifestyle made possible by playing at a high level in the NBA. In fact, Thompson points out in the chapter “Curry Hate” that being the son of an NBA player is one of the marks against him – a reason he is the target of hate. (The two other reasons for the animus toward Curry are his light skin and his wholesome image.

The whole light skinned thing is covered in depth, and Thompson doesn’t shy away from discussing racism and the issue of varying shades of color among NBA players (which I confess I found fascinating). Equally interesting was the detail about what has driven Steph to become the most popular NBA player (with his jersey ranked #1 in sales in multiple years).

As a Bay Area resident, I appreciated Thompson’s in-depth look at how “In a span of a few years, the Warriors went from a cute start-up, the trendy watch for those in the know, to champion, to despised favorite.”

Along the way, Steph’s journey has taken him from the “unathletic” kid who loved the game to be known as the Baby Faced Assassin. “The alter ego that would turn the kindest cutest kid around into a vindictive, explosive predator on the court.”

Despite the “Curry Hate” mentioned above (which I admit I really don’t get), Steph continues to be beloved by parents who want their kids to look up to someone with such a wholesome image. And he treats people well: “He has an uncanny ability to make people walk away from a Curry interaction feeling like they have a new friend who is really good at basketball.”

There is something for everyone in this book: human interest stories about his family, historical perspective on both Steph and the Warriors, and lots and lots of detail about specific games as well as specific details that a true hoops fan will appreciate. In discussing the debate as to whether Steph is a point guard or a shooting guard, we are told that “He is a point guard who can light up the scoreboard with the best of shooting guards. He is a shooting guard with all the skills of a top point guard.”

As both a basketball fan and a Curry fan, I enjoyed the book. Thompson’s long tenure covering the team made him an ideal candidate to write this story, which will be appreciated by the many Warriors fans in general and Steph Curry fans in particular.

The book presumes some knowledge about the league, the team, and Steph himself. Because the book needs some editing to tighten up the organization and make it flow more smoothly from one chapter to the next as well as providing some context for a curious reader who is less knowledgeable, I gave it 3.5 stars (which will show up as 4,) Frankly, I’m not sure how to find the balance: if you make it more clear for those unfamiliar with the game/player, the basketball geeks might be bored. In any case, I appreciate the chance to read an advance copy in exchange for my honest review. Thanks, Touchstone and NetGalley!