Stephen Curry made his fortune as a basketball superstar but he’s no slouch on the golf course. The Golden State Warriors is a stellar golfer and proved his prowess by winning the 2023 American Century Championship in Lake Tahoe. However, he did not return to defend his title this year as he was preoccupied with preparing for the Paris Olympics. However, Hall of Charles Barkley believes the guard ditched the tournament to avoid facing him.
Advertisement
The Phoenix Suns icon, who finished a lowly 81st in the event in 2023, tied for 48th this year. While it’s a marked improvement, it’s far from Curry’s title-winning exploits. However, that did not stop Barkley from claiming he’d outplayed the Warriors superstar had he participated in the event.
In an interview with SportsCenter’s Hannah Storm, the Hall of Famer claimed Curry ditching the 2024 American Century Championship due to the Paris Olympics was a ‘lame excuse.’ Barkley joked,
“Steph Curry, he’s a coward, Hannah, he’s ducking me. Can you believe he knew I was going to play my best round ever? He’s gonna use some lame excuse like Olympic to duck me. What kind of excuse is that? The Olympics?”
The Suns icon’s performance at the 2024 edition suggests he’s improving steadily. He’s willing to battle Curry on the course, but it’s unlikely that the Warriors superstar would be concerned about the Hall of Famer’s improvement and his challenge, given how he feels about his golfing skills.
Is Charles Barkley envious of Steph’s golfing skills?
During an appearance on the Dubs Talk podcast in 2023, Curry was asked if Barkley is more jealous of his basketball skills or golfing prowess. He replied,
“I wouldn’t be surprised if golf was the answer to that question. At one point, [Barkley] was actually pretty good, from all the accounts I’ve heard about when he was playing with Michael [Jordan] back in the nineties. I think he was shooting in the seventies at one point. And he just had a breakdown and some kind of mental lapse or forgot how to swing or forgot how to play. You see what it looks like now.”
Barkley was ridiculed for over a decade due to his stuttered golf swing. However, the Hall of Famer worked tirelessly with golf instructor Stan Utley to fix it. At this year’s American Century Championship, he finished with a positive score for the first time in four appearances.
The Hall of Famer has another year to prepare, potentially face Curry in the 2025 edition of the event, and beat the Warriors superstar to end the debate about who the better golfer is.
