OAKLAND -- Through deeds and funds and personal time, Stephen Curry has long been a leader beyond the confines of basketball and now it is evolving into a crusade, the latest evidence coming Saturday morning.
The Warriors star and two-time NBA MVP posted a commentary in The Players’ Tribune citing the point of peaceful protest, the significance of Veterans Day and his personal commitment to a better America and a better world.
Curry continues to navigate his sphere of influence while affirming his causes and raising his voice.
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His coach, Steve Kerr, read the article and barely could contain his delight.
“It was beautiful,” he said Saturday afternoon before tipoff against the 76ers. “It hit the nail on the head. Anybody who believes that people are being disrespectful to the military by kneeling has it wrong. The whole point is peaceful protest. The military is responsible for giving Americans the right to free speech. That’s the beauty of our country.
“On Veterans Day, I thought it was the perfect way to celebrate our veterans, both past and present. Steph really verbalized it beautifully. It was really well done. I’m very proud of him.”
Curry spent the first three years of his career finding his place in the NBA, the next two validating it and the last three maintaining it while carefully navigating the societal challenges -- poverty, racism, sexism, human rights etc. -- that plague this country and the planet beyond it.
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“I’m a person who is comfortable in his own skin,” Curry wrote. “I’m 29 now. I’ve got two daughters, a wonderful wife, two amazing parents. I’ve been all over this country, from Charlotte to the Bay. And I feel confident in the fact that I’ve developed a foundation for my character that I can be proud of. I know what I believe in, and I know what I stand for.
“And I know what I stand against.
“But when someone tells me that my stances, or athlete stances in general, are “disrespecting the military” --which has become a popular thing to accuse peaceful protestors of -- it’s something that I’m going to take very, very seriously. One of the beliefs that I hold most dear is how proud I am to be an American — and how incredibly thankful I am for our troops. I know how fortunate I am to live in this country, and to do what I do for a living, and to raise my daughters in peace and prosperity. But I also hear from plenty of people who don’t have it nearly as good as I do. Plenty of people who are genuinely struggling in this country. Especially our veterans.”
Curry over the past year has publically expressed his misgivings about the current president, much less visiting him in the White House. He also has stated his understanding of the protests that, initiated 15 months ago by former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, have spread across the NFL landscape.
This is relatively new territory. Not the beliefs and principles behind it, but the vocalization of it.
On so many pertinent social causes, the player and his coach are in lockstep.
“His words were really poignant because it seems like today what everybody is doing is kind of screaming and yelling, across the aisle or at each other, or sending mean tweets,” Kerr said. “If you read that, Steph’s right.”
“What can we do to help people? In this case, he was writing about the military, but that’s the whole thing we have to cut through, all the rhetoric and the anger and just understand that it shouldn’t matter who you are or what political party you’re affiliated with or what position you’re in, whether you’re a public servant or an athlete or just a person in any job. It’s about helping people. It’s about doing the right thing.”
Curry has spent years donating his time, his family and their wherewithal to causes from malaria in Africa to groceries and personal care items in Oakland to needy families in North Carolina and the rescue of abused or displaced animals.
Now he’s standing on his platform pleading for better treatment of veterans -- surely one of our national disgraces -- a notion that should warm the heart of anyone who has one.
Curry is write that, “I don’t want to just be noise,” partly because there is so much of that. No, this is about each of us taking note of what’s around us and doing something to improve it.
It was just a few months ago that Curry vowed his new Warriors contract, worth $201 million over the next five seasons, will better enable him to make an impact in the community, from local to global. His latest remarks leave little doubt he will.