Stephen Curry: A Cut Above the Best
Three-point buzzer beaters. Walk-off homeruns. The game-winning Hail Mary. The overtime goal. These are some of the heroics we see from our sports stars.
NBA superstar Stephen Curry has secured his place at the top of the heap. He’s been a fixture in the professional sports landscape since his 2009-10 rookie season with the Golden State Warriors. His career since has cemented his standing as the greatest shooter in NBA history.
Stephen owns the record for most career three-pointers, the highest free-throw percentage, the single-season record for threes. He’s a four-time NBA champion and won gold with Team USA at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics. When his career is said and done (not for a while longer) he’s a no-brainer, first ballot hall of famer.
First and foremost, off the court is Stephen’s family: his formidable-in-her-own-right wife Ayesha and their four children. Their entrepreneurial and philanthropic endeavors make for a busy life well lived. Now he is adding a another passion into the mix: bourbon.
Stephen’s Gentleman’s Cut portfolio has gained traction in just a couple of years. The inaugural Gentleman’s Cut Kentucky Straight Bourbon launched in May 2023. Subsequent expressions and limited editions are his Father and Son 16 Year Kentucky Straight Bourbon, Player Exclusive Straight Rye, and Player Exclusive 10 Year José Andrés Kentucky Straight finished in Spanish PX Sherry Casks. The Player Exclusive 15 Year release has already sold out.
We met with Stephen at the Rosewood Sand Hill in Menlo Park, California, this past August for a photo shoot and interview. The views and vibes were Northern California chill, much like Stephen.
Randy Mastronicola: I don’t think our team has ever been so psyched to have someone featured on the cover. We know you only do a select few interviews each year.
Stephen Curry: Thank you for having me. This is special.
Our audience knows you as an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and co-owner in Gentleman's Cut Bourbon. Rumor has it that you have a side hustle.
[laughs] For sure.
We’ve sampled the inaugural Gentleman's Cut Bourbon and your Straight Rye at our offices—wonderful blends in the Kentucky whiskey tradition. Congratulations.
Thank you. Thank you.
We’ve been smoking and sipping other expressions today—walk us through.
The whole Gentleman's Cut line has been special. I started drinking bourbon about a decade ago. It's a very traditional category of spirit. To come in, we had our five- to seven-year aged bourbon that is 90 proof. Blending a little bit of my world with the traditional bourbon category has been cool. We call it the Player Edition and Player Exclusive Edition.
In my basketball world, I wear a bunch of my Curry brand shoes, and we wanted to mimic that with Gentleman’s Cut. With the shoes, you have the standard retail feature that everybody gets to participate in, but then we have these exclusives that I wear on the court that bring a little energy, a little creativity, a little flair to what I wear. We’re doing something similar with the bourbon. We now have our 16-year bourbon, a 14-year ride that's coming out. Each one has a different expression which you could put into the bottle with a different mash bill, creating a great storytelling platform. The 16-year is the father-to-son exclusive, because my dad played 16 years in the NBA.
Your father being Dell Curry.
Yes. Dell Curry. He played 10 years in Charlotte, but 16 years total in the NBA, and so we have a 16-year aged bourbon commemorating that. I just finished my 16th year in the NBA.
Then the 14-year rye, which is 95 percent rye and 5 percent malted barley. It's aged 14 years for a reason: 4,000 days, 14 years, to commemorate the milestone of 4,000 threes in the NBA, which is out of my wildest imagination. To have both of those as the Player Exclusive, that brings a new expression, new flair, new energy into the Gentleman's Cut brand.
People don't realize what goes into creating a brand. When did you realize “We nailed it. This is the one. Let's go."?
Stephen: With the name itself. It's a lifestyle—moments, memories, family, community—all the great things about life. Gentleman's Cut was born out of a saying "Like a gentleman." We used to toast to that. One of my best friends, he'd say, "Like gentlemen." We look around the room, we lock eyes and feel each other's presence.
That became why I drink bourbon. It's a great time to be where your feet are. Same with cigars. You want to enjoy that moment. You don't want to rush through it. You want to be able to create memories through that.
For us to land on our 5- to 7-year with 75 percent corn, 21 percent rye, and 4 percent malted barley, the notes that you get—the hazelnut, the caramel, the charred white oak barrels that infuse the color and some of the flavor profile into the bottle—all that stuff is traditional to the Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey category.
You’d say it’s accessible to new bourbon-ites?
Yes. I think so but more than enough for the more mature palate that has experienced a lot of other bourbons as well.
Our audience loves backstory and authenticity. Your personal knowledge backs that up because people can feel the passion.
