WHEN
STEPHEN CURRY
HEARD THE
OFFER ,
hewascaughtoffguard inaway that
wouldneverhappenonabasketball
court.But then, it’snoteverydayyou
findyourselfstanding in theOvalOffice
gettingan invitation from thePresident
of theUnitedStates.
Curryhadbeen invitedtotheWhite
Housetodiscusshischaritablework,
andthememoryofthatday inFebruary
2015stillmakeshimsmile.Sincethe
2012-13NBAseason, forevery3-point
baskethehasmade,hehasdonated
three insecticide-treatedsleepingnetsto
NothingButNets,aUnitedNations
programdedicatedtoeradicating
malaria-relateddeaths inAfrica.Thatwas
thetopic, sohewasn’tprepared fortheof-
ferhegot fromPresidentBarackObama.
“I like toplaygolf,”Obamasaidduring
theirconversation. “Maybewecanplay
sometime thissummer.”
“Yeah, sure,”Currymanaged to
mutter.Hewas flatteredbutdubious,
figuring thepresidentwassimplybeing
polite.
“Iknowhehasabusyschedule,”
Currysaysnow, seatedcourtside in the
GoldenStateWarriors’practice facility
inOakland,California, “soI took itwitha
grainofsalt.”
A fewmonths later,however,Curry
gotacall fromhisagent,whoasked if
hecouldmake it toMartha’sVineyard
inmid-Augustbecause thepresident
wanted toplayaroundofgolf.Andoh,
theagentadded, youcanbringyourdad.
“Itwasprettyamazing,”Currysays.
“It’soneof those thingsyou thinkcan
neverhappen.”
Fatherandson lost thematch to
Obamaand formerNBAstarRayAllen,
butafterward, thepresidentmadean
evenmoreunexpectedoffer, challenging
theyoungerCurry—unquestionablyone
of thegreatestbasketball shootersofall
time— toagameofH-O-R-S-E.
“Hedid it twice,”Stephsays. “Onceat
theWhiteHouse inFebruaryandagain
in thesummer.But itwassnowing in
February, and therewasnocourt insight
in thesummer.”
If thematchhad takenplace,would
Steph, asacourtesy,have let thepresi-
dentwin?Heneeds little timeand few
words toanswer: “Uh,no.”
For28-year-oldCurry, theWarriors’
record-settingguard, the last twoyears
havebeenallaboutwinning.Hiscareer
hasbeenonasteadyupwardpathsince
heentered theNBA in2009,but it tooka
giant leap forward in the2014-15season,
whenheaveraged23.8pointsand7.7as-
sists,wasvotedMostValuablePlayer, led
theWarriors to their firstchampionship
in40yearsandbecame themostpopular
—andarguably thebest—basketball
player in theworld.
Beginning inmid-April, afteranother
sensational season thatsaw themcom-
pilea53-5record throughFebruary, the
Warriorswillcompete in the2016NBA
playoffs, attempting tobecomeonly the
AMERICANWAY
APRIL2016
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