It started like any other pick-up basketball game in an open gym—players sweating it out on the court, others waiting on the sidelines, and spectators watching nonchalantly. Jessica Brogan, who has participated in similar practice sessions with her two basketball-hungry sons, said it was just a “normal open game.”
On this particular Saturday, however, there was an unusual electricity in the air at Life Time Arena in Folsom, Calif., as rumors circulated throughout the greater Sacramento community that a global basketball star was in town and might be stopping by. . Still, there are reasons to be skeptical.
“I didn’t even tell my kids about it because I heard stuff like this all the time and it just didn’t work out,” Brogan said.
Others, like Berry Roseborough IV, a basketball coach in the area who works with college and professional players, are more certain. Roseborough received a call from conference organizer Marcus Kirkland asking him to recruit his best players as the special guest was expected to attend.
On the morning of June 8, Roseborough called students in the city, not revealing too much, but that was enough.
“If you missed it, you might be angry,” Damarion Vann-Kelly said Berry told him.
Vann-Kelly had a hunch after Kent Bazemore, a G-League player who spent 10 seasons in the NBA, walked in. About 10 minutes after arriving, while the game was in progress, the screaming started: It’s Curry. It’s Curry.
“All the kids were screaming,” Vann-Kelly said. “Even the adults were screaming.”
Sure enough, Stephen Curry walked in wearing a light gray hoodie.
“When we were playing, I looked up and I thought – pardon my language – but, ‘Oh, Steph just walked in the door,'” Roseborough said. “And you could feel it. … You could feel all the energy coming out of the gym. Everybody was almost in shock.
Brogan looked into his sons’ faces. Braxton, 13, blushed when he noticed the four-time NBA champion, and Easton, 10, widened when he realized it was Curry stretching nearby, she said. His eyes were closed and he was smiling from ear to ear.
It’s not unheard of for NBA players to participate in amateur pickup games as a way to stay in shape, especially during the league’s offseason. Players with college and professional experience, including Bazemore, regularly participate in running events organized by Kirkland in the Sacramento area. Kirkland said the two met at a gym in 2022 and have stayed in touch, bonding over a shared love of basketball and a desire to pass that love on to others in the community.
Kirkland said Bazemore encouraged Curry, who was in the area for her daughter’s youth volleyball tournament, to go to the gym. Curry, whose NBA season ended in April when the Warriors lost to the Sacramento Kings in the play-in round, will make his Olympic debut next month in Paris as the U.S. men’s basketball team competes for a fifth straight title.
“We’ve had a lot of (NBA players) come to our games, but never one with the caliber of Steph Curry,” Roseborough said. “That was like ‘Wow.'”
Brogan called it a “once in a lifetime experience” for her family.
Over the course of about two hours, Corey delivered a masterclass. He teamed up with Bazemore and played five-on-five with Kirkland, Vann Kelly, Roseborough and others. Brogan and her sons watched in awe as the crowd grew so large that security asked people to leave, she said.
Curry did it naturally. Roseborough said he noticed Curry’s speed and how simple his game was.
“He didn’t do anything beyond what he needed to do in that moment,” Roseborough said. “His catches — basically the way you catch the ball before you shoot — are so fast, it’s like you don’t even see them.
“Then he’s released. His shot should be 0.3 seconds or less. It doesn’t matter if it’s controversial. It looks the same every time. It comes off the same finger every time.
Added Vann-Kelly, 17, a 6-foot-5 guard with Division I career aspirations who recently graduated from Monterey Trail High: “He’s He’s hitting all those goals. It’s just how the net works and you can see why he’s a pro with all his moves. high.
In one game, after Curry passed Kirkland’s step-back 3-pointer out of bounds, Curry caught the pass and made the game-winning 3-pointer on the next try. He reflexively celebrated with his signature “good night good night” gesture. A video that Brogan shot and posted to her Instagram went viral.
Steph Curry scores Night Night in an open game in Sacramento 😴😂🔥
(via Jessica Brogan/ig) pic.twitter.com/kIPOodso1P
— TheWarriorsTalk (@TheWarriorsTalk) June 9, 2024
“He’s a generational player, he has a high IQ,” Kirkland said. “He’s just different.”
Marcus Kirkland guards NBA icon Stephen Curry during a pickup game on June 8 in Folsom, California.
But it wasn’t just Curry’s viral shooting and outstanding ball-handling that kept the gym buzzing. According to those who were there, he was impressive in another sense. They noticed how Curry introduced himself to each player and shook their hands. He asked them their names and told them not to be nervous.
“Guys were trying to get the ball to him so he could do all the scoring, and he told them, ‘No, we’re playing team basketball. We don’t play like that,'” Roseborough said. “He actually sets up other people to score. He gives confidence to the players and other people on the court.
After a series of eight or nine games — dominated by Curry and Bazemore — the two posed for photos with other players and children Kirkland invited to watch, including Brogan’s sons, Kirkland said.
“He makes everyone around the building feel good,” Roseborough said. “He makes everyone in the room feel comfortable. It’s crazy to me that his energy has such an impact on everyone in the building.
(Top photo of Stephen Curry and Kent Bazemore with other players: Courtesy of Marcus Kirkland)
