Stephen Curry makes stronger statement about HB2

Last week, the hatchet came down.

The NCAA announced it would be moving “all seven previously awarded championship events from North Carolina during the 2016-17 academic year.” This was yet another blow to the Tar Heel state, which already had been sent reeling when the NBA snatched the All-Star Game (ASG) from Charlotte in protest over North Carolina’s discriminatory HB2 law.

In an interview with The Associated Press after last week’s NCAA announcement, Stephen Curry stated: ''I think it's unfortunate for our city and our state to be under the microscope with HB2 and how it's unfolded … Until it gets addressed, until some changes are made, this could be a recurring theme in North Carolina. I don't want that happen."

But Curry’s comments reached beyond the effects of HB2 on North Carolina, the state. They echoed his sentiments in support of NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s National Anthem protest. At the time, he said he was for “bettering the equal rights and treatment of African Americans and people of color.”

In discussing HB2 after the NCAA decision, Curry expanded his outreach to include all people, stating: “I'm all for equal and fair rights and treatment for everybody.”

Curry grew up in Charlotte — a hub of basketball fanaticism like the rest of North Carolina, which boasts Division I favorites UNC, Duke, NC State, Appalachian State, Wake Forest, and Davidson.

Curry’s sharp-shooting during the 2008 NCAA tournament landed him, and Davidson, in the national spotlight. But the Wildcats narrowly missed advancing to the Final 4 by a missed three-point shot! All of Dub Nation knows many of those shots go down these days, even from half court. Maybe Curry is forever inspired by the missed three-pointer during the 2008 Elite 8?

The NBA ASG being stripped from Charlotte definitely disappointed him, but the removal of all of those NCAA games from North Carolina likely hurt Curry more. For anyone who doubts this, take a look at the letters now tattooed on the inside of his left wrist: TCC (Trust Commitment Care), a Davidson basketball team motto.

And, with one simple sentence — “I'm all for equal and fair rights and treatment for everybody” — Stephen Curry exemplified the Davidson motto: TCC (Trust Commitment Care).

Many have placed TRUST (hope? expectation?) in Curry to lead on important off-court issues and he is starting to do that.

By repeatedly discussing the economic impact of the HB2 debacle on his beloved home state, he is showing COMMITMENT to his community.

And in emphasizing equal and fair treatment for all people, Curry is showing CARE for his fellow humans.

Being a standup guy and using his platform to influence social change? Now, that’s something to cheer about … as if Dub Nation didn’t have enough on-court reasons to cheer already!

For more on HB2, its effects, and player and league reactions, click here.