Are Barack Obama and Steph Curry Really Friends?

Former president Barack Obama and basketball player Stephen Curry are two of the most well-known people in their respective fields. One led the United States in the country’s highest office and the other broke numerous records on the court.

In recent years Obama and Curry have also been seen together often. On Presidents Day 2019, Obama was spotted having dinner with Curry and his wife Ayesha at a San Francisco restaurant co-owned by Mrs. Curry herself. No doubt this has led many people to wonder what exactly the relationship is between the former POTUS and the Golden State Warriors athlete. Are these two simply amiable colleagues or could they actually be good friends?

Barack Obama and Stephen Curry’s work together

Barack Obama and Stephen Curry’s professional relationship mainly revolves around the My Brother’s Keeper initiative. Started in 2014 by the 44th president, the program aims to help disenfranchised young men of color leave the poverty and crime cycle. In order to do this, it provides many adolescents across the country with mentoring and educational support that will encourage them to pursue their dreams and improve their life circumstances.

While the National Basketball Association has been promoting My Brother’s Keeper and providing basketball player mentors since 2014, Stephen Curry’s involvement did not make headlines until 2016. Since then, the Golden State Warriors superstar can be seen in a few PSA videos with Barack Obama to spread the word about the initiative. He even wore a special edition My Brother’s Keeper pair of sneakers during a game and, after auctioning it off, managed to raise more than $50,000 for the worthy cause.

However, Curry’s White House connection doesn’t stop there. During he and his wife Ayesha’s visit to Washington D.C. in 2016, the couple also appeared in First Lady Michelle Obama’s funny vegetable campaign video.

Are Barack Obama and Stephen Curry really friends?

It’s hard to put a label to their relationship since neither Obama nor Curry have ever explicitly described what exactly they are to each other. However, given what we know about the two of them, we can safely say that pair is quite close. They hang out a lot and seems to enjoy not only sharing interests but also joking around together.

Stephen Curry has been known to golf frequently with Barack Obama in recent years, even sharing that the 44th president can be a very intimidating trash-talker during a game, leading to a lot of losses on the basketball star’s side.

However, Curry playfully admitted that he wouldn’t be able to give Obama the same treatment: “He has 50 Secret Service [agents] out there. If I trash talk, he just gives them the look and I’m out of there.”

Aside from golfing, Curry and Obama also have another thing in common: basketball. The former POTUS played basketball during his school days and his love for the sport did not wane during his time in the White House. He was known for being an active president, even getting into basketball games with staff members.

At a recent My Brother’s Keeper town hall meeting, Barack Obama jokingly said that he was the reason behind Stephen Curry’s success. “Even [Chicago] Bulls fans have to acknowledge that it’s been fun to watch the Warriors and the greatest shooter of all time…because I gave him some tips right before, about five seasons ago. There’s film of this in the White House.”

When Obama and Curry are not making banters with each other, however, they bond over some deep topics. No doubt through their work with My Brother’s Keeper, the pair has had conversations about their lives as African-American men in the United States.

Stephen Curry also shared that he had talked with Obama about the experience of living as a public figure. “He said before he got into office, he didn’t value his anonymity as he was going through life,” Curry said. “[Today] he can’t just go walk down the street and be in his own world and just unplug, if you will, from all the commotion, the attention, the people grabbing at you.”