Steph Curry just picked up a different kind of hardware, and this one is all about Oakland. Yesterday, Curry was named the winner of the Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award for the work his Eat. Learn. Play foundation has been doing in the city. The honor goes to athletes who use sports to drive measurable change in their communities, and Curry called the recognition super surreal, saying it felt like validation for seven years of grinding to feed kids, support learning, and build safe places to play across the district.
Award and ceremony
The award was presented in New York City as part of ESPN's Sports Humanitarian Awards, where winners were announced Tuesday and will be highlighted during this week's ESPYs. As reported by Bleacher Report, Curry took home the Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award on behalf of the Eat. Learn. Play Foundation and was recognized for long-running investments in meals, literacy, and schoolyard renovations.
Eat. Learn. Play's reach in Oakland
The foundation, co-founded by Stephen and Ayesha Curry in 2019, says it has delivered millions of meals and invested millions more into literacy and play spaces across Oakland. According to Eat. Learn. Play, the group has provided about 35 million nutritious meals, committed more than $20 million to literacy programs, distributed over 1 million books, and transformed 24 schoolyards and six gymnasiums.
Curry's remarks and local focus
Curry told Good Morning America that receiving the award was super surreal and that the honor acknowledged our team, our donors, our partners, the Oakland Unified School District, and the kids that we're serving. As reported by ABC7 New York, he added that “it's where 35,000 kids go to eat, learn and play every single day” in Oakland schools, underscoring how tightly the foundation’s mission is tied to the district.
Oakland partnerships and footprint
The foundation works closely with Oakland Unified on grants and site projects. District grant filings list Eat. Learn. Play as a fiscal partner and include contact details for the organization, reflecting an ongoing, nuts-and-bolts relationship behind all the headline moments. Committed to raising $50 million for Oakland schools, the Currys’ fundraising push underpins many of the foundation's campus projects across the city.
What comes next
ESPN will showcase the Sports Humanitarian Awards winners, including Curry, during The ESPYS today at 8 PM ET on ABC, with streaming on the ESPN app and next-day access on Disney+ and Hulu. According to ABC's press materials, the ceremony is intended to honor athletes whose leadership creates a measured positive impact on their communities, a description that now officially includes Curry's work in Oakland.
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