Sonya Curry
Sonya Curry | |
---|---|
Born | Sonya Alicia Adams May 30, 1966 |
Occupation | Educator |
Spouse | |
Children | 3, including Stephen Curry, Seth Curry |
Relatives | Ayesha Curry (daughter-in-law) |
Sonya Alicia Curry (née Adams; born May 30, 1966[2]) is an American educator. She is the mother of basketball players Stephen Curry and Seth Curry.
Early life
Sonya Adams was born in Radford, Virginia, to Cleive and Candy Adams. They lived in extreme poverty and frequently encountered racist experiences with the Ku Klux Klan.[3] In high school, Adams played volleyball, track and field, and basketball. She matriculated to Virginia Tech as a student athlete, where she played volleyball, earning all-conference honors in the Metro Conference as a junior.[4] She received a degree in Education.[5] According to her best friend and college roommate, the volleyball team was popular largely due to Adams.[6]
Adams met her future husband, Dell Curry, at Virginia Tech. During her official recruiting visit to the school, she was watching the men's basketball practice when Adams and Curry noticed each other.[4] Due to her physical traits of blue eyes and dark blonde hair, Sonya Curry experienced colorism of white passing from the Charlotte Hornets former-owner George Shinn, who believed she was a white woman but held racist views of miscegenation with team players.[7]
Career
Curry is president of the Christian Montessori School of Lake Norman in Huntersville, North Carolina, which she founded in 1995.[8][1] Her children attended the school.[1]
Personal life
Curry's oldest son Stephen plays for the Golden State Warriors and has won three NBA championships, while her younger son Seth currently plays for the Dallas Mavericks, and her daughter, Sydel, played volleyball at Elon University.[9] She has three granddaughters and one grandson.[10][11]
Starting when Stephen was in college playing with Davidson during the 2008 NCAA Tournament, Curry began being a favorite shot for college basketball television producers. When Seth was playing college ball with Duke, her celebration of his three-point field goal against North Carolina in February 2013 had her trending on Twitter.[12] She remained popular on the Internet during the Blue Devils' run in the 2013 NCAA Tournament.[6]
As she often receives camera time in the audience of Golden State games, Curry has been described as royalty in the NBA.[13] Curry is often interviewed about how she successfully raised professional athletes, including two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Stephen. She shares how the family has been successful over time, including how they have dealt with their children's success in the NBA.[14][15]
Her sons Stephen and Seth became the first brothers to ever compete against each other in an NBA Conference Finals in 2019, when the Golden State played Portland.[9] That postseason, Curry and Dell were on the road since March, watching their sons' games from the stands. Stephen and Seth never played competitively against each other until they reached the NBA. Though they had faced each other in the regular season, it was a different experience for her to watch them compete against each other in the playoffs.[9][16]
References
- ^ a b c Dziemianowicz, Joe (November 21, 2018). "Steph Curry's mom was strict: 'It's not my job to do everything for everybody'". Today.
- ^ Yorkey, Mike (2016). "Chapter 1: His Father's Apprentice". The Right Steph: How Stephen Curry Is Taking the NBA to a New Level--With Humility and Grace. Shiloh Run Press. ISBN 9781683221098. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
She married Cleive E. Adams and had four children that included Sonya, who was born May 30, 1966.
- ^ "Sonya Curry shares harrowing details of her experiences with racism". USA Today.
- ^ a b Ostler, Scott (May 28, 2017). "How 'Splash Mothers' begat the Warriors' Splash Brothers". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
- ^ Spears, Marc J. (February 19, 2019). "Sonya Curry turns experiences with racism into lessons for her children". The Undefeated.
- ^ a b Killion, Ann (May 12, 2013). "Mom set Stephen Curry on winning path". SFGate. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
- ^ "Sonya Curry: Ex-Hornets Owner George Shinn Warned Team of Interracial Marriage". Bleacher Report.
- ^ Curry, Sonya. "A Message from the Head of the School". Christianmontessorischool.org.
- ^ a b c Stein, Marc (May 15, 2019). "Sonya and Dell Curry Mastered Cheering for Their Sons. But Not at the Same Time". New York Times.
- ^ Vulpo, Mike (July 4, 2018). "Ayesha and Stephen Curry Welcome Baby No. 3—Find Out the Name Of Their Son". E! Online. Archived from the original on July 5, 2018. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
- ^ Greif, Andrew (November 9, 2018). "Doc Rivers' daughter is raising another Curry and he couldn't be happier". LATimes.com. Retrieved November 14, 2018.
- ^ Mahr, Chris (March 28, 2013). "Sonya Curry: College basketball's most famous mom talks about her sons and social media". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
- ^ "The making of the NBA's Royal Family: The Currys". NBC Sports.
- ^ Flagler, Betsy (May 3, 2008). "Away From the Spotlight, Currys Are a Model". Atlanta Journal-Consitution. Retrieved May 25, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Bonnell, Rick (June 21, 2015). "NBA Playoffs Became Family Project for Dell and Sonya Curry". The Daily Oklahoman. Retrieved May 25, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Martinez, Marja (March 13, 2019). "One-on-one with Sonya Curry: Which son will she root for during the NBA Western Conference Finals?". KPTV.com. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
- 1966 births
- Living people
- American educators
- American women's volleyball players
- Virginia Tech alumni
- People from Radford, Virginia
- People from Charlotte, North Carolina
- African-American Christians
- Educators from Virginia
- Educators from North Carolina
- Curry family
- American women educators
- 20th-century African-American people
- 21st-century African-American people
- 20th-century American women
- 21st-century American women
- 20th-century American educators
- 21st-century American educators