Steph Curry’s ‘alternate universe’ as youth basketball coach still a possibility originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

STANFORD, Calif. – In an alternate reality, Warriors fans and the NBA world at large never got to experience the mind-blowing greatness of Steph Curry. 

There wouldn’t be highlight compilations of Curry crossing defenders and shooting from unimaginable distances. Mike Breen’s double-bang is locked in a box begging to be released. The Warriors might still be waiting for their first championship since 1975. Chase Center would have never been built, and the 3-point revolution isn’t even a concept. 

One man changed the game that much. 

But in reality, Curry and basketball were bound for each other. Maybe not in a Warriors jersey, and maybe not wowing crowds of all ages and backgrounds. The holy matrimony between the two was inevitable, one way or another. 

Even if that meant coaching. That’s the path Curry once saw, and not patrolling the sidelines of an NBA arena. 

“I didn’t know that he was going to end up playing basketball,” Curry’s wife, Ayesha, recently revealed on an episode of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast. “He said he wanted to be a high school basketball coach. I thought I was going to be, like, the girl out there getting it. I didn’t know.” 

Curry laughed but didn’t deny Ayesha’s admission in an exclusive interview with NBC Sports Bay Area on Wednesday at the Stanford Golf Course during his sixth annual Workday Charity Classic. 

He grew up in locker rooms and on basketball courts. His father, Dell, played 16 seasons in the NBA for five different franchises and was named the 1994 Sixth Man of the Year as a member of the Charlotte Hornets when he averaged a career-best 16.3 points per game off the bench while shooting 40.2 percent from deep. Curry can credit him with having the game in his blood, helping turn a skinny kid into the greatest shooter of all time. 

However, Dell isn’t the reason Steph saw coaching in his future. The leadership and community impact he witnessed from his mother, Sonya, opened his eyes to that being his likeliest career. 

“My mom was an educator growing up, so I kind of understood how to connect with people,” Curry said. “Seeing people learn a skill, or learn anything really, and that joy that comes with accomplishment, that always got me going.” 

This year marked the ninth Curry Camp, bringing some of the best boys and girls high school basketball prospects to the Bay Area for three days. It also was the first year that the Curry Camp model was brought overseas to China as part of his 2025 Curry Brand World Tour.

Back in March, he even accepted a role as assistant general manager for the basketball programs of his alma mater, Davidson College, and later hosted the men’s team for a surprise workout last month in the Bay Area, going through drills, sharing shooting tips and plenty more.

Curry has been influential from afar and through his camp for an always-growing long list of current NBA and WNBA players. Winning four championships, two MVPs and having a trophy case that can fill an entire living room is a life Curry wouldn’t change. Nobody would.

Coaching high school basketball also is something he says would have been an incredibly fulfilling life. What about coaching, at any level, in the future? Never say never. 

“I mean, anything is possible,” Curry said. “Who knows what the future holds. But the idea of yeah, that alternate universe, I would have been happy as hell to be a high school coach, knowing how important that presence is for kids. Everybody has a role to play. I took a different path.” 

The title of Coach Curry rolls off the tongue. Numerous all-time greats have picked up a clipboard in their post-playing days. Maybe one day that will be his reality. Maybe in a different life, Curry is counting his coaching championships at Charlotte Christian. 

Rest easy, Dub Nation. The slightest possibility of Curry one day coaching can be put on the backburner. All that he cares about in his basketball life right now is the chase for a fifth championship, counting down the days until he’s back on the court with his Warriors teammates.

Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast

Kyle Schwarber boosted his MVP campaign with some MLB history on Thursday.

The Philadelphia Phillies’ slugger posted MLB’s 21st four-homer game in a 19-4 blowout of the Atlanta Braves. He joins Eugenio Suarez and Nick Kurtz in accomplishing the feat in 2025, marking the first time the league has ever seen three four-homer games in one season.

It’s also the fourth four-homer game in Phillies history, giving them the most of any MLB team. The other three: Ed Delahanty in 1896, Chuck Klein in 1936 and Mike Schmidt in 1976.

[Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season]

Schwarber got started with a 450-foot monster in the first inning off Braves starting pitcher Cal Quantrill, then added two more homers off reliever Austin Cox in the fourth and fifth innings. The historic long ball came in the seventh inning off Wander Suero.

In total, Schwarber hit 1,618 feet of home runs. He also had a chance to become the first player ever to post five homers in a game in the eighth inning, but he popped out against Braves position-player pitcher Vidal Bruján.

The performance pushes Schwarber to a career-high 49 homers on the season, the most in the NL and one behind Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh for the MLB lead. Where it leaves Schwarber in the MVP race is a different story.

How is the Shohei Ohtani-Kyle Schwarber MVP race shaping up?

Despite some support for Schwarber, Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani entered Thursday as a -5000 favorite for the NL MVP award. Schwarber holds the statistical edge in homers and RBI over Ohtani, but that’s pretty much it when it comes to offensive stats.

And Ohtani leads Schwarber 32 1/3 to 0 in innings pitched. Schwarber has played eight games in left field this season and DH’ed the rest of the time.

Of course, the last thing you want to do is dig into an MVP argument with a month to go in the season. One good month for Schwarber (or one bad month for Ohtani) could change the math significantly, and a four-homer game is a decent sign there’s more power to come.

Cal Raleigh’s historic 2025 season has seen him reach the 50-home run mark, the most homers in a season by a primary catcher in MLB history. He’s also the first player in MLB history to hit at least 20 home runs from each side of the plate in the same season.

[Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season]

The Seattle Mariners catcher’s road to home run history began on the final day of March, with his first dinger of the season, and he has continued the power surge ever since. Raleigh has hit blasts in consecutive games eight times and recorded nine multi-homer games this season.

Raleigh is threatening the American League record of 62 home runs set by New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge in 2022. “Big Dumper” is also inching closer to Mickey Mantle’s record of 54 homers by a switch-hitter, which the Yankees’ legend achieved in 1961, and Ken Griffey Jr.’s Mariners record of 56 home runs, which “The Kid” reached twice, in 1997 and ’98.

As Raleigh approaches more history in his MVP-worthy season, we are tracking his notable 2025 home runs all the way through Game 162.

MARCH

Home runs hit: 1

March 31: Raleigh opened his 2025 home run account in the Mariners’ fifth game of the season, a 9-6 loss to the Detroit Tigers. His 358-foot blast came six days after he signed a six-year, $105 million extension.

APRIL

Home runs hit: 9

April 11: The history-making started early for Raleigh. During the Mariners’ 14th game, he launched his third blast of the season off Texas Rangers pitcher Chris Martin and set the franchise record for career home runs by a catcher with his 96th.

MAY

Home runs hit: 12

May 2: Raleigh’s first grand slam of the season came on a two-homer, five-RBI night in a 13-1 rout of Jack Leiter and the Rangers.

May 27: Raleigh’s third multi-home-run game of the season put his total up to 19 on the year and set an MLB record for home runs by a catcher in a team’s first 53 games of a season. Both dingers came against Washington Nationals pitcher Mitchell Parker.

May 30: Raleigh became the first catcher in MLB history with 20 home runs before the end of May with another multi-blast night that saw him knock in five runs in a 12-6 loss to the Minnesota Twins.

JUNE

Home runs hit: 11

June 20: A prolific May continued into June for Raleigh, as he reached double-digit home runs again and set the MLB record for homers by a catcher before the All-Star break with his 29th of the season at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs.

June 21: Still at Wrigley one day later, Raleigh hit No. 30 to become the first switch-hitter in MLB history to do so before the All-Star break, moving ahead of of Mickey Mantle, José Ramírez and Lance Berkman. He also became the first player to hit 30 home runs in his team’s first 75 games since 2001, when Barry Bonds and Luis Gonzalez achieved that feat.

JULY

Home runs hit: 9

July 14: By the time the baseball world descended on Atlanta for the All-Star Game, Raleigh had 38 home runs. He brought his power to Georgia, where he became the first catcher to win the Home Run Derby, edging Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero in the final. Raleigh is the second Mariner to win the event, joining Griffey, who won the Derby three times. Raleigh is also the first switch-hitter to win the Derby outright, as Rubén Sierra, the only other switch-hitter to win, shared the title in 1998.

