Stephen and Ayesha Curry Reveal How Their Friendship with Barack and Michelle Obama Began (Exclusive)
Stephen and Ayesha Curry Reveal How Their Friendship with Barack and Michelle Obama Began (Exclusive)
Natasha DyeTue, March 3, 2026 at 10:17 PM UTC
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Stephen Curry, Ayesha Curry, Michelle Obama, Barack Obama at the 2026 NBA All-Star GameCredit: Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty I -
Stephen and Ayesha Curry tell PEOPLE how their longtime friendship with Barack and Michelle Obama began
Stephen says "it never feels normal to say you're friends with" Barack and Michelle
Ayesha describes Barack and Michelle as "very normal" people and "exceptionally great"
Stephen and Ayesha Curry go way back with Barack and Michelle Obama.
The couples made headlines last month when they were seen hanging out together at NBA All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles, and now Stephen, 37, is telling PEOPLE the origin of their friendship.
"It never feels normal to say you're friends with the president and the First Lady, but it's special," says Stephen, who first met Barack, 64, through his support of the Nothing But Nets organization's work to prevent and treat malaria in East Africa.
"It started with one of my college buddies who did a fundraiser at Davidson," Steph says. "Then, I joined the council and did a couple of panels and speeches at Capitol Hill, and got to go to the Oval Office for the first time."
Stephen Curry and Barack Obama on Feb. 15, 2026 in Los AngelesCredit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty
In February 2016, after the Warriors won the NBA championship, he returned to the White House, where the president spoke highly of his leadership and athleticism, but Stephen says their relationship was still fairly cordial back then.
"Then, I think it turned out that we got to play golf with him when we went to Martha's Vineyard one year and spent some more time with both him and Michelle. It's special," says Stephen, who adds that Barack is always excited to talk about basketball with him. "Every time I talk to him, he's asking something about the game, and I'm like, oh, he knows because he's been watching."
After that 2016 golf trip, the Warriors star talked about it with Michelle when they appeared on Ellen together, and the First Lady gave Stephen some advice on trash-talking her husband. Stephen, though, tells PEOPLE now that he'll "plead the fifth" on whether or not he's actually tried to give Barack any smack talk.
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"I don't think you had it in you," Ayesha says, with a laugh.
The Sweet July founder adds that Barack and Michelle are "very normal" people who also "just so happen to be exceptionally great too."
Steph and Ayesha are also now business partners with Michelle, after they joined as ambassadors for the hydration drink PLEZi Nutrition, which just released three new flavors: Lemon Lime, Tropical Punch, and Orange Mango Twist.
Ayesha tells PEOPLE Michelle brought the opportunity to them, "and I think that the driving force between the connection was truly her work she had done while in office with Let's Move and her beliefs around childhood nutrition, and our work that we do in Oakland with Eat, Learn, Play, our nonprofit."
The "deciding factor" for the couple, however, was their kids' opinion, says Ayesha, who shares daughters Riley, 13, and Ryan, 10, