While NBA fans usually associate athletes with strict diet plans, some stars are prone to questionable binge-eating habits. While Josh Hart is known for chewing M&M candies like there is no tomorrow, Stephen Curry’s love for popcorn is a lore of its own. In fact, in 2019, the New York Times comprehensively touched upon Curry’s popcorn addiction. To make matters more intriguing, the 2x MVP even prepared a rather multi-faceted list, ranking arenas based on their popcorn’s quality.
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He included five factors such as freshness, saltiness, crunchiness, butter, and presentation, and allotted a maximum score of 5 for each category, 25 points in total. Interestingly, Oracle Arena, which is Curry’s home turf, still hasn’t figured out the way to bring fresh popcorn for their talisman.
He allocated just 2 points out of 5 to Oracle Arena in freshness and with a total score of 18, it ranked outside of Curry’s top five. Meanwhile, the staff at Dallas Mavericks’ home floor, American Airlines Center, clicked all the right buttons for the popcorn enthusiast and nabbed the top position in his list.
| Arena | Freshness | Saltiness | Crunchiness | Butter | Presentation | Total |
| American Airlines Center(Dallas Mavericks) | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 24 |
| Barclays Center(Brooklyn Nets) | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 23 |
| American Airlines Arena(Miami Heat) | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 22 |
| Moda Center(Portland Trail Blazers) | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 20 |
| Golden 1 Center(Sacramento Kings) | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 19 |
While Curry found the popcorn from these arenas palatable, many didn’t make a strong impression on him and fell low on his list. LA Lakers’ home floor made the least impression on the popcorn gobbler and fell dead last among the bottom feeders.
| Arena | Freshness | Saltiness | Crunchiness | Butter | Presentation | Total |
| Staples Center(Los Angeles Lakers/Clippers | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 10 |
| Spectrum Center(Charlotte Hornets) | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 11 |
| Little Caesars Arena(Detroit Pistons) | 1 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 12 |
| Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse(Cleveland Cavaliers) | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 12 |
| Pepsi Center(Denver Nuggets) | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 13 |
The 4x champion seems to have gone through a rigorous process to come out with such a multi-layered list which sums up his love for the popular snack. In fact, his popcorn love can become a hassle for those who are near and dear to him.
Stephen Curry’s ceaseless love for popcorn
Who knows Stephen Curry’s fondness for popcorn better than his wife Ayesha Curry? In 2021, when her husband was joining Michael Jordan among the oldest players to become the regular season scoring leader in history, she went to Ellen DeGeneres’ show and spoke about how he winds down with popcorn,
“It’s insane. And he’s one of the older guys out there now, believe it or not. It’s been really cool to watch him break all these records and do it with such humility, and humbleness. He comes home, and it’s like it never happened. He just wants some popcorn and some candy.”
In 2022, the couple took a test to find out which one of them knew each other better. Ayesha Curry revealed that her biggest pet peeve about Steph is that he tends to spread his popcorn wherever he goes. She urged him to “stop leaving popcorn everywhere“. These instances sum up that popcorn shapes a huge part of Stephen Curry’s persona.
