Underrated: Incredible Stories of Players Beating the Odds

Elsa Olano
20 minutes ago
3 min read

Golden State Warriors player, Wardell Stephen Curry II, known simply as Steph Curry, Chef Curry or even Mr. 4k - and widely reputed for his Night-Night signature celebration - is currently considered as one of the best shooters of all time in the NBA. A journey even more impressive given the fact that he had to grow, proving people wrong and beating the odds. In 2023, Prime Video released a documentary called “Stephen Curry: Underrated”, recounting how challenging it was for him and how much harder he had to work due to him being undersized - at least to supposedly make it at a professional level.

But he’s not the only hooper with an inspiring story. For those who may not know them, let’s dig into the paths of Jaheem Joseph, Tony Snell and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf.

JAHEEM JOSEPH

Jaheem Joseph is a 6'5 guard from Ontario (Canada) who was recently selected by the Montreal Alliance in the third round of the 2025 CEBL Draft. As basketball players are quite known for their vision on the court (both literally and figuratively), Joseph is still able to play at an elite level despite having lost 95% of his vision in his right eye. The accident happened during a night out with friends in July 2020. Following that event, he lost his Division I scholarship and had to take a step back from the court, giving him time for rehabilitation and surgical procedures. But that did not crush his dreams of going professional, as he made his big return in 2021. Since then, he has played for Vanier College and Concordia University. In the past season, he averaged 14.9 PPG, 5 RPG and 1.9 APG.

TONY SNELL

Tony Snell is a 33 year-old player presently evolving in the G-League for the Sioux Falls Skyforce. He did have some time in the NBA as he was drafted in 2013 by the Chicago Bulls, where he progressed for three years, before joining respectively: the Milwaukee Bucks, the Detroit Pistons, the Atlanta Hawks, the Portland Trail Blazers and the New Orleans Pelicans. He even won the MWC tournament MVP in his last year of college. Two years ago, Tony Snell opened up about his autism diagnosis. It was through his own son’s diagnosis that he learned he had been living with autism his entire life and started reflecting on his behaviour growing up. That didn’t stop him from achieving his goals and pursuing an NBA career. However, he did express that being diagnosed “late” in his life probably helped him because autism, like many other disorders, is commonly negatively perceived, and people tend to limit and label others because of it.

MAHMOUD ABDUL-RAUF

Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf is a former NBA point guard who played in the league for nine years, and then took part in multiple leagues around the world before officially retiring in 2011. He won many awards, such as NBA All-Rookie Second Team in 1991, NBA Most Improved Player in 1993 and Russian Cup champion in 2004. Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf has lived with Tourette syndrome since a young age and was even placed in special education classes. He went undiagnosed until his teenage years. Tourette syndrome mainly manifests itself by tics, which can be of any kind. It’s like the mind doesn’t have control over the body anymore. In Mahmoud’s case, even though he has learned to camouflage them, when the tics intensify, he sometimes has to do with his left what he would normally do with his right. But the star player overcame these challenges, and he now believes it made him a better player on the court, having to work extra: he would practice for two hours and then stay for 10 more shots at the end. If the shots weren’t perfect, he would go over and over again.