Yahoo Finance Stephen Curry Talks Coaching Basketball After the NBA and 'Supporting the Next Generation'
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Stephen Curry is hoping to keep his philanthropic efforts tied to his love for basketball.
Speaking exclusively with PEOPLE about his new partnership with CarMax, the Golden State Warriors point guard says he's putting his "foot on the gas" and using his platform to support the next generation in any way he can.
The 33-year-old and his wife, Ayesha Curry, co-founded the Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation in 2019 and have since worked to "level the playing field and create more quality and access to resources" for children in Oakland, California, by hosting meal distribution programs for families in need, park refurbishments for athletes who need a safe space to play, and more.
"Just to continue to let the community know, let these kids know, that people out there are thinking about them and supporting their experience," Curry explains of his initiative, noting that there will always be more ways to help.
"The success that you have as a foundation is amazing but the more success only highlights the growing need," he adds. "And so it's all about continuing what we're doing just at a bigger level and a bigger scale."
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Curry explains that every day he's surprised at how much success his foundation has had over a short amount of time, using that feeling as added motivation.
He says that getting involved in community work is one of the reasons he partnered with CarMax — the official auto retailer of the NBA and WNBA — and its "Call Your Shot" campaign for the second year, which works to eliminate the pressures of car shopping at the retailer's 228 stores nationwide.
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Carmax
Through the partnership, the NBA star and the company teamed up to build even more playgrounds in underserved communities. He did so alongside WNBA stars Sue Bird and Candace Parker, noting he's "excited" to "highlight how amazing those women are on and off the court."
"It's always been important to use the resources that you have access to, the network of people you have access to, the amazing partners that you get to align yourself with, to do great things in the community and make an impact," he says.
Along with the efforts in his Oakland community, Curry has been putting in a lot of work on the court. The All-Star had a historic 2020-2021 season with the Warriors — setting a new NBA record for the most 3s in a single month and clinching his second scoring title — and is hoping to continue making strives after kicking off the 2021-2022 season on Tuesday.
Gregory Shamus/Getty Stephen Curry
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Though the champion is far from done playing in the league, he reveals that he's already looking forward to having the opportunity to coach, inspired by the people who invested in him growing up and kept him on "the right path."
He tells PEOPLE that it's important to jump at the opportunity to give kids in his community "a vision of how to achieve their best selves on the court."
"Sports teaches you so much in general," Curry explains. "It definitely unlocks parts of your character, and your work ethic and your discipline that can be transitioned into any kind of field of life professionally, even if it's not in sports."
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"I don't think I'd coach in the NBA but definitely when I'm done playing, there will be a lot more time to do that whether it's high school, college, or even younger kids," he continues. "I'll always have a presence in the game because it's given me so much. And I enjoy that moment when you kind of unlock a kid's confidence in something that they didn't know that they could do before. There's something amazing about those moments."
