It started like any other basketball game in an open gym: players sweating on the court, others waiting on the sidelines and spectators casually watching. Jessica Brogan, who had attended similar practice sessions with her two hoops-hungry sons, said it started out as a “normal open run.”
On this particular Saturday, however, there was an unusual electricity in the air at the Life Time gym in Folsom, California, as rumors spread throughout the greater Sacramento community that a global basketball star was in town and might be stopping by. Yet there was reason to doubt this.
“I haven't even told my kids about it because I hear things like that all the time and it's inconvenient,” Brogan said.
Others, like Berry Roseborough IV, an area basketball coach who works with college and professional players, were more certain. Roseborough received a call from Marcus Kirkland, who organized the session, asking him to recruit his best players due to the expected presence of this special guest.
On the morning of June 8, Roseborough called his students in town without revealing too much, just enough.
“You'll probably be mad if you miss it,” Damarion Vann-Kelly said, as Berry told him.
Vann-Kelly had a suspicion, which grew after Kent Bazemore — a G League player who played 10 seasons in the NBA — came in. About ten minutes after Bazemore arrived and while a match was in progress, the shouting began: It's curry. It's curry.
“All the little kids scream,” Vann-Kelly said. “Even the adults were screaming.”
Sure enough, Stephen Curry walked in, wearing a light gray hoodie pulled over his head.
“I look up while we're playing and I'm like – excuse my language – but, 'Oh s…, Steph just came through the doors,'” Roseborough said. “And you could feel that. … You can feel all the energy radiating in the gym. Everyone is almost in shock.”
Brogan looked at her sons' faces. Braxton, 13, turned red when he saw the four-time NBA champion, and Easton, 10, went wide-eyed and broke into an ear-to-ear smile when he realized it was Curry stretching nearby, she said.
It's not unheard of for NBA players to participate in amateur pick-up games to stay up to date, especially during the league's offseason. Players with college and professional experience, including Bazemore, regularly attend the runs Kirkland hosts in the Sacramento area. The two met at a gym in 2022 and, according to Kirkland, kept in touch thanks to a shared love of basketball and a desire to pass that love on to others in their community.
Bazemore encouraged Curry, who was in the area for his daughter's youth volleyball tournament, to stop by the gym, Kirkland said. Curry, whose NBA season ended in April with the Warriors Play-In Tournament loss to the Sacramento Kings, will make his Olympic debut next month at the Paris Games as the U.S. men go for their fifth straight gold medal.
“We've had a lot of NBA players come to our runs, but never one of Stephen Curry's caliber,” Roseborough said. “That was like, 'Wow.' ”
Brogan called it a “once-in-a-lifetime experience” for her family.
During a session of about two hours, Curry gave a masterclass. He and Bazemore teamed up, playing five-on-five against Kirkland, Vann-Kelly, Roseborough and others. Brogan and her sons watched in awe along with a growing crowd that grew so large that security asked people to leave, she said.
Of course, Curry delivered. Roseborough said he noticed Curry's pace and how simple his game is.
“He didn't do anything more than was necessary at the time,” Roseborough said. “His pickups – basically how you pick up the ball before you get into your shot – were so fast like you couldn't even see them.
'Then his release. It shoots in 0.3 seconds or less. It doesn't matter if it's disputed. It looks the same every time. It comes from the same finger every time.”
Vann-Kelly, 17, a 6-foot-4 guard with Division I and professional aspirations and a recent graduate of Monterey Trail High, added: “He made them all. It was nothing but net. The way (Curry) attacks, you can just see why he's at the pro level. All his movements are perfected. He has a lot of patience and overall great skills.”
During one game, after Curry crossed Kirkland for a step back 3-pointer that came out, Curry got the ball back on a pass and then made the game-winning 3 on his next attempt. He reflexively celebrated with his iconic “night-night” gesture. A clip of the moment, taken by Brogan and posted to her Instagram, went viral.
Steph Curry heads to Night Night during an open run in Sacramento 😴😂🔥
(via jessicabrogan/ig) pic.twitter.com/kIPOedso1P
— TheWarriorsTalk (@TheWarriorsTalk) June 9, 2024
“He's a generational player because of his IQ,” Kirkland said. “He's just different.”
Markus Kirkland guards NBA icon Stephen Curry during a pickup game in Folsom, California, on June 8. (Courtesy of Markus Kirkland)
But it wasn't just Curry's viral shots and elite ball handling that had the gym buzzing. According to those present, he made an impression in a different way. They noted how Curry introduced himself to each player and shook their hands. He asked their names and told them not to be nervous.
“Guys were trying to give him the ball so he could score and he told them, 'No, we're playing team basketball.' We're not going to play like that,” Roseborough said. “He was actually setting up other guys to score. He gave confidence to the players and other people that were there.”
After a series of eight or nine games — largely dominated by Curry and Bazemore, Kirkland said — the two took photos with the other players and the children Kirkland had invited to watch, including Brogan's sons.
“He made everyone in the building feel good,” Roseborough said. “He made everyone who was there feel comfortable. And that was crazy to me, how much his energy really affected everyone in the building.”
(Top photo of Steph Curry and Kent Bazemore with other players: Courtesy of Marcus Kirkland)
