Steph Curry appreciates the assist from longtime Golden State Warriors teammate Draymond Green, but the basketball superstar won’t be trading sports anytime soon. But he will surely take Green’s help in lobbying superstar free agent LeBron James to join their team.
Curry, the two-time NBA MVP, won the American Century Championship in 2023 and was in fourth place entering Sunday’s final round of the celebrity golf tournament in South Lake Tahoe, Nevada. The three-round event features an elite field of golfers from the sports and entertainment industries.
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On a recent episode of his podcast, Green suggested that Curry could make the PGA Tour in three years with proper preparation.
Curry laughed off the idea in an NBC Sports interview during Saturday’s second round.
“I love Draymond; that’s why he’s such a great teammate,” Curry said. “He’s hyping me up. I do have so much respect for how hard this game is and what you all do on the Tour week in, week out. There’s no even realistic shot that I’m going after a Tour card. But to see how good I can get when basketball is done, I kind of want to slowly and maybe without that shot say that I had a chance.
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“Draymond, I appreciate you, and I love you, and I know you think I’m a great golfer, but there are levels to this! There are levels.”
Curry is playing in the tournament with his father, Dell, and his brother, Seth. All three played in the NBA, and Dell passed on the passion for golf to his sons. The trio have their own competition (with a handicap system) during five years of playing in the ACC tourney, and each has won family bragging rights at least once.
“I love seeing Pops play well,” Steph Curry said. “He’s 62 years old, still doing it. We call him ‘The Originator,’ and he’s showing it right now.”
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Matt Boldy uses Olympic gold medal as ball marker at American Century Championship
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Matt Boldy is putting his Olympic gold medal to good use at the American Century Championship this week.
Curry spent millions on helping revive the men’s and women’s golf programs at Howard University, working with his sponsors to supply equipment and uniforms. He also founded the Underrated Golf Tour with an objective of raising the profile of overlooked junior golfers.
“I was blessed to pick up the game,” he said. ”My dad got me into it, my brother into it, when I was 10 years old. And just what golf brings, this camaraderie, allows you to travel the world. But there’s not a lot of access for everybody to get into the game. And so that’s what I’ve been trying to attack through golf at Howard University and our Underrated Tour that we do for kids 13 to 18.
“I’m just trying to create more opportunity, equity, and access in the game. Meanwhile, still competing and having fun myself because I think it puts golf on a cool platform for somebody from another sport coming in and having fun.”
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While he’s enjoying the links during the NBA offseason, there’s some serious business afoot as the NBA awaits James to choose his next landing spot after leaving the Los Angeles Lakers. Green and James are on vacation and golfing together in Puerto Rico, and Green reportedly has admitted to making the hard sell to James on the Warriors.
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Could this drag out into next week? Yes.
Though Curry downplayed speculation on where James might play (a return to the Cleveland Cavaliers also is an option), he said it would be intriguing to play against his longtime rival. The Cavs and Warriors met in four consecutive NBA Finals from 2015-18 with Curry triumphing three times over James.
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“Up until probably two, three years ago, that was like a pipe-dream question or even a thought,” Curry said during an ACC media availability Thursday about the possibility playing with James, according to ESPN.com. “But that’s part of the allure. Him going into his 24th season, me going into my 18th, the battles we’ve had, that would be such a unique story in NBA history, in sports history. But a little premature right now to talk about it.”
Though he said the decision ultimately would be up to James, Curry also noted “there’s good golf in the Bay. We’re an organization that’s been there. He knows that. That’s really self-explanatory. It’s a matter of where he sees himself fitting. At the end of the day, that’s up to him.”
Curry, who was paired with former MLB stars John Smoltz and Derek Lowe for Sunday’s final round, seemed hopeful after surviving “a very adventurous, eventful round” Saturday. The top three are Mardy Fish, Joe Pavelski and Annika Sorenstam.
“They always say golf is pure when it’s fairways and greens,” Curry said. “I’ve done everything other than that, but still trying to stay within earshot of Joe and Marty, and I know Anika’s playing well, so still having fun.”
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Mardy Fish eyes third American Century Championship title as star-studded leaderboard looms
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Mardy Fish rode a late charge to the top of the leaderboard on Saturday in Lake Tahoe.
