Stephen Curry is inspiring the future of basketball. How can that be a bad thing?

Stephen Curry is rocking the ball back and forth on the left wing, staring Oklahoma City's Steven Adams dead in the eyes. It's the third quarter of Game 7 of the Western Conference finals. Curry has just drilled two threes to help erase an eight-point deficit, and now he's sizing up Adams for one more. The Thunder seven-footer already knows he's helpless to what comes next.

For almost anyone else, this type of three-point barrage would be mysticism. For Steph Curry, it's just another Monday.

Two days earlier and 2,500 miles away, the influence of Curry radiates from a fieldhouse in Atlanta. This is where Nike has set up shop for the final stop on its spring Elite Youth Basketball League tour, bringing some of the best high school players in the country together for three days of competition. No one in the gym can shoot like Curry, but that won't stop many of them from trying.

One of those players is Michael Hueitt Jr., a 6'3 guard from Fayetteville, N.C. who is readying for his senior year at High Point Christian Academy. Hueitt may be the best shooter on the EYBL, and on this Saturday afternoon, he's about to prove it. In a game against reigning league champion Georgia Stars, Hueitt pulls up for 14 threes. He makes eight of them.

"You used to hear Kobe all the time," Hueitt told SB Nation. "Now everyone is trying to be like Steph Curry."

Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

The footing of a revolution doesn't truly take hold until change becomes routine. That's what Curry has spent the last few years accomplishing. When he broke Ray Allen's single-season record with 272 three-pointers in 2012-13, no one could have envisioned his current trajectory. He's since broken his own record twice, including a stupefying 402 made threes this year. He's a win away from becoming a two-time champion, already is a two-time MVP and is suddenly the most influential player on the planet.

Not everyone thinks that's a good thing. When the Warriors defeated their past and future NBA finals opponent, the Cleveland Cavaliers, in December, Curry's former coach Mark Jackson posited that the MVP is "hurting the game."

Jackson's comments may have been well-intentioned, and they weren't entirely without merit. But talk to the people in and around high-level youth basketball and something becomes exceedingly clear: The passion and excitement Curry has brought to a new generation of players is a great thing. It also feels like a harbinger of what's to come.

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For as long as it has existed, grassroots basketball has faced an endless string of high-profile criticism. Kobe Bryant blasted "AAU" a year ago for failing to instill the fundamentals of the game as effectively as youth programs in Europe. To its detractors, grassroots basketball is an individual showcase rather than a team game, one that puts an emphasis on playing fast instead of honing skills like footwork, passing, ball handling and, of course, shooting.

It wasn't long ago when a player like Bryant (who perfected the fundamentals himself, mind you) could be held up as an example of why young players "just want to dunk." If Curry really is the most influential player for the next generation, it stands to reason there would be a renewed focus on skills. Curry didn't become the back-to-back MVP by dunking. He did it by mastering everything else. Today's best young players have taken notice.

"He's putting things into my head that I've never never thought of before," said Tremont Waters, a four-star point guard from South Kent, Conn. "Like how to split a double team, taking the the ball behind his back and throwing it to the corner. I do a lot of things that he does now. I just look at his game and I idolize it."

Waters is rapidly becoming one of the best point guard prospects in high school basketball. He's up to No. 31 overall in ESPN's class of 2017 rankings. He received scholarship offers from Duke and Kentucky on the same day this spring. Waters described Curry as an "icon" and "role model" for himself, a player who -- at 5'10, 164 pounds -- isn't beating anyone with his size.

"For kids like me, he gives us confidence," Waters said. "He's motivation if anything."

To Andy Borman, Curry's clout extends far beyond an influx of three-pointers. Borman is the coach of the New York Rens of the EYBL. At 34, he's already a basketball lifer. He was a walk-on on Duke's 2001 national championship team and worked as an assistant at Cal and San Jose State before moving to grassroots ball.

"The thing with Steph is he's an artist," Borman said. "The thing that he's influencing isn't really jump shooting, it's creativity and flair. For these kids, it's not about just making the simple play anymore. It's about making the beautiful play. And that's not a bad thing as long as you can do both.

"I think anyone who inspires positive feelings and a passion for the game is a good role model. That's not destroying the game, that's helping the game."

Still, there are some around youth basketball who think Jackson's comments weren't far off. B.J. Johnson, the assistant director of USA Basketball, worked with Curry when he was a member of the silver medal-winning U19 team in 2007. Johnson said the difference between Curry then and Curry now is night and day, and it's a testament to how hard he's worked. Johnson's believes the real impact of Curry would be felt if kids realized the time he's spent working on his game.

"Even watching this weekend, everyone is trying to hit the three and there are a number of big guys that are pretty good that aren't seeing the ball at all," Johnson said at an EYBL stop in Indianapolis in April. "It's like guards feel like they have to shoot the three to reach their goals, but it comes at the sacrifice of actually playing a team game. There's a lot of guys chucking a lot of bad shots without actually knowing how to get their teammates involved and create for other people.

"[Curry is] walking a line right now where it is a little bit dangerous."

(Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)

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The EYBL stop in Indianapolis was one of the precious few weekends college coaches are permitted to be in the gym as part of the live evaluation period. It creates a high-pressure atmosphere for both players and coaches, where the former know a strong impression in this setting matters more than anywhere else and the latter are equally aware they can't afford to make a bad assessment. The evolution of the game is at the forefront of everyone's mind.

"Curry has changed the game," said Bob Huggins, head coach at West Virginia. "He's forcing new options and new opportunities. Some of the guys from the old guard who played in the '60s and '70s may not like it, but it's what keeps the game exciting. I see no problem with it."

It should go without saying that not everyone can be Steph Curry. Even beyond his unprecedented numbers are the genetics and wealth that came from having his father play in the NBA for 16 years. Curry is often viewed as an underdog story because he wasn't a prized recruit, but the advantages he had growing up can't be discounted.

Tempting as the thought may be, the NBA likely won't look like an entire army of Curry clones 10 years from now. But with the added emphasis on shooting and spacing sparked in part by the greatness of Curry's Warriors, it isn't far-fetched to believe the volume and efficiency of future shooters could rise to create a new standard. There are already only so many spots for non-shooters on an NBA floor.

"I think any time players are in the gym working on their game, it's good for the game," Oregon head coach Dana Altman told SB Nation. "As a coach, it's your job to make sure it's a good shot. But guys getting in the gym, working on their ball handling, working on their shot, I don't think that can be considered a bad thing for the game."

The fruits of Curry's influence are likely still years away, but it feels safe to say the seeds have been planted. By doing things no one thought were possible, Curry has forced to a new generation to consider what comes next.