Barack Obama appeared alongside Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry on Tuesday to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the nonprofit, My Brother’s Keeper — but while the two icons shared their experiences as people of color at the town hall-style event, the former president couldn’t help but tease the three-time NBA champion.
The duo was on hand in Oakland on Tuesday to mark the anniversary of the organization Obama started in February 2014 to address opportunity gaps facing boys and young men of color. While they took questions from the audience, Obama, 57, and Curry, 30, were asked about the struggles they faced as teenagers and how they coped with them.
“Well, Steph,” Obama said while turning to Curry, “Why don’t you talk a little bit about some of your struggles with your ankles, man?”
The remark immediately drew laughs from the crowd, and Curry simply put his head down and smiled.
“That’s a sensitive subject,” Curry replied to Obama, who couldn’t help but smirk at his comment.
Curry famously struggled with ankle injuries before he became the centerpiece of the Warriors championship teams, and at one point, experienced five ankle sprains while playing in just 26 games, according to ESPN. Fortunately, he’s been nearly free of serious injuries recently, outside of a groin injury he suffered last November.
But their discussion returned to a serious tone as the two spoke about social issues that affect minority communities across the nation. One of the subjects they touched on was confidence, and how its displayed in pop culture.
“We live in a culture where our worth is measured by how much money we have and how famous we are,” Obama said, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. “I will tell you, at the end of the day, the thing that will give you confidence is not that. I know a lot of rich people that are all messed up.”
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“If you are really confident about your financial situation, you’re probably not going to be wearing an 8-pound chain around your neck,” he continued. “If you’re very confident about your sexuality, you don’t have to have eight women around you twerking.”
Obama explained that it was the joy that he received from helping others that really became the foundation of the confidence he felt within himself.
“I think I started to grow up when I stopped thinking about myself, and I started thinking about how I can be useful to other people,” the former president said. “The amazing thing is, when you help somebody, and you see that positive impact on somebody, that gives you confidence.”
Curry, meanwhile, attributed his confidence to his father, Dell Curry, who helped to guide him through times of self-doubt.
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“The confidence to kind of get over that hump was a process,” he explained. “The swagger that you see on the court right now, it wasn’t always there. It was a constant struggle.”
According to The Mercury News, the two-time NBA MVP said he hopes to be a difference maker for the next generation of children.
“One moment can be a difference maker for a lifetime,” Curry said, according to the outlet. “For me, I can speak for my teammates and people in our league, right now [there is a] social responsibility we feel, to take a stand for things we believe in, to look out for the next generation.”
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