Allen Iverson was one of the handful of players who inspired Stephen Curry growing up. Knowing he was going to play the point guard position, the Golden State Warriors icon patterned some of his game after Iverson, specifically his handles and persona off the court.

And while Curry was able to successfully integrate his idol’s influence in his game, he admits he never got the hairstyle right, despite numerous tries.

“I tried,” Curry said. “I ain’t have that right hairstyle material.”

When Curry still ran with it

A.I. may not have been the first player in NBA history to rock the cornrows, but he will always be associated with them because he made them relevant during the league’s revolutionary culture phase in the late 90s and early 2000s. After all, The Answer takes credit for starting the league’s hip-hop culture trend by normalizing tattoos, streetwear, durags and jewelry.

Virtually everyone followed in Iverson’s footsteps, including the Curry generation that came after him. As for The Chef himself, he admitted that he kept trying to find a way to rock the cornrows, and when he finally was able to grow his hair long enough to sustain it, he still couldn’t keep it because it affected his game.

“What a time that was. Coming out of COVID, I had the struggle of braids where I had just enough to close it up,” Curry told NBC Sports Bay Area. “And then I started the year, I don’t know what my percentage was, like high 20s, low 30s maybe. Everyone who knows how superstitious I am, I remember where I was. I was in Chicago, in our hotel after we lost to Brooklyn and we lost to Milwaukee the first two games of that season. I’m in the hotel taking out my own braids. I didn’t have my barber with me, I didn’t have anything. I just let it hang.”

“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,” the Dubs sharpshooter added.

Ironically, Curry’s performance coming out of COVID, specifically during the 2020-2021 season, was one of his personal bests. That just happened to be the same year Klay Thompson was out due to an ACL injury, so the defense was extra focused on the NBA’s all-time three-point king. It was the same season where he averaged a career-high of 12.7 three-point attempts per game.

At the beginning of that season, Curry shot just four out of 20 (20%) from three-point range. That shifted after the Warriors faced the Chicago Bulls — which was the same time he ditched the braids — as he shot 11 out of 25 from the field and 5 out of 15 from the three-point line (33.3%). By the end of the season, Steph averaged a career-high of 32.0 points per game on 42.1% three-point shooting.

Why are cornrows more than just a hairstyle?

Even if it doesn’t perfectly fit his game, Curry believes that the cornrows are more than just an iconic and unique choice of hairstyle for basketball players. They’re a fashion statement for those who are unashamed and unapologetic, like A.I., who was never afraid to be himself. It marked a golden age for culture in the NBA when players could finally express their off-court styles more.

Admittedly, it’s not a hairstyle for everyone. While Steph continues to admire it, we won’t be seeing him rocking it anytime soon, at least not until retirement, blaming them, in part, for his shooting struggles in the past.