The annual award recognizes a current NBA player for pursuing social justice and upholding the NBA’s values of equality, respect and inclusion.
NEW YORK — Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry has been named the 2022-23 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion, the NBA today announced. Curry was selected from a group of five finalists for his dedication to pursuing social justice and advancing Abdul-Jabbar’s life mission to engage, empower and drive equality for individuals and groups who have been historically marginalized or systemically disadvantaged.
Curry prioritizes uplifting communities by fostering equity and creating access to opportunity. As a co-chair of former First Lady Michelle Obama’s “When We All Vote” initiative, Curry uses his platform to drive voter registration, education and turnout, most recently during the 2022 election season. His role encouraged millions of new voters to participate in the political process and make their voices heard through civic engagement. As part of his ongoing voting-related efforts, Curry participated in the National Basketball Social Justice Coalition’s “Freedom to Vote” social media campaign to help advocate for the passage of the Freedom to Vote Act in the U.S. Senate. Curry is also committed to raising awareness around issues of community safety, utilizing the Warriors’ 2023 White House visit to engage directly with President Biden and participate in a White House press briefing with head coach Steve Kerr to publicly address the matter.
Much of Curry’s work also focuses on supporting underrepresented groups and reducing barriers to opportunity. In 2022, he graduated from Davidson College and wrote his final thesis on gender equity in sports, an issue that anchors his progressive and innovative ventures across the consumer, entertainment and non-profit spaces. Through UNDERRATED, Curry’s lifestyle brand that empowers underrated and underrepresented individuals by opening doors for often-overlooked student-athletes, he creates equity, access and opportunity for basketball and golf athletes around the world to be seen by college recruiters, sports agents and other industry leaders. UNDERRATED has also enabled female athletes to access the same opportunities as their male counterparts, provided scholarships for athletes and offered personal development programming for young people. Among these efforts, Curry committed $6 million in funding to the men’s and women’s golf team at Howard University, which hadn’t been active for 50 years.
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