It's about creating those experiences. Not only at home, but if you're out at a nice restaurant, or you're on vacation with your loved ones, whatever it is—the bourbon itself is a great experience, but it’s only supposed to highlight what you're doing.
What is your most memorable experience with Gentleman's Cut to date?
With the Gentleman's Cut, specifically, we've been on shelves for two years now. We launched in the summer of 2023. Last summer, I got to take a couple of bottles to Paris with me.
The Paris Olympics in 2024.
Yes. I didn't want to have any sips or put anything in the glass until we got to the finish line of winning the gold medal. I got to crack open a bottle with my family, with a gold medal around my neck. Again, it was a motivator. I wasn’t having a sip until the job was finished. To have that memory is awesome.
That’s a wonderful moment. You’re a four-time NBA champion now. Team play and synergy make it happen. Would you say there's a connection between that mindset and creating a winning spirit?
Oh, for sure. I think we live by our philosophy. You star in your role, and you need a lot of different points of view within that team. You need everybody to carry their weight.
No small undertaking if you want to do it right.
Yes. I have a great partner, John Schwartz. We’ve been side by side since we started my team. That’s helped bring the story of the brand to life and helped me share it with the world.
I think everybody who's been a part of this journey with me can be proud of what we've created: being authentic to how I live my life and what values are important to me and being able to share that with people. It's cool if I have a bourbon that only I like and only says something to me, but can we make that story accessible, relatable, and have fun with it?
Again, the authenticity. You're known as a legit cigar guy. I know you favor Cubans. How did you come to cigars? We're not born with a cigar in our hand.
[laughter]
Family members, as I was growing up, would light one up on a special occasion. You see them at a wedding or a backyard barbecue. When I was in college, my first cigar was on a golf course. Somebody gave me a cigar when I was at Davidson at Mallard Head Golf Club in Mooresville, North Carolina. I still remember not knowing what I was doing, cutting it, lighting it. Coughed crazy my first time inhaling.
Happens to the best of us.
[laughs] Then it became a curiosity that's grown from there, trying new brands, new types of cigars, meeting people who are way more experienced than I am, who introduce me to their favorites. It's the networking of it all for me. I've casually smoked cigars for about the last 15 years, and I'm still learning. I'm still being introduced to new sticks. I think the idea of being able to go to a cigar shop and just hang out for a couple of hours, that to me is time well spent.
You do need to learn more. I charge a reasonable rate for a tutorial.
There you go. I found the right guy. That'd be money well spent, I know. [laughs]
I'll make you a deal. I'll tutor you on cigars, and you tutor me on the links.
I’ll get you straight. I’ll get you straight. 100%. [laughs]
You think your philanthropic work is challenging. You think having four children is a challenge. This will be your biggest challenge.
[laughter]
Your life seems to be at breakneck speed, on and off the court. Do you have a Zen zone where you can just be contemplative and maybe have a cigar off on your own?
We're talking. I got to be intentional about it because, between family, the aspirations of what I'm trying to do in my career while the ball is still bouncing, all the opportunities I've been blessed with off the court, the schedule is crazy. A wise person once told me these aren't things I have to do. These are get-tos. I get to be a part of ventures like this, the foundation my wife and I founded, other things that are important to us as we try to build our impact.
You have to be intentional about those moments where you can just sit by a fire, look at nature. For me, golf is a big part of it. I can go to the driving range for an hour and just be by myself and get a cigar, put some headphones in, have a good time. Quiet times when you're having a conversation with your wife at home, those little things for me are big.
The lovely Ayesha Curry. Does she smoke?
She's not smoked cigars yet. I say “yet” because I’m slow rolling it.
Good luck with that because my wife and I have been together forever, and it’s not happening.
You’ve said you've had your share of champagne-soaked cigars. That’s a good thing. Have you given thought to making a bourbon barrel-aged cigar?
One of these days, for sure. I think a wise person, the guy sitting across from me here, said earlier, "You got to let the game come to you." I like that.
You’re very kind to say that.
We're going to make sure we master what we're doing well here before we branch out to anything else. One of my guys, Chris Stone, who's a cigar savant in my world, we had this thing where he had one of his favorite cigars that he was saving for me for one of the championship celebrations.
Thankfully, we've had a couple shots at it, but in 2018 in Cleveland, he gave me that cigar that he had been holding all year. Gave it to me on the court before I went to the locker room, where the champagne's going on. I still have the cigar in my mouth, champagne is going crazy, and then it hit me in the middle of the celebration, I was supposed to smoke this and save it. [laughs]
I didn't get to smoke it because it was drenched in champagne.
There you go. A keepsake?
It was a keepsake for sure. Thankfully, I had another opportunity in '22, and he said, "Here. You hold this one. Just get the essence. Once you come out of the locker room, I'm going to give you the real one, and we'll have a moment then."
