NBA Finalists Stephen Curry and LeBron James Share What They've Learned About Fatherhood
The two are going head to head in the NBA Finals tonight.
— -- Today is a big day for Stephen Curry and Lebron James.
And it has nothing to do with Game 7 of the NBA Finals between their teams, the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Instead, the two men will be celebrating Father's Day.
Curry is father to two daughters, Riley, 3, and Ryan, 11 months, while James is father to three children, Lebron Jr., 11, Bryce, 9, and Zhuri, 1.
The two NBA stars have reflected a lot about fatherhood since becoming dads. Here are their best reflections on their most important role:
Curry: "Being a father kind of gives you something more to play for," he said during a press conference, according to Yahoo! Sports. "I think off the court, it just grounds you every day, because no matter if I have a good game, bad game, score 40, score 10, I think my daughter's going to be happy to see me when I get home, and that kind of makes everything all right."
James: "My favorite thing about being a father is just seeing my kids grow and do some of the same things that I did when I was a kid, man," he told ESPN. "As a father you sometimes get mad and then you think about it. You're like 'Wow, I used to do those same things so how can I get that mad?'"
Curry: "I think about the milestones from my childhood and what it will be like to watch our kids go through them," he told Parents magazine. "Taking Riley to her first day of school was a whirlwind. I can't imagine what middle school is going to be like, and high school, and graduation. All those little checkpoints are going to be fun, and there will be ups and downs along the way."
James: "There's no encyclopedia or book about parenthood. You learn on the fly," he told Bleacher Report. "And, as a parent, if you have multiple kids, you can't teach them all the same thing because they all have different personalities. They're their own person. And I understand that."
Curry: "You want them to have a childhood," the NBA player told Buzzfeed about his kids, "and hopefully the things we teach them take hold over outside influences. There's so much opportunity for that negative stuff to creep into the household, but you hope that they have role models they can look up to and don't get the wrong information too soon."
James: "Being a leader of my household, a leader of Miami, a leader of Team USA. It's the same exact thing," he told GQ of fatherhood back when he played for the Miami Heat. "You can sense when a guy is frustrated -- maybe [he] doesn't feel involved enough in the offense. As [a] leader you go over to him, [and say] you know, ’How can I help?’ Because at the end of the day, we all have one common goal -- and that's to be great."
Curry: "You learn that there's no right way to do it, no wrong way to do it," he told GQ of parenting. "It’s just what you feel comfortable with, to trust that and don’t let anybody box you in to a certain style of parenting or make you feel a certain way about what your kids do."
James: "It's different. It's a lot different," the NBA star told ESPN of welcoming his third child, a daughter. "For me, you give rough love to your boys and you give soft love to your daughter. I understand that, and I'm looking forward to the journey of all three of them growing up."
Curry: "No better blessing than the responsibility of fatherhood," he wrote on Instagram. "Woke up this am at 6:15 am with 2 year old feet kicking me in my back and wouldn't have it any other way. My little girl has such a contagious spirit about her that makes me appreciate EVERYTHING."
James: "As a parent you protect your kids as much as possible," he told ESPN.
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