Former President Barack Obama hugs Golden State Warriors basketball player Stephen Curry after speaking at the My Brother's Keeper Alliance Summit in Oakland, Calif., Feb. 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
NBA Superstar and future Hall of Famer Steph Curry is one of the most beloved athletes of all time. For many, that might be enough, but Curry realizes his influence and impact extend far beyond the basketball court. He’s doing his part to make sure he uses it to change the world for the better.
Here are seven things to know about Steph Curry’s community work and political activism.
During a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Curry was candid about his life, legacy, and commitment to do his part to ensure they both have lasting meaning.
While he said he is “absolutely” focused on winning another title this year, there are many other components to the “Curryverse” that need his attention.
According to Curry, his mom Sonya often gave them “a little street talk,” advising them to “remember where you came from.”
Having a grandmother who was among the first class of integrated graduates in Radford, Virginia — and Sonya seeing a KKK member ride a horse across a field at a softball game firsthand — Curry knows his decisions don’t just affect him.
Whether partnering with Snoop Dogg to surprise kids at a Long Beach Boys and Girls Club, speaking out against racial injustice or being firm about the direction his shoe empire will take, Curry is doing everything with intention.
Golf is Steph Curry’s second-favorite sport so he’s put his money – and his activism – into making sure marginalized youth have access and opportunity to the game.
In addition to funding a new golf team at renowned HBCU Howard University, Curry added a golf component to his Underrated Tour – a showcase for junior golfers ages 12 to 18.
According to its website, “Underrated Golf is a purpose-driven business endeavor with the overarching commitment to provide equity, access and opportunity to student-athletes from every community by balancing participation in the sport to truly reflect our society.”
The Currys started the Eat. Learn. Play Foundation in 2019 to help combat hunger, promote education and encourage safe, active lifestyles.
“Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation is committed to unlocking the amazing potential of every child by fighting to end childhood hunger, ensuring students have access to a quality education, and providing safe places for all children to play and be active,” states the foundation’s mission.
According to Rolling Stone, the foundation has fed thousands of children and distributed over 500,000 books.
Curry has been attacked in the past for failing to make his stance, or lack thereof, clear on specific issues, but he believes in being well informed before speaking out.
“We get attacked as athletes sometimes when you don’t want to say something — ‘I need to get more educated,’ there’s all these lines that people use,” Curry said. “It kind of seems like you’re soft or like you’re equivocating or avoiding whatever the situation is. Honestly, in that moment, yes, I could have been a lot stronger on a point of view, but I wasn’t prepared to do that at the time, so I don’t regret that.”
“You’re growing and evolving on the same page as these national, politicized conversations, but it doesn’t have to be sides,” Curry told Rolling Stone. “What I try to do is be real, but also activate conversation that is sometimes uncomfortable.”
He said he is open to making more campaign appearances and becoming more active in politics.
“I’m no Herschel Walker over here, but with the level of influence I know I have, I feel like I’m just getting started on that front,” Curry said.
In 2020, Curry and Ayesha taped a segment played at the Democratic National Convention and endorsed then-presidential candidate Joe Biden.
Some criticized the move because Curry is an unapologetic and devout Christian, but he believes you don’t have to agree with any candidate 100 percent to participate in politics.
“We weren’t sure, more so from a faith perspective, especially around abortion,” Curry said about speaking at the convention. “When you endorse a president, you have a lot of noise comin’ at you: ‘Daughter killer! Baby killer!’. . . That’s the fine line of knowing the beast of politics, where, especially when we’re talking about presidential elections, being active is more important than the understanding that, with every candidate, there’s not a full, down-the-ballot agreement on everything that they do.”
As someone who worked his way up from not being drafted by any Division 1 schools for college to being crowned the king of shooting in the NBA, Steph Curry knows what it’s like to be underestimated.
He advised against America doing that again with former President Donald Trump.
“Take Trump seriously? Of course,” Curry said. “Most of his rhetoric — before he was president, during his four years, and even now, if he tries to run again — has a tone of divisiveness that doesn’t have a place in our country. As serious and loud as the threat is of him or whoever else is running for office, there’s a similar urgency and a loudness that’s necessary on the other side.”
PHOTO: Former President Barack Obama hugs Golden State Warriors basketball player Stephen Curry after speaking at the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance Summit in Oakland, Calif., Feb. 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
