'He was ridiculed a lot' — Stephen Curry's mom Sonya Curry revealed how he faced severe bullying before rise to stardom

Time of India

14-05-2025

Sonya Curry and Stephen Curry. Image via: Matt Winkelmeyer/ Getty Images | Stephen Gosling/NBAE via Getty Images
Stephen Curry
has made his name known as one of the greatest shooters in basketball history, but according to his mother,
Sonya Curry
, the road to NBA superstardom was anything but smooth. In a deeply personal and revealing conversation on Sway's Universe, Sonya revealed never-before-shared details on her son's early struggles with bullying, judgment, and the pressure of being raised in the shadow of an NBA star.
Stephen Curry's mom Sonya Curry shared details of childhood bullying he faced
Stephen Curry and Sonya Curry. Image via: Getty Images
Stephen Curry's mom, Sonya Curry, candidly shared the struggles the Baby-faced Assassin had to face in his childhood.
'He was ridiculed a lot, you know,' Sonya admitted on Sway's Universe. The bullying Stephen endured, as Sonya explained, was because of his father, former NBA player
Dell Curry
, and many believed Stephen's success was handed to him. 'Your daddy's money,' people would scoff, implying his basketball wins in high school were bought, not earned.
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According to Sonya, the criticism went as far as accusing Dell of bribing referees. 'They thought Dell was buying referees, you know, paying off the refs,' she recalled. 'They would come and pull out credit cards like, 'You're paying the refs,' and I'm sitting over there like, I'm about to fight somebody in here.'
The level of scrutiny was severe, and it could have easily shaken any young athlete's confidence. Instead of admiration for his efforts while entering the basketball scene, Stephen often faced assumptions that he was soft, privileged, or undeserving. 'Everybody always teased him about being raised with a silver spoon in his mouth... like everything he got was given to him,' Sonya explained.
But the Currys weren't about to let fame and fortune spoil their children. Sonya and Dell were intentional about grounding their family, even when Dell was an active NBA player. 'We didn't buy the newspapers when Dell played. They didn't go to the games during the week because we would always say, 'That's your daddy's job. Period.''
Sonya also recalled seeing other players' kids decked out at games, living like mini-celebrities. That was never the plan for the Curry kids. 'I watched a lot of kids fail at that goal of getting into the NBA,' she said. 'So we tried to keep it real.'
Sonya further gave a stern message to Stephen and his siblings, stating that their father's legacy wasn't theirs to hold on to, 'You get what you're going to get. You're going to do what God has put you on this Earth to do,' she told them. 'And that doesn't mean automatically being who everybody says you should be.'
Also Read:
Golden State Warriors face bombshell update on Stephen Curry amid looming elimination threat in Game 5
Stephen Curry's rise to NBA greatness wasn't built on privilege. And as Sonya Curry's reflections reveal, his story is as much about a quiet star in the making out of hard work and overcoming negativities. As he made his NBA debut in 2009 with the Golden State Warriors, he silenced everyone who didn't believe in him. Now, Curry is among the greatest NBA stars and a future Hall of Famer.
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