From rap albums to going public, Steph Curry on the Golden State Warriors player who pushed him to invest in Silicon Valley – Basketball Network

Steph Curry and Andre Iguodala

© Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

The career of a basketball pro doesn’t last that long. If you’re good enough, you can stay in the NBA for 8-10 years. If you’re one of the greats, you have a fruitful 15-20 year career ahead of you. Still, this is a relatively short time for a professional career. NBA players have accepted this as fact. Therefore, they put their money into various investments. For Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry, there was one teammate who made him focus on business — those same player analysts considered the most critical part of the Dubs’ championship run.

Silicon Valley

As the saying goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Nor did the warriors just wake up one day and decide to found a dynasty. There were many key moments that led to multiple championships. One of them was signing Andre Iguodala to a four-year, $48 million deal in July 2013.

Interestingly, Iguodala has not only helped create a culture of success within the organization. According to Steph Curry, the defender has also prompted him to reflect on his post-game career. He didn’t have to look too far. Curry could easily invest in the businesses in his neighborhood.

Scroll to Next

“When he came out of Denver in 2013, there was a passion behind it and some connections, and it started to spark everyone’s interest,” says Curry. “Our conversations in the locker room changed drastically from liking rap albums and cars and all that stuff: Do you see this company going public? And then, of course, the awareness and engagement with what’s happening in our backyard, Silicon Valley — he was the first to really open my eyes to what’s possible in that arena,” Curry said, according to GQ.

Curry has several holdings in its start-up portfolio. One of them is Splyce, a technology company whose mission is to become an automated marketing service for various brands. Other companies he has invested in are SnapTravel and Telstra Ventures. The four-time NBA champion also owns his own media company, Unanimous. Unanimous co-produced the sports reality competition show Holey Moley with Eureka Productions.

Iguodala’s Legacy

Curry’s revelation shows just how important Iguodala is to his career on and off the pitch. Defense was just one of the things he brought to the table. Analysts have repeatedly mentioned that Andre is one of the smartest players on the pitch. They compared his basketball IQ to Scottie Pippen’s.

So it’s no surprise that the Warriors won their fourth title in eight years in the season after retrieving him. Iguodala is the type of player who doesn’t need to play much to affect the game.