We know that you got a way to go–a couple more rings…
That's the plan.
Last day. Have you envisioned sitting at center court with your teammates, smoking a cigar, having that Gentleman's Cut right there with you—reliving what you accomplished…Or am I just planting a seed?
You're planting a seed. There's two moments for sure. That next championship that I want to get, hopefully, I can have that moment. Then, not too soon, I don't even like talking about it, but whenever retirement is, I just want to go to the half-court of Chase Center where I’ve put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into the game, and have a moment right there at half-court.
That would be special as a curtain call to an amazing career, whenever that is. This will be a part of it. There's gratitude, there's appreciation for all the experiences I've had, the memories. I do have a special cigar that I'm holding for that moment. We'll see what happens.
Wonderful. Like I said, after two more rings.
That's it. That's it.
Unless you want three.
For sure. I need that motivation because those celebrations and those moments are as meaningful as the journey.
Shifting gears a little bit, let's get away from bourbon, away from cigars, spirits, NBA. You and your wife are very philanthropic. Tell me about E.L.P.
Yes. Eat. Learn. Play.
How has that changed your life?
My wife and I have had hearts of service for a long time and are part of a lot of organizations with goals of ending early childhood hunger, promoting healthy, active lifestyles. We know that early education and literacy, in general, are key to success and reaching a kid’s full potential. Those are three pillars: eat, learn, play. We want to show up for the next generation of kids in our backyard of Oakland, California. We want to be the village for those kids. There's so much talent there, and we want to try to create opportunity.
For us to have planted our flag in Oakland, for us to have been able to increase our scale of work right now with Oakland Unified School District and the commitment that we've made to enhancing the school experience for the next generation of kids, that's our lifelong work and we're super excited that we've made some impact and that we're continuing to ride the wave of what is going to unlock a kid's success.
Early childhood literacy and tutoring for us is our big unlock right now, trying to be there for kids who are behind in grade-reading proficiency. We'll see where those results happen down the line for us in terms of getting kids from that third-grade milestone to high school completion and beyond.
The enormity of that undertaking is inspirational, and it speaks to the fact that all it takes is one person. All it takes is exposure to one thing, somebody who cares, somebody who's a mentor. I’m sure you are proud of this.
I appreciate that. We had inspiration when we were growing up. I got to see my dad show up in Charlotte, where I grew up, and the way that he leveraged the blessings of his life from his career to giving back. Again, the level, the scale that we're trying to impact these kids is beyond my wildest imagination. We have a true opportunity to change a generation of kids right in our backyard.
What other endeavors are you involved with right now philanthropically?
One of our other passions is golf. The idea is about allowing competitive golf to be the vehicle that can introduce work, life force, skills, community for kids in that 12- to 18-year range, especially from underrepresented communities across the country and in Europe. We’ve had the Underrated Golf Tour for four years now, and we have more black and brown kids picking up a golf club, being out there, becoming comfortable in their own skin out on the golf course. I want to have somebody on the PGA, LPGA, DP World Tour, holding a trophy, say, "I got my start through the Underrated Golf Tour.” We know that so many kids are going to be leaders and game changers in other industries, and we want to be able to give them the tools and the resources through the game of golf to do just that.
Regarding golf, not only do you do what you do on the court, but you’re a scratch golfer.
I was blessed my dad got me into it when I was really young. It's the game that keeps on giving. It's the ultimate self-discovery. No matter how good you might get, there's always another level to get to.
I'm a basketball player coming to this golf space trying to create equity, access, and opportunity within the game while still being a player. I'm still trying to get better in my off time. It's a lifelong sport.
I still get to spend time with my dad and my brother. My wife's getting into the game now. I get to introduce the game to my kids. It's given so much to me in terms of fun, enjoyment, excitement, memories, and I want to be able to share that.
I ask this a lot to athletes, musicians, and actors—it can be a bit of an eyeroll, but I'm going to ask it anyway. What would you like your legacy to be?
I truly believe, as great as a basketball player’s resumé looks, if that's what you are only known for, then you failed at life. I'm super excited about being a dad. I have four amazing kids. Now and when basketball's over, I get to be a part of their journey in terms of supporting them and encouraging them on whatever they decide to do in life.
I want to go deeper in everything I'm doing right now, create sustainability, so our foundation is known in 10 or 20 years for creating a model in Oakland that impacts lives.
You've been a good sport all day, Stephen. We’re so happy to have collaborated with you and your team.
Thank you, Randy. I appreciate it, man.
#
Randy Mastronicola is editor and publisher of Cigar & Spirits Magazine.