Steph Curry for president? That’s no stranger than Steve Garvey for Senate | Opinion
Former LA Dodger Steve Garvey isn’t the only California sports legend with political aspirations. NBA superstar Steph Curry recently acknowledged that he would consider a career in politics — and he didn’t rule out running for president someday.
“I have an interest in leveraging every part of my influence for good in the way that I can...” the Golden State Warriors point guard said during a recent interview on “CBS This Morning.”
To be fair, Curry didn’t bring up politics. It was CBS News correspondent Jericka Duncan who broached the issue.
“Steph Curry for president? Yay, nay, maybay?” she asked.
“Maybay,” Curry responded.
“2028?” she asked later.
“Not that soon,” Curry laughed.
On social media, the reaction was immediate, and it was intense.
Some were weirded out.
“It’s weird to have Steph Curry open to running for President and Aaron Rodgers being shortlisted for VP (by independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.)...on the same day. What the hell is going on???” one person commented on X.
Others jokingly wondered whether LeBron James would be put out and many — including some self-described Steph Curry fans — were critical.
“I love Steph, but please, God, no. No more celebs in politics.”
“Best 3 pt shooter ever doesn’t qualify you to be president. It’s egomania,” another posted on Reddit.
But wait a minute.
Is that any weirder than a reality TV star running for president ... and winning?
And think about, if Steve Garvey — a 75-year-old with no prior political experience and a reluctance to state a concrete position on almost every issue — can run for the U.S. Senate and make the November runoff, why not Steph Curry?
He’s got more going for him than Garvey.
Curry is barely 36 (his birthday was Thursday). When he does retire from basketball, he could still have a long career in politics. Given his youth, Curry could start with something less ambitious than the U.S. Senate. He could run for the California Assembly, or lieutenant governor, or even governor. If a former bodybuilder can do it, why not a two-time basketball MVP with four championship rings?
Unlike Garvey — a Republican who has little chance of winning statewide office in a Democratic state — Curry actually has a shot at getting elected in California.
He already has history of supporting (mostly) liberal causes.
He famously refused to visit the Trump White House after the Warriors won the championship in 2017. In 2019 he supported striking Oakland teachers and in 2020, he and his wife, Ayesha, endorsed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in a video shown at the Democratic National Convention.
True, there was that time the Currys opposed the construction of a multi-family housing development near their $30 million mansion in ritzy Atherton. But at least they were nice about it.
“We hesitate to add to the ‘not in our backyard’ (literally) rhetoric,” they wrote, “but we wanted to send a note before today’s meeting. Safety and privacy for us and our kids continues to be our top priority and one of the biggest reasons we chose Atherton as home.”
That earned the couple some nasty headlines.
“Steph Curry NIMBY?” wrote the LA Times. “NBA star fights plan for Atherton townhomes”
(The city ultimately approved the housing project, by the way.)
Garvey has a history of not paying taxes, multiple affairs and accusations of child abandonment.
Curry is a devoted family man — he and his wife are expecting their fourth child — and he’s obviously a team player.
And while Garvey is appealing in an aw-shucks kind of way, Steph Curry is a drama-free, accessible superstar who treats people with kindness and respect while performing so brilliantly on the court, he’s already considered an all-time great.
A New York Magazine writer once described him as one of the most popular athletes on earth. “A sports megastar with seemingly zero haters is a rare and beautiful thing,” he wrote.
Does that mean Steph Curry is qualified to be president?
Of course not. But look at it this way: It doesn’t disqualify him, either.
