“I’ll get tagged on social media, like ‘You ruined the game’. People are going to talk s—t”. Even after he broke the All-Time 3-Point Record, Stephen Curry couldn’t help but highlight the presence of judgment that existed against him. Fame is never easy to handle, since a celebrity may have 100 people who dislike them for every 1000 fans who adore them. This criticism is taken to another level when it comes to sports.

From his mother receiving swear words outside a hotel to fans trash-talking him by using his wife, Stephen Curry has seen several forms of hate. Given his fame, there is nothing he can do to avoid that. However, before his NBA entry, Steph’s mother took it upon herself to ensure that the criticism did not influence him, or his siblings.

Sonya Curry recently sat down for an interview on ‘The Travis Hearn Podcast’. During the discussion, she attempted to make a point by using a buzzing fly as an example. Everyone may know what it’s like to have a fly buzz over the head, stop, and then buzz again? To Sonya, that is what the criticism is like. After all, things may suddenly get quiet, and then people will “praise you”.

“When the kids were little, and Dell (Curry) was in the league, we wouldn’t get the newspaper. I wouldn’t let the newspaper come in the house because, you know, one day they’re praising their dad, next day they’re criticizing them. And I was like ‘I’m not going to let my children experience that at a young age’ because, again, it plants the seed that they need that praise, or that desire to see themselves, uh, notoriety in themselves in newspapers,” said Sonya. “So, I really intentionally tried to provide an environment free of that, but I would also tell them why”

Then, it’ll get quiet again, and so on. Not only being the mother of two NBA players but also the ex-wife of a former NBA player, Sonya has heard that buzz for too many years now. Therefore, she developed a sense of what the effect of that praise/criticism can have on an individual’s well-being. Therefore, not being addicted to validation was a lesson that she emphasized.

No matter the efforts that Sonya took, one could not avoid the criticism completely. In an ESPN interview dated 2014, Stephen Curry revealed that during his high school days, his mother’s beauty was used to trash talk him. While Steph was a relative unknown at that time, his father, Dell Curry, used to play for the Charlotte Hornets back then.

Sonya would often attend Dell’s games, causing her to become a fixture in the public spotlight. This brought some unwanted attention to Steph, as he revealed “Oh man, that’s the worst. I mean obviously she’s definitely a beautiful lady. And I guess the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. But she definitely gets her TV time when she comes to support myself, my brother at our games.”

Back in Sonya’s day, hiding the newspaper or changing the news channel would have been enough. However, this is the age of social media. Avoiding certain types of news from reaching your children’s ears has become harder than ever. Despite this, Sonya Curry’s daughter-in-law now tries to follow in her footsteps and do her part to protect Stephen Curry’s family from the media.

Feeling Regret over Riley’s early introduction, Stephen Curry’s Wife Attempts To Keep Kids Offline

Along with having created her own Culinary Empire, and working alongside Steph on the Eat.Learn.Play Foundation, Ayesha Curry also continues being a loving mother to her four children. While there are very few regrets she may possess, one of them involves her eldest daughter Riley. Long-time Curry fans may remember her as the adorable girl who kept interrupting during her father’s pressers.

In an interview with Insider back in 2023, Ayesha revealed “When the social media thing started, nobody knew what that was going to become. If we had known back in the day just how chaotic it would make life, I don’t think we would’ve done it. But we were just genuinely living our lives back then. And we thought, ‘This is our kid. We’re bringing our kid along.’”

Due to what she saw when raising her eldest daughter, Ayesha now chooses to take extra precautions with her other children. As highlighted by Business Insider, Mrs. Curry revealed that ‘none of them (Riley, Ryan, Canon) have social-media accounts or cell phones to prevent them from seeing information about their parents or family online’. However, Ayesha still wants her children to have new experiences and not miss out on things like the other kids.

“Where’s the middle ground, where we’re strict, but we’re also allowing our kids to experience life?” said Ayesha. “We’re trying to figure out what that balance is. Just kind of learn as you go, right?”

Raising children is a tough challenge for every parent out there. The Currys had to go through the usual difficulties, while also protecting their children from the public eye. The level of toughness in doing so is something that only they can explain to the rest of the world.