Stephen Curry found himself in a different realm as….
STATELINE, Nev. — The last time we saw Stephen Curry on a competitive stage, he bubbled over with emotion and adrenaline. His tears flowed freely right there on the parquet floor in Boston.
Twenty days later, on the practice range Wednesday at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course — with the sun shining and the lake shimmering nearby — Curry found himself in a different realm. He had just completed a pro-am round alongside his dad, Dell, and brother Seth. Stephen Curry looked relaxed, peaceful, calm.
But don’t be fooled: NBA championship euphoria still bounced around inside him. Curry and his Golden State Warriors traced a long, nearly nine-month path from the first day of training camp to hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy on June 16.
Curry will chase a different kind of sporting satisfaction this week on the shores of Lake Tahoe. He’ll make his 10th appearance in the American Century Championship, a celebrity golf tournament allowing athletes and celebrities to compete at their hobby.
“I’m still on an emotional ride, 100%,” he said in an interview with The Chronicle. “Anytime you see a highlight or anybody says ‘Congratulations,’ you still kind of have the competitive juices flowing. I like that feeling. I missed it.”
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Curry will chase a different kind of sporting satisfaction this week on the shores of Lake Tahoe. He’ll make his 10th appearance in the American Century Championship, a celebrity golf tournament allowing athletes and celebrities to compete at their hobby.
To Curry, it’s a serious hobby. He’s a scratch player who has finished as high as fourth at Edgewood and twice played in events on the Korn Ferry Tour (the PGA Tour’s top minor league). Curry also has become a promoter of sorts, seeking to diversify golf by funding Howard University’s program and, more recently, launching the Underrated Tour to give young minority players more access to the game.
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His near-annual visit to Tahoe has become an offseason ritual, a way for him to measure his golf game while spending time with family and friends. Curry said he already has started working out in preparation for the 2022-23 NBA season — in the gym, not on the court — but he also visits the range for two hours each day.
Golf counts as his refuge in many ways.
“It gives me a release, gives me some competitiveness and just allows me to be in a space with people I want to be with,” Curry said, glancing toward his dad and brother. “So I’m enjoying it.”
He’s still paying attention to NBA news, of course. It has been an eventful three weeks since the Warriors dispatched the Celtics in the Finals, with five Golden State players — Gary Payton II, Otto Porter Jr., Nemanja Bjelica, Damion Lee and Juan Toscano-Anderson — leaving in free agency. The Warriors did keep center Kevon Looney.
