Even if Oakland’s Oracle Arena is his ‘f****** house,’ as Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry exclaimed during Sunday’s playoff win over Houston, the All-Star guard isn’t free to say so.
As Curry told ESPN after his 35-point performance gave the Warriors a 2-1 lead over the Rockets in the Western Conference Finals, his mother Sonya sent him several texts admonishing him for screaming an obscenity during his 18-point, third-quarter outburst.
‘She already sent me two home videos, showing me the clip and playing it back,’ Curry told ESPN. ‘She was telling me how I need to wash my mouth out, saying to wash it out with soap. It’s a message I’ve heard before.’
The outspoken Christian’s verbal misstep happened after he split the Rockets’ defense and hit a floater over Luc Mbah a Moute in the third quarter. The 30-year old turned toward the crowd, raised a hand and screamed, ‘This is my f****** house!’
‘She’s right,’ Curry told ESPN. ‘I got to do better. I can’t talk like that.’
The 51-year-old Sonya Curry has been a staple around NBA circles for the last 30 years.
Her husband Dell began his NBA career with the Utah Jazz in 1986, but is best known as the sharp-shooting guard playing alongside Mugsy Bogues in the Charlotte Hornets backcourt for much of the 1990s. In addition to winning the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year in 1994, Curry led the NBA in three-point percentage at 47.6 percent in 1998-99 and finished with a remarkable 40.2 percent career clip from deep.
The couple’s other son, Seth, currently plays for the Dallas Mavericks while daughter Sydel plays volleyball at Elon University in North Carolina.
Curry, who has battled knee problems towards the end of the season, played poorly in a Game 2 loss, scoring just 16 points while missing 7 of 8 attempts from three-point range.
On Sunday he made 5 of 12 from deep, and added six rebounds to boot.
‘This guy’s a two-time MVP, and he bounces back from bad games as well as anybody I’ve ever seen, so it didn’t surprise me,’ Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.