Behind the best 3-point shooter in NBA history like Stephen Curry turns out to be a dream love story that many couples around the world admire.
As writer Mignon McLaughlin once said: “A happy marriage is falling in love repeatedly in your life. But with only one person”, that is how Stephen Curry and his wife Ayesha Curry make other couples admire them.
It was a bustling night in Oakland, people were still jubilant after the Golden State Warriors defeated the Houston Rockets in the first round of the 2016 NBA Playoffs. As usual, their hero, Stephen Curry, did not forget to have dinner with his wife Ayesha Curry.
No party, no crowd, they chose Ozumo, a Japanese restaurant in the Uptown area of โโOakland. During the meal, the two accidentally learned about a Kirk Franklin concert that was about to take place at the Paramount Theater. Stephen Curry quickly took out his phone, went online to buy tickets but guess what, the tickets for the concert were sold out.
After dinner, they walked hand in hand back to the parking lot. Along West Grand Avenue, the gentle wind blew past their ears like melodies. Everything was like a stage set for this couple’s impromptu performance.
Stephen Curry and his wife couldn’t go to Kirk Franklin’s concert, but they could create their own musical night. From humming, the two suddenly sang “Lean on Me”.
Ayesha Curry, who had taken acting classes, added a little expression to her “performance” according to the lyrics. Meanwhile, Stephen Curry also sang and danced with his wife. It was a normal night for the Curry couple.
These two are always like that. They are talented, brave, but also willing to be silly together. A 10/10 couple model that today’s Millenials often dream of.
Some people might think that all those happy, goofy clips of Stephen and Ayesha Curry together are a PR stunt. But the way Stephen Curry looks at his wife never lies.
“I don’t even remember the first time I met Ayesha,” Stephen Curry joked.
It was in 2002, when his father, former NBA player Dell Curry, moved from Toronto to Charlotte. Stephen Curry was 14 years old at the time and joined the Central Church of God youth group. And according to everyone, that was the first time Stephen Curry met Ayesha.
“We were just kids. Stephen was a cute guy with a ๐๐๐๐ฆ face that girls were attracted to. I thought, ‘This is probably not the guy for me,'” Ayesha Curry recalled.
Contrary to her thoughts, Ayesha still couldn’t stop paying attention to Stephen. They rarely talked to each other, but Ayesha always knew how to “flirt” with her target.
Once, after visiting her hometown in Toronto, Ayesha returned to Charlotte with a bag full of candy. She knew that Stephen Curry loved Maynards Fuzzy Peach candy when he was in Toronto.
“That’s how she “flirted” with Stephen. Ayesha would often meet him after prayer, give him candy and say a few words before leaving. Stephen obviously liked that. She left an impression on him,” said Sydel Curry, Stephen Curry’s sister.
From there, the two began exchanging phone numbers and chatting with each other. “At that time, we were quite shy and had to worry about going to high school, so we didn’t talk too much together,” Stephen Curry shared.
Fast forward to March 2008, and things began to change dramatically in Stephen Curry’s life. He led the Davidson College basketball team to the NCAA Elite Eight. The slim student Stephen Curry was nominated for Best Breakout Athlete at the prestigious ESPY Awards in Los Angeles.
“LA? That’s where Ayesha is,” the first thought that came to Stephen Curry’s mind when he heard the news of his move to Los Angeles was about Ayesha.
After graduating from high school, Ayesha went to Hollywood to pursue her passion for acting. She was not without talent. Ayesha was accepted into the Arts York program in Canada and had a few guest roles in the Disney Channel series “Hannah Montana” and “Good Luck Charlie”.
Since Ayesha came to Hollywood, the two have been in contact even less than before. However, Ayesha has always had a certain place in Stephen Curry’s mind. To him, she has always been a beautiful, intelligent, ambitious and sweet person. Of course, Stephen Curry started to contact Ayesha again via Facebook and asked her to meet in Los Angeles.
Ayesha still agreed to meet, but only because of a long-time friendship. Growing up, Ayesha understood more about love, about herself and set principles in love. Among them, the most important principle is: “No boyfriends who are soccer players”.
“I didn’t even know what ESPY was. I didn’t like athletes because they were so arrogant,” Ayesha recalled.
Even Stephen Curry couldn’t help but laugh when he learned this. Taking an unknown team like Davidson College to the NCAA quarterfinals was enough to make Stephen Curry famous in the sports world. “And she really didn’t know anything. That gave me some pretty new feelings,” Stephen Curry shared, both crying and laughing.
Ayesha picked up Stephen Curry in a 95 Astro van. The two went to Hollywood Boulevard to drink Chai Tea Latte (a type of milk tea), and took pictures with a version of Marilyn Monroe. Stephen Curry also tried to impress Ayesha by spending every last penny in his pocket to buy her Oakland sunglasses. For Ayesha, the first date seemed a bit cheesy.
However, she gradually changed her prejudice about players. โHe was funny and sometimes a little silly, which was completely different from what I imagined,โ Ayesha recalls of their first date.
To Stephen Curry, Ayesha was special. She didn’t care if he had just scored 30 points or shot a “miss” the whole game. The way she treated Stephen Curry never changed. While everyone else considered him the “golden boy” of Davidson College, Ayesha considered Stephen Curry the man of her life.
After all, Ayesha was the one who initiated the confession to Stephen. However, she was unexpectedly rejected.
“I confessed that I loved him. But Stephen said he had feelings for me too but didn’t want to say it until he was sure about everything. That night, I drove home and cried a lot,” Ayesha recalled the first time Stephen Curry rejected her. However, the two continued their relationship.
A few months later, on Christmas Eve, the two families who had known each other before made an appointment to go to Stephen Curry’s house to watch a movie. It was then that Ayesha was confessed to by Stephen Curry.
“The whole family was watching a movie when suddenly he leaned into my ear and said slowly, word by word, ‘I love you.’ My parents were sitting there. His parents were there. My siblings were sitting there. I was shocked and tried to act like I was okay and continued watching the movie. I knew that at that moment, Stephen was sure,” Ayesha recalled.
On July 30, 2011, the two returned to Charlotte, to the old chapel where Ayesha gave Stephen Curry peaches. The second-year NBA player stood near the altar with a worried face.
The chapel door opened. Light from outside filtered through the cracks in the door. Ayesha slowly walked in. That day, she wore a thin white dress and a veil that hid her smile.
“That day, I saw the most beautiful scene of my life. The image of you in the white dress is still with me like it was just yesterday,” Stephen Curry shared.
That day, Stephen Curry smiled foolishly like a boy who had just fallen in love for the first time.