Stephen Curry and the Warriors open their training camp in the picturesque and frankly calming location of Laie, Hawaii. And it seems to be just what the 4x champion badly needed! His summer traveling, as exciting as it was, had its downside, as well. If you remember, the China tour was crazy, especially the final episode! That’s putting it mildly. More than 10,000 hoops fanatics turned up to watch the Chef at the Shanghai Indoor Stadium. So, it’s no wonder that he admitted something along similar lines to the media.

“Very easy to get loose. It’s a beautiful venue, vibe (Hawaii). Obviously, we’re here to work, prepare for the season, taking advantage of these 4-5 days we have here, including the game. Very motivated and excited to get back to work. It’s a beautiful view to wake up to… I was honestly sick of traveling from the summer, but this is not a bad vibe for sure. We haven’t done this before in the 16 years I’ve been here,” Steph admitted. Aside from his China business trip, which we will get to later, the hooper’s summer was packed tight. From the birth of his little boy, Caius Chai Curry, to his first Olympics, the 10x All-Star barely had time to breathe.

Then again, the ‘Chef’ had missed out on the past two invitations to the Olympics for family and rehabilitation reasons. Considering the 2024 Paris Olympics might very well be his last chance to represent the USA on an international platform, Stephen Curry ensured nothing held him back. And I mean, nothing!

He and Ayesha even planned their pregnancy, keeping the window for the Olympics open. Steph, the ultimate family man, is still a true competitor at heart. “There’s always that itch to play and play on the biggest stage like the Olympics,” the Warriors superstar had admitted to ESPN in 2021 after he forwent that year’s invitation.

Anyway, we can say with confidence that he succeeded in scratching that itch. With his insane performances in the final two matchups in Paris, including the ‘Golden Dagger,’ Steph Curry stepped up and, most importantly, altered his game, as per the team’s need, and brought home the Gold. But it didn’t mean it wasn’t exhaustive for his 36-year-old body. And that’s when the China tour happened.

Stephen Curry’s recent trip to China was a whirlwind week

That’s putting it rather mildly. We know that the NBA has a great global fanbase. But to actually see footage from Steph’s week-long China tour leaves us flabbergasted. Curry, along with the Kings‘ De’Aaron Fox, were in China to exclusively promote their signature line of Under Armour merchandise. Fox was the brand’s main signee after the Splash Brother, and he debuted his signature shoe during the trip. While these are the usual stuff that athletes do when they go on tours, the unusual part was the crowd swarming in public spaces, just to catch a glimpse of the ‘Baby-Faced Assassin’!

In fact, the enormity of it all led to several events being canceled and even skipping one city entirely out of the planned four-city trip! Out of the four cities Under Armour planned to make stops, Chengdu, Xi’an, Shenyang, and Shanghai, Stephen Curry said that he was particularly excited to visit Xi’an. “I’m excited to see how similar or different it is from the other cities,” he said.

As luck would have it, Xi’an turned out to be the very city he had to skip due to “overcrowding,” as per a local Chinese news source outlet, China Sports Vision 2050. Suffice it to say that it was as exhilarating as it was exhaustive.

So, as Curry pointed out, “It is nice just to get away from our facility for a week to start, especially with a lot of new people. So we’re going to, and their families too, which is cool.”

For many older fans, all this would’ve reminded them of the way Kobe Bryant touched hearts in China. The late hooper, Rest in Peace, was always active with his Asian audience. From opening up the ‘Kobe Bryant China Fund‘ and philanthropically helping the underprivileged with education, sports, and culture- the athlete had the entire country’s respect for years. Believe it or not, the love that these fans showed Steph Curry, did project a few flashbacks in our memory!

Before leaving, do watch the Dual Threat Show hosted by BG12 where Bulldogs’ Asia Avinger details her experience with Kobe Bryant, her WNBA ROTY picks, and more in the video below.