July 26: Nearly two weeks after Raleigh’s Derby win, he hit No. 40 to become the seventh catcher in MLB history to post a 40-homer season, joining Salvador Perez, Johnny Bench, Javy López, Todd Hundley, Roy Campanella and Mike Piazza. It was the 133rd blast of Raleigh’s career, putting him ahead of Ken Griffey Jr. for the most by a Mariner in his first five MLB seasons.

AUGUST

Home runs hit: 8 (and counting)

Aug. 15: Homer No. 46 was launched during a win over the New York Mets that also saw Raleigh reach 100 RBI on the season. That matched his career high, set in 2024, and made Raleigh the first catcher since Mike Piazza in 1999 and 2000 with 100 RBI in consecutive seasons while playing at least 50% of his games behind the plate.

Aug. 24: An 11-4 win over the Athletics delivered yet another multi-homer game from Raleigh — one that saw him tie and then break the MLB record for home runs hit by a catcher in a single season when he hit Nos. 48 and 49 to leapfrog Salvador Perez.

Aug. 25: Raleigh reached 50 home runs before any other MLB player this season, getting there with a first-inning dinger during a win over the San Diego Padres. He is the only primary catcher to ever hit 50 blasts in a single season.

The Golden State Warriors have had over 600 players don the more than 60 jersey numbers used by their players over the more than 75 years of existence the team has enjoyed in its rich and storied history.

Founded in 1946 during the Basketball Association of America (BAA — a precursor league of the NBA) era, the team has called home the cities of Philadelphia, San Francisco, Oakland, and even San Diego.

 To commemorate the players who wore those numbers, Warriors Wire is covering the entire history of jersey numbers and the players who sported them since the founding of the team. For this article, we begin with the second of 23 players who wore the No. 21 jersey for the Warriors.

That player would be Golden State guard alum Ron Williams. After ending his college career at West Virginia, Williams was picked up with the ninth overall selection of the 1968 NBA Draft by the (then) San Francisco (now, Golden State) Warriors.

The Weirton, West Virginia native would play the first five seasons of his pro career with the Dubs, coming to an end when he had his contract sold to the Milwaukee Bucks in 1973.

During his time suiting up for the Warriors, Williams wore only jersey Nos. 12 and 21 and put up 10.7 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game.

All stats and data courtesy of Basketball Reference.

This article originally appeared on Warriors Wire: Warriors jersey history – No. 21 – Ron Williams (1968-73)

The Oklahoma City Thunder (and the Seattle Supersonics before them) have 51 jersey numbers worn by the players who have suited up for the franchise since its founding at the start of the 1967-68 season. To commemorate the players who wore those numbers, Thunder Wire is covering the entire history of jersey numbers and the players who sported them since the founding of the team.

And while those Supersonics jerseys may not remain part of the franchise history should a new team be established in Seattle as was the case with the return of the Charlotte Hornets, they are part of the Thunder’s history today.

For this article, we continue with the 40th jersey number in the series, jersey No. 42, with 15 players in total having donned the jersey in the history of the franchise.

The first of those players who did so in the Seattle SuperSonics era, guard alum Walt Hazzard. After ending his college career at UCLA, Hazzard was picked up with the fifth overall selection of the 1964 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Wilmington, Delaware native would play the first three seasons of his pro career with the Lakers before he was drafted by Seattle in the 1967 expansion draft. His stay with the team would span a single season, coming to an end when he was dealt to the Atlanta Hawks in 1968.

During his time suiting up for the Sonics, Hazzard wore only jersey No. 42 and put up 24 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 6.2 assists per game.

All stats and data courtesy of Basketball Reference.

This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Thunder jersey history No. 42 – Walt Hazzard (1967-68)

The Brooklyn Nets have 52 jersey numbers worn by over 600 different players over the course of their history since the franchise was founded in 1967 as a charter member of the American Basketball Association (ABA), when the team was known as the “New Jersey Americans”.

Since then, that league has been absorbed by the NBA with the team that would later become the New York Nets and New Jersey Nets before settling on the name by which they are known today, bringing their rich player and jersey history with them to the league of today.

To commemorate the players who played for the Nets over the decades wearing those 52 different jersey numbers, Nets Wire is covering the entire history of the franchise’s jersey numbers and the players who sported them since the founding of the team. The 23rd of those 52 different numbers is jersey No. 22, which has has had a total of 31 players wear the number in the history of the team.

The 21st of those players wearing No. 22 played in the (then) New Jersey (now, Brooklyn) Nets era, forward alum Ron Anderson. After ending his college career at Fresno State, Anderson was picked up with the 27th overall selection of the 1984 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Chicago, Illinois native also played for the Indiana Pacers and Philadelphia 76ers before he signed with New Jersey in 1993. His stay with the team would span just 11 games before he would be cut.

During his time suiting up for the Nets, Anderson wore only jersey No. 22 and put up 4.0 points and 2.4 rebounds per game.

All stats and data courtesy of Basketball Reference.

This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets jersey history No. 22 – Ron Anderson (1993)

Just days before Valentine’s Day in 1977, Terry Funk suffered a crushing heartbreak.

In a match against Harley Race for the NWA World Championship, Funk lost his title, which he had held for over 420 days. Few realized at the time that Funk would spend the next 12 years chasing it — only to come up short, time and time again.

Funk’s heartaches continued that summer when the two met again, this time with Race as the titleholder. On July 1, they faced off in a 2-out-of-3 falls match for the NWA title at the historic Sam Houston Coliseum in Houston, Texas.

Early on, Funk not only outwrestled Race but also overpowered him. Twice, Funk pressed Race over his head from a standing position and slammed him to the mat.

The tide turned, however, after Race sidestepped Funk as he bounced off the ropes, sending the challenger crashing to the concrete floor. After a series of clubbing blows, Race locked in an abdominal stretch. Despite being the babyface in the match, Funk — perhaps out of self-preservation — gave up.

But he was far from finished. Funk began the second fall by slapping Race in the face repeatedly. After escaping a chin lock, Funk caught Race with a roll-up for a two-count.

As Race got to his feet, Funk quickly dropped him with a piledriver to win the second fall in short order.

The third fall began with a groggy Race on his heels as Funk gave chase. A thunderous atomic drop — sold by Race as if a bomb had gone off in his trunks — nearly ended the match.

As Race continued to teeter, Funk repeatedly applied his family’s signature move: the spinning toe hold. Race, no stranger to shortcuts, countered first with what looked like a finger to the eye. On the next attempt, Race caught him with a punch that split Funk open.

Though many in the crowd remained seated, the fans grew hotter as Funk began to fade. Still, he held control over Race — but by now he was a bloody mess. Eventually, as he tried to go for the toe hold again, his body gave out, and he crumpled to the mat.

Sensing Funk could no longer defend himself, referee Nick Kozak called for the bell as the ring announcer declared over the house mic, “We need a doctor at ringside, please.”

Despite being declared the winner by referee stoppage, Race looked anything but victorious as he clutched his leg on the canvas.

In a later interview, Funk said he didn’t blame the referee for doing his job, but insisted that under no conditions would he have ever stopped fighting. He said he had called for a rematch — this time in a setting where the bout wouldn’t be called off for any reason.

He also said he didn’t want to be known for what he had done — he wanted to prove he was the best, and the only way to do that was to regain the title.

Unfortunately, Funk never reclaimed the NWA crown. Yet, in the eyes of his peers and fans, he didn’t need to. His legacy showed that greatness isn’t measured by title reigns. The impact he made, both in and out of the ring, far surpassed what most achieve as world champion. To many, the second-generation star from Amarillo, Texas was the greatest of all time.

Following Funk’s passing in 2023, TNA star Frankie Kazarian summed it up best: “The words ‘great’ and ‘legend’ are thrown around way too frequently. Terry Funk was both of those things and so much more. An incredible and unique talent. An influence of a generation. An absolute gentleman.”