5 Ways Hotshot NBA Player And Family Man Stephen Curry Shows He Has "A Heart For God"—And That's Why We Love Him
“When it comes to basketball I was always the smallest kid on my team. I had a terrible, ugly catapult shot. I had to reconstruct that over one summer—it was the worst three months of my life,” Stephen admitted in his Most Valuable Player speech. “You might think there were no obstacles or hurdles for me to overcome, but even in high-school I wasn’t ranked. No one came knocking on my door asking ‘Please play for our school’—Not until Coach McKillop called. There’s a reason for everything.”
Simply saying that Stephen Curry is a young NBA player and family man beaming in the glow of NBA success would be quite the understatement. He’s been mentioned as one of the players closest these days to being labeled, just like Michael Jordan was, as the next G.O.A.T.—the Greatest Of All Time. Despite his achievements, Stephen still continues to show the world his steadfast belief; that all this has been made possible because of his faith in God.
On the court, beneath the lights, Stephen powers through defense and after having made every good shot possible you’ll find him pointing upwards. The whole basketball-crazy world has its eyes on this guy and non-basketball fans clearly pick up on the hearsay of how openly righteous the guy is and that even if game time is serious, it still pays to have fun.
Stephen points out, “If you take time to realize what your dream is—what you really want in life—whether it’s in sports or other fields, there’s always work to do. You want to be the hardest working person if you want to put yourself in the position to be successful."
If we take one more look at his life, what’s not to like—thriving career, beautiful wife who loves cooking, happy kids, A-List lifestyle…genuine faith—what more could Stephen be thankful for in this lifetime?
READ: Meet Ayesha Curry, The Newest Domestic Goddess You Should Be Following Right Now
When asked about his faith, without shame or question, he puts it out there. “My relationship with Jesus Christ started around [when I was in] middle-school,” Stephen reminisces in a YouTube video uploaded by Jorge Barrera titled "Testimony: Stories of Active Faith, Episode 3: Stephen Curry." “My parents had us in church every Sunday and every Wednesday—it was more a tradition at that point. I didn’t have a personal relationship with the Lord until one altar call on one Sunday. The youth pastor said we had to make the decision for ourselves, we couldn’t be relying on our parents. That’s when I made it.” [source]
Not since his former GSW teammate Jeremy Lin’s rise to Linsanity fame in 2013—as the game-changer point guard for the Knicks—have people seen the crowd-stirring likes of someone like Stephen, who is just as unashamed about Christianity as Jeremy is.
Jeremy, himself a good friend, acknowledged Stephen on court in an interview in 2016, “He’s extremely talented. Watching from him, learning from him, and playing against him—it’s an awesome opportunity for me. Me and him have known each other for a little bit, so it’s fun going up against your friend.” Of Jeremy, Stephen has said in another interview, “He’s always aggressive and explosive. When he’s out there he’s pushing envelopes. He’s now obviously a better player than he was back in 2010 or 11. He’s a solidified NBA player who’s going to be around for a while.” In a throwback from 2015, both gleaming point guards nearly broke the internet when they did the Nae Nae dance alongside Stephen’s Internet idol daughter, Riley.
Stephen is now about to become a father of three. His childhood sweetheart and wife, Ayesha, is nearly full term with their third child, and they prefer to be surprised by the baby’s gender.
Golden State Warrior’s premier shooter has just become one of those rare guys who truly expresses through his standards that God isn’t just one slice in his pie of priorities. Stephen makes Him the reason behind all of them. “You don’t have to live anybody else’s story. All you need is to have faith in God and an undying passion in what you do.”
There are a number of ways in which this NBA player has shown that God comes first in his life—one to ponder on for every working day of the week:
1. He chose to love and marry, Ayesha, who shares his belief in Jesus just as deeply and has fun rolling with the punches.
Ayesha told People, "He was the cute boy at church that all of the girls were obsessed with, so I made a generalization that maybe he wasn’t for me." She also shared with Parents.com, "We always laugh [about the fact] that we were both focused on God."
Dig this…Ayesha has proven she can also, sometimes, shoot like Stephen—even when she's nine months pregnant.
2. God’s Word goes with Stephen, on and off the court. In last year’s season finals, Stephen sported Bible verses on his shoes while playing for glory.
My man... pic.twitter.com/xur6kT9BEh
— Jarrid Wilson (@JarridWilson) June 2, 2017
3. Stephen gives credit where he believes it’s due. Apparently, the gesture he does on the court wasn’t just his idea. “I do a sign on the court every time I take a shot or make a good pass. I pound my chest and point to the sky. It symbolizes that I have a heart for God. It’s something that my mom and I came up with in college.” Can we all take a moment to stare at his mom for a bit?
“I do it every time I step on the floor as a reminder of who I’m playing for. People should know Who I represent and why I am who I am, that’s because of my Lord and Savior—I can’t say that enough.”
4. He’s quite the hands-on father and works to spend time with them whenever he can. Stephen also hopes that for as long as possible, he can protect his daughters’ innocence. "You want them to have a childhood," Stephen shared with Buzzfeed, "And hopefully the things we teach them take hold over outside influences. There's so much opportunity for that negative stuff to creep into the household, but you hope that they have role models they can look up to and don't get the wrong information too soon."
5. He genuinely cares for those in need and does something about it. Stephen may have a busy schedule but he makes time to actually go to those in need and not just fund the causes.
Photos from @stephencurry30 @ayeshacurry
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