When Kevin Durant joined the Warriors in 2016 it wasn’t the first time he was teaming up with Steph Curry. The two had played previously for Team USA, including at the 2010 FIBA World Championships, where a 21-year-old Durant starred in leading the team to the championship, while a 22-year-old Curry was a role player off the bench.
The two are now equal stars on the NBA’s most dominant team, but their bond extends back to that tournament in Turkey. That wasn’t just where the two learned to play on the court together, but it’s where they first became friends off the court and Curry confided in Durant a very big personal decision he was about to make.
As Curry remembered recently in an interview alongside Durant with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols, Durant was among the first people he told about his plans to propose to Ayesha (now his wife). The two laughed remembering how Durant’s reaction wasn’t particularly supportive.
Curry: I just realized, in Turkey, you were like one of the first dudes I told I was about to propose. That’s a backstory that nobody knows, I’ll give you something right there. We were sitting at dinner, me and a couple other teammates…
Durant: Right at the dock, I remember that.
Curry: And we were talking about it. I was stressed out cause when I got back from Turkey I thought I was going to propose to my wife. And I told him at the table and he’s looking at me sideways like, ‘for real? you ready?’
Durant: We were young. We were 21! Go ahead, I’m gonna do my thing. Have some fun.
It’s a pretty great story about how the two now superstar teammates were once kids playing in an international tournament and stressing about big life decisions. Their interactions didn’t start there, though, as they also remembered an earlier interaction at a NBA camp back in the high school days where Durant said Curry “wasn’t that good” back then.
You can see in the brief interview why the two stars are able to coexist so well together, as they seem to genuinely enjoy being around each other and trading jokes back and forth. Happily, Curry’s decision to propose worked out very well for him, but when Ayesha sees this she might be the one giving Durant a little sideways look the next time they’re all together.
(h/t r/NBA user togavirus)
