Steph Curry – Hard Work, Faith and Passion Create a Life of Impact
You may have heard of Steph Curry, a guard for basketball’s Golden State Warriors. Many people think he is the best shooter that ever played the sport! And, last year, he was the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Most Valuable Player and led his team to the Championship!
How did he get to this point? Although his dad was an NBA player himself, Steph didn’t start off with much. When he was young, all he had to practice with was a rickety old basketball hoop that his grandfather had installed many years ago. He learned to dribble over rocks, gravel, and potholes! As Steph says:
“Make it work no matter what you have to work with – that’s something that stuck with me very early on.“
As he grew older, he had other obstacles, including his size:
“When it (came) to basketball, I was always the smallest kid on my team. I had a terrible, ugly, shot from the time I was 14 because I wasn’t strong enough to shoot over my head. You’d think there are no hurdles or obstacles that I had to overcome, but even when I got to high school I wasn’t ranked.
So how did he do it? With a lot of hard work and passion. He played day and night, practicing as hard has he could, year after year.
“If you take time to realize what your dream is and what you really want in life– no matter what it is, whether it’s sports or in other fields– you have to realize that there is always work to do, and you want to be the hardest working person in whatever you do, and you put yourself in a position to be successful. And you have to have a passion about what you do. Basketball was mine, and that’s what’s carried me to this point.”
Now that he’s a star basketball player for the NBA, Stephen Curry is giving back. He supports Nothing but Nets, a charity that provides sleeping nets to families in Africa. These nets keep people safe while they sleep from mosquitoes that carry the disease, malaria. People who get malaria can get very sick and, in Africa, nearly 400,000 people died last year from it.
Curry is so passionate about this cause, that he has pledged to donate 3 nets for every 3-point shot he makes. From 2012-2015, Curry donated almost 2,500 nets! He is continuing his support this year, and challenging his fans to do the same. He believes these donated nets can, and do, save many lives.
Stephen Curry is a role model on and off the court and a shining example of a person focused on being the best version of themselves.
“What I tell people is be the best version of yourself in anything that you do. You don’t have to live anybody else’s story.”
Learn more about Steph’s inspiring story in the videos below.
Additional Resources:
- Learn more about Steph’s accomplishments here on Wikipedia
- Check out the Nothing but Net’s website to learn more about this great cause.
- Visit kidshealth.org to learn more about malaria
- Watch other great IMK stories about children and adults that exhibit perseverance and passion
- Read IMK’s list great quotes for kids about hard work and doing your best
- Check out other inspiring IMK stories and quotes about sports
Topics for Discussion:
- What is most special about Steph?
- What are some activities that you are passionate about? How often do you practice them?
- Are there people in your community that you could use your passion to help? Are there any organizations out there that use your passion to help others?
- When do you try your hardest at something? What inspires you to do so? What is the result? How does it make you feel?
- Talk about a person you know that always tries their best. Is there anything you can learn from them?
- Can you remember a story that you have read where the characters benefited from their hard work? Or how about a story where a character did not work hard?
Take Action:
- If you would like to join Stephen Curry’s fight against malaria, please visit the Nothing but Net’s website to learn more.
- Choose one thing in your life where you are not doing your best and make a commitment to change this. Start doing it and see how it makes you feel.
- Work hard at something that matters to you. Find a cause that you care about, such as animals, and find something you can do to help. Click here for a great list of ideas to help animals from the ASPCA or here for ways to help the environment.
