Steph Curry has inspired a generation of hoopers. While the young guns who mirror his game and see him as an inspiration haven’t all quite made it to the league, his fellow All-Star guard Darius Garland most recently talked about Steph being one of his favorite players. If you watch enough of DG hoop, you can certainly see the inspiration: He moves well off-ball, he’s super shifty and creates separation which gives him higher-percentage looks, and he’s a crafty playmaker.

But where did Steph get his inspiration? Recently, he went on the Knuckleheads Podcast with former NBA-ers Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles. On the podcast, he chopped it up about a few subjects, from his opinions on social media commentators saying he “ruined the game” whenever a young player does something skilled (spoiler alert: he’s not a huge fan of seeing it), to his favorite players.

The latter gifts a lot of insight into how the 2x MVP has become the player he is today. Here’s the full list:

This is a pretty solid list. You can really see where the pieces of Steph’s game come from when you look at each of these guys on an individual level.

First on the list is Michael Jordan. Steph’s been getting a lot of Jordan comparisons this year, whether it’s a half-turn that breaks off a defender against the Knicks that was quite literally the same move Mike did in the Garden himself years ago, to the killer instinct he’s shown when somebody sets him off. He’s always had that edge to him, but now that he’s been through the ringer, he’s a different beast. His scoring talents are game-changing in the same way Jordan’s were, but his mentality is what separates him.

Allen Iverson was best known for his deadly crossover and his ability to finish at the rim even though he was shorter than 6 feet tall. Steph has gone on-record talking about how he’s often the smallest guy on the court, standing at barely 6’3. He’s tough off the drive, with defenders having a hard time standing in front of him. He gets separation well, and leaves defenders in the dust, just like The Answer always did.

Steve Nash’s efficiency was probably one of the most legendary of all-time. He was a true point guard, but he also played to his strengths and got to his spots. He raised the floor and ceiling of his times by a lot, and earned himself a few MVPs to go with it. Curry, when he’s not torching defenses from deep, has a lot of the playmaking knack Nash had, and the efficiency to boot: He takes shots that nobody else would take, but for him, that’s how he gets to his spots. His efficiency and passing proficiency are reminiscent of the former point guard.

Steph’s admiration for Reggie Miller has never been in question. When he broke Reggie’s record, he showed a lot of love to the former NBA sharpshooter. Miller was also one of the best off-ball shooters ever, and Curry’s even been quoted saying he watched a lot of Miller’s play to learn how to move off-ball better. He also, like Mike, had a killer instinct to him. He was well-known for his trash talk, and Steph’s never been afraid to get in somebody’s face just like that.

Muggsy Bogues played in Charlotte with Steph’s father, Dell Curry. Bogues is one of the shortest NBA players ever at 5’3, but he still had a very solid NBA career. Much like Iverson, Steph’s admiration from Bogues likely comes from both knowing him personally, and relating to him as a little guy (although not quite the same as Bogues, who Steph is a full foot taller than). There’s something about the smaller guys in basketball that’s inspiring to watch, there’s no doubt that Steph picked Bogues as a favorite because of those very same reasons.

Steph Curry is a unique player. Patently unique. There’s been nobody like him in NBA history, and while people will try to mirror Steph, he’s 1-of-1: There will never be another guard who does what he does at the level he does it at. But when you look through his given top 5 favorite players ever, you can see where a lot of his inspiration comes from. He’s the player he is because he watches all those guys, and was inspired by doing so. All-time greats often take a little from multiple others: They never just have one focus of their admiration in the game.

(Photo credit: Kavin Mistry / Getty Images)