Stephen Curry’s choice to skip Saturday’s NBA 3-point Contest, a key part of All-Star Weekend, disappointed many fans. However, his reason for skipping was to take part in a 3-point shootout for a more meaningful cause.
That’s why a crowd began to gather nearly two hours before Curry showed up on Friday at McClymonds High School in West Oakland. People of all ages, races, and genders waited to see the Golden State Warriors star, though they did not expect to see a large amount of money at the free-throw line.
A huge amount of cash—$100,000 in bills—was in a clear plexiglass bin about the size of a small car. The money was stacked up high, and the crowd could see it all clearly.
However, there was a catch. A 3-point contest was going to take place, and the winner would get the six-figure prize. Only two people could compete for it, and one of them was Curry, who has made 3,948 3-pointers—three times the total of Mitch Richmond, a Hall of Fame shooting guard, and more than double the number Kobe Bryant made.
The other person chosen to compete against Curry was Demarrion Gardner, a senior on McClymonds High’s boys’ basketball team.
Instead of putting on a nationally televised show at Chase Center, Curry chose to highlight one of Oakland’s local student-athletes in front of a few hundred people.
Curry’s sponsors, Under Armour and Curry Brand, along with media figure MrBeast, organized the event at a newly refurbished gym at McClymonds, named after Bill Russell, a famous McClymonds alumnus. The gym had been renovated over the past three months, with the last touches of paint being put on just before the weekend.
This event was just one of many happening during NBA All-Star Weekend in San Francisco and Oakland, but it stood out for being different from the fancy parties and lavish events surrounding exhibition basketball games.
At McClymonds, there were no fancy red carpets or exclusive areas. This was a project Curry was volunteering for, independent of the NBA. He was simply showing up to a high school gym in a working-class neighborhood in Oakland. It was part of his long-standing support for Oakland, its public schools, and other communities.
“This is not only special because it’s the 20th [refurbished] court, a milestone, but also because of what McClymonds represents in this beautiful town of Oakland,” Curry said to the crowd in the gym. “There’s so much history here, so many legends have come here, so many championships have been won here. But it’s more about the people that have come here, that have been nurtured and groomed by the spirit of this place.”
“The students, the teachers and faculty and administration have poured into each and every person who has walked through these halls and gets to come back and invest in the future of the kids that are here. We want to celebrate that.”
The event attracted several celebrities and local legends. Former NBA player Antonio Davis was there, sitting next to playground legend Demetrius “Hook” Mitchell, his teammate at McClymonds 40 years ago. NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown, NFL star Marshawn Lynch, actor Boris Kodjoe, and Bill Russell’s widow, Jeannine Russell, were also present.
WNBA star Kelsey Plum and former NBA player Brandon Jennings, who was Under Armour’s first basketball signee, were opposing coaches for youth teams “The Town” and “The City.”
No one received a warmer reception than Curry, including Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank, the founder of the company behind the gym, the equipment, and the branding throughout the gym. Curry is the most prominent member of the Under Armour team.
Stephen Curry takes the shot in the gameMrBeast shouted Curry is the best shooter in the world.
Now Curry was preparing to take on a younger competitor. To make the game more fair, a rule change was made. Both players would shoot five racks of five balls, just like the NBA contest at Chase Center later that night, but Curry would have 30 seconds, and Gardner would have 60.
Could the young player beat the champ? When asked if he was nervous, Gardner said he was not. He had a plan and looked Curry straight in the eye with confidence.
Curry made 14 out of 19 shots before the buzzer went off. Shooting long-range shots is second nature to him. He has attempted 9,321 3-pointers in his NBA career and won the NBA’s 3-point contest in 2015 and again in 2021. This is what Curry does.
Now it was Gardner’s turn. Would his experience at McClymonds and with the East Bay Soldiers, an AAU team, help him keep calm enough to make 15 shots and win $10,000?
He made nine.
“It was exciting,” Gardner said. “I really thought I was going to win. I just thought I was. I don’t know. I guess I really was nervous. I guess so.”
Gardner had no idea who his opponent was until just 10 minutes before warm-ups.
“I was told it was going to be an NBA player,” Gardner said. “I didn’t know it was going to be Steph.”
Though Gardner didn’t win, he still received some of the prize money. Curry, as the winner, chose to donate the cash to the Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation, which is committed to feeding, educating, and creating play spaces for Oakland’s youth.
