Stephen Curry, Who Opposed Low-Income Housing Near His Mansion, Wins Woke NBA Award

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry won a woke NBA award this week for “uplifting communities by fostering equity and creating access to opportunity” despite his efforts to block a low-income housing community from being built near his mansion.

The NBA announced in a statement that Curry won the 2022-23 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion award after being selected from a group of five finalists.

The statement said that he uses his platform as a co-chair of former First Lady Michelle Obama’s “When We All Vote” initiative to drive voter registration, education, and turnout in elections.

Over the last year, Curry also participated in the NBA’s National Basketball Social Justice Coalition’s “Freedom to Vote” social media campaign, met with President Joe Biden about social justice, graduated from Davidson College after writing his thesis on gender equity in sports, worked with the non-profit that he started with his wife to “overcome the systemic socio-economic barriers facing underserved communities.”

“As an athlete, I consistently leverage my platform to amplify advocacy and address the pervasive issue of systemic racism,” Curry said in a statement. “I firmly believe that we must be vocal both on social media and in real life, taking tangible actions to effect real change in our society and for generations to come.”

Curry winning the award and his subsequent statement come despite his efforts earlier this year to block a low-income multifamily housing development from being built near his $30 million Bay Area mansion.

There are reportedly plans to develop 16 townhouses on a 1.5-acre plot of land near Curry’s home, leading the family to say in a letter that they had “major concerns in terms of both privacy and safety with three-story townhomes looming directly behind us,” according to The Almanac, a local newspaper.

“As Atherton residents … we have been following along with the housing element updates with special interest in the 23 Oakwood property,” the Currys wrote in a letter to the town. “We hesitate to add to the ‘not in our backyard’ (literally) rhetoric, but we wanted to send a note before today’s meeting. Safety and privacy for us and our kids continues to be our top priority and one of the biggest reasons we chose Atherton as home.”

Curry reportedly demanded that the town build taller fencing to protect his property and add more landscaping to protect his privacy.

“We kindly ask that the town adopts the new housing element without the inclusion of 23 Oakwood,” the Currys wrote. “Should that not be sufficient for the state, we ask that the town commits to investing in considerably taller fencing and landscaping to block sight lines onto our family’s property.”

The nearly 18,000 square-foot mansion sits on a 2-acre estate that is located in one of the most expensive zip codes in the U.S. in Atherton, California, according to Front Office Sports. The seven-bedroom home has nine bathrooms, a movie theater, a full bar, a wine cellar, a pool, and a sundeck.

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases