Warriors star Steph Curry won the first ESPY Awards for a record-breaking performance Wednesday night in Los Angeles, and used his time on stage to also take on gun violence and what it does to families.
“Wherever you’re from, whatever you think, whatever your politics are, what you can’t forget is that everyone of those people who dies, has a story,” Curry said, before handing the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage to the family 15-year-old Zaevion Dobson, who was shot and killed in December while protecting his friends in Tennessee. Curry handed the slain teen's mother, Zenobia Dobson, and two brothers the award while telling the crowd that the young man had "nothing to do with the bullet that took his life," and died in an instant, becoming one of the "saddest statistics in America."
That was just one of the poignant moments at the annual show, where Curry won for making a record number of 3-pointers – 402- during the regular season. Curry said he was using his "platform to help change the world, that's what sports is all about."
The ESPY Awards, short for the Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Awards, are presented by ABC and previously ESPN to recognize individual and team athletic achievement. It's considered the Emmys of the sports world.
Curry had used his time wisely while in Los Angeles. Before the ESPYs, he was in Disneyland with wife, Ayesha, and daughters Riley and Ryan, all documented in Instagram.
Before that, the beloved Curry clan was in Hawaii, at $2,000, three-day Overnight Camp Featuring Steph Curry and then hanging out celebrating the baby’s first birthday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
