In Charlotte, Hornets fans still hold out hope for Steph Curry in teal
Warriors' Steph Curry is more than a hometown hero in Charlotte
>Summer and Isaiah Carrol pose before Steph Curry and the Warrriors tip
off against the Hornets (Danny Emerman | Bay Area News Group)

Danny Emerman is a Bay Area News Group sports reporter
By DANNY EMERMAN | demerman@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: March 30, 2024 at 5:45 a.m. | UPDATED: March 30, 2024 at 4:33
p.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2024/03/30/in-charlotte-hornets-fans-still-hold-out-hope-for-curry-in-teal/

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — When Steph Curry wrapped up his elaborate pregame
routine, he walked over to the sideline to sign a young fan’s cap. The
school-aged boy hopped up and down as if his favorite cartoon character
popped out of a screen and became his best friend.

Around the corner on the Spectrum Center baseline, an 11-year-old held
up a sign that read “My dad bet me $500 that I could get Steph Curry’s
autograph.” He might’ve been jealous of the courtside fan, but simply
seeing his favorite player ever in person curtailed any ire.

When Curry returned to Golden State’s locker room, Curry jerseys draped
over the tunnel railings. Here, more than anywhere besides the Chase
Center, is the Church of Curry.

Fans travel far and wide to see Curry play every game. In fact, a mom
and daughter from Switzerland and China flew in to see Friday’s
Warriors-Hornets game. But Charlotte always has a different energy.

The Spectrum Center, one of the quietest arenas in the league, got the
most rowdy on Friday night whenever Curry scored or checked into the
game. The crowd erupted when he sank a buzzer-beating 3 to end the first
half. Curry, more than any Hornet in years, is Charlotte’s star.

“He’s GOATED,” said Banks Williams, the 11-year-old holding the
soliciting sign.

For a franchise that will have missed the playoffs for eight straight
seasons, any semblance of hope that Curry, maybe, one day, could
possibly don a Hornets jersey is blind faith. But there are believers
nonetheless.

“That’d be a big deal,” said Hunter Williams, Banks’ dad. “(My kids)
play all the AAU basketball, and they try and practice, and they hope to
be like (Curry) one of these days.”

It’s true. Hunter’s two kids, Banks and Buddy-Dawson, said they want to
shoot like Curry, be in the NBA like Curry, have a shoe line like Curry,
and be as popular as Curry. When Hunter gave his kids tickets to this
late-March Warriors-Hornets game for Christmas, Banks cried tears of joy.

“I wish he would play for the Hornets, because then we’d see him a lot
more,” Banks said. “If I could, I would buy every ticket.”

Mo Lawless also got his son, JP, tickets to the Warriors-Hornets game
for Christmas. They drove 315 miles from West Virginia for JP’s
first-ever NBA game — one in which Curry dropped 23 points in a Warriors
blowout.

Demetrius Henderson and his son, Landon, also went to their first NBA
game together because Curry was in town. The 7-year-old Landon could
only laugh and nod when asked what it’d be like if Curry played for the
Hornets one day.

>Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry drives to the basket past
Charlotte Hornets guard Tre Mann during the first half of an NBA
basketball game on Friday, March 29, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP
Photo/Chris Carlson)

Curry grew up in Charlotte, wearing purple and teal since he was a
toddler. He’d shoot on the Charlotte Coliseum court with his dad,
Hornets guard Dell, before games and hang around the team. Dell and
teammates like Muggsy Bogues and Rex Chapman would take care of him and
drive him around, not knowing the best player in the car was strapped in
a booster seat.

Now, when he comes home, he plays in front of his dad, a television
analyst for the Hornets, and against his brother, Seth (who missed
Friday’s game with an ankle sprain).

“I enjoy the experience of knowing there’s a huge Curry presence in the
Hornets organization, and obviously tonight I get to join the party,”
Curry said.

The connections make it easy for fans to fantasize. Curry was naturally
asked multiple questions in his postgame press conference about what
it’s like to play back home. He looks forward to playing in Charlotte —
in front of familiar faces, with a crowd that can energize him.

“Knowing at this stage, you can probably count on one hand how many more
times I get to come back,” Curry said. “It’s definitely fun.”

There’s an innate connection with the fans in Charlotte. The Williams
family has followed Curry since his Davidson days. Cece, the fan living
in Switzerland, spent hours creating a poster with Curry photo collages.

--
Danny Emerman
@DannyEmerman ·Follow
Steph Curry fans taking over in Charlotte
[Embedded video]

3:24 PM · Mar 29, 2024
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Isaiah Carrol, 8, and his mom, Summer, drove down from Greensboro to see
Curry play. Isaiah’s a Hornets fan, unless Curry and the Warriors are
playing them.

Isaiah and his relatives collaborated to make a poster, one side of
which read: “Steph Can Do All Things,” with the bible verse Philippians
4:13 noted underneath. Since he was in college, Curry has been known to
write a variation of that verse — I can do all things through him who
strengthens me — on his sneakers as it motivates him to achieve greatness.

The message is one Summer wants to instill in her son, too. Summer
thinks that by acknowledging the bible verse, Curry is setting a
virtuous example for Summer’s son.

“Because all things, just like Steph, all things lead to Christ,” Summer
said.

Curry is only scheduled to come home to Charlotte once per year. That
would obviously change if he one day decided to sign with the Hornets.
Unfortunately for the locals, Curry has never indicated that a
homecoming would be anything more than a pipe dream.

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“You have thoughts all the time, but nah, I want to stay in the Bay and
that’s something that I’ve talked about,” Curry said when asked if he’d
want to play for the Hornets.

“There is a curiosity of what it would be like to play here, for sure,”
he added. “I feel like I ask Seth a lot of questions about what it’s
like to be back here, because you’re so familiar with the city, with the
history of the organization. I’m sure he’s getting calls for tickets
every single night, that’s probably that’s a little overwhelming. But
that’s it.”

So the Carrols and other Curry fans will just have to pray.