More than 20 players on NBA rosters at the start of the 2023-24 season had fathers who once earned an NBA paycheck, according to NBA.com. That number keeps climbing, and the league’s bloodline story has moved well beyond novelty.
LeBron and Bronny James made history in October 2024 as the first father and son to share an NBA court in a regular-season game. Nobody’s calling that a balanced duo yet — Bronny’s a rookie finding his way while his father is a 40-year-old All-NBA selection. But the question worth asking is different: has the NBA ever produced a father-son pair where both were genuinely great?
The answer is yes. And the consensus No. 1, across NBA.com, GiveMeSport, and just about every ranking that’s tackled the subject, is Dell and Stephen Curry.
Dell Curry was the finest three-point shooter of his era — 40.2% from deep over 16 seasons, Sixth Man of the Year in 1993-94, a quick release that produced clean looks before the league had fully figured out what the three-point line was for. His son didn’t just match that. Stephen Curry redefined how basketball is played: four championships, two MVPs, the first unanimous MVP in league history, and every meaningful three-point record in the book. Dell’s other son, Seth, carries a 43.1% career three-point clip. That’s not a duo — that’s a shooting assembly line. The film doesn’t lie.
Mychal and Klay Thompson sit second on most lists, and they’re the stylistic inverse of the Currys. Mychal was the first overall pick in the 1978 draft, a back-to-the-basket big who won two titles with the Showtime Lakers and made exactly one three-pointer in his entire career. Klay became one of the deadliest catch-and-shoot guards ever — four-time champion, five-time All-Star, once scoring 60 points on 11 dribbles. The Warriors’ dynasty ran on two father-son lineages simultaneously.
Rick and Brent Barry bring the most colorful résumé. Rick was a two-way force across three decades and two leagues, averaging a record 36.3 points in NBA Finals games, winning a title with the 1975 Warriors, and shooting free throws underhand because he cared about makes, not aesthetics. Brent won two rings with the Spurs and a dunk contest in a warm-up jacket. Five Barry sons played professionally.
Arvydas and Domantas Sabonis are the best international pair. Arvydas was a Soviet national team legend whose knees were already gone by the time he reached the NBA as a Blazers center — a prototype Nikola Jokic, as NBA.com put it. Domantas is a three-time All-Star who’s led the league in rebounding twice and averaged 7.3 assists for the Kings last season.
Joe and Kobe Bryant represent the widest gap. Joe “Jellybean” Bryant was a role player for eight NBA seasons before taking his game to France and Italy, where Kobe absorbed a different style of basketball. Kobe became an 18-time All-Star, five-time champion, MVP, and eventually got a statue outside Crypto.com Arena.
The full catalog runs past 80 names — FanSided‘s comprehensive list stretches from Press and Pete Maravich to Bill and Luke Walton, Doc and Austin Rivers, Gary Payton and Gary Payton II, Rick and Jalen Brunson. Most fall into the familiar pattern: one great, one middling, or both just hanging on.
The Currys don’t.
