Warriors’ Steph Curry adds Sundance film award to his trophy case
Steph Curry’s on-court accomplishments are well known, from his four NBA championships to his two MVP awards to his 4,229 made 3-point shots.
This week, he was recognized in another realm: filmmaking.
The Warriors superstar’s short documentary co-directed with two-time Oscar winner Ben Proudfoot, “The Baddest Speechwriter of All”, won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.
The film is centered around Clarence B. Jones, a former lawyer and speechwriter for Martin Luther King Jr.
“These types of awards only further the opportunity to tell Clarence’s story,” Curry told reporters after the Warriors’ 140-124 win over the Jazz on Wednesday night. “He’s 95 years old. He’s had such an impact on our country through his civil rights works, his speechwriting, his legal work for Dr. King.”
According to the description on its Sundance profile, “The Baddest Speechwriter of All”, focuses on Jones as he “reflects on the personal cost and surprising truths of making history, offering an intimate insider’s view of the Civil Rights Movement.”
Jones was instrumental in secretly taking King’s writing from the Birmingham City Jail in 1963, publishing and distributing it as the landmark “Letter from Birmingham Jail”.
The Warriors were coincidentally in Utah as the award was announced, having flown in from Minnesota before Wednesday’s game, but Curry couldn’t make the trip to Park City, where Sundance is being held for the final time this year before moving to Boulder, Colorado in 2027.
“It was the first time I’ve done an acceptance speech over WhatsApp video,” Curry said. “Ben was up there on stage and put the phone next to the mic and I got to give, like, a 30-second speech. I was there in spirit.”
Curry is also a producer on “GOAT”, an animated film releasing Feb. 13 in time for All-Star weekend. That movie focuses on an undersized goat trying to find his way into the professional sport of “roarball,” which features predominantly larger, stronger beasts in the film’s all-animal world. That climb just might sound familiar to Warriors fans.
About those rumors…
Curry, who scored 27 points in the win, said he isn’t wasting energy wondering if the Warriors will trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo, after the Milwaukee Bucks star made clear via ESPN that he is ready to be traded.
The 37-year-old point guard and film producer said that was up to general manager Mike Dunleavy.
“I don’t ever get into hypotheticals. It’s a waste of time, it’s a waste of energy. It’s not my job to do that,” Curry said. “Mike and the entire front office are, I’m sure, making calls, I’m sure taking looks, making sure what’s going on. And if there’s something material, something real, we have conversations about it.”
The Warriors have long been rumored to be interested in Antetokounmpo, a two-time MVP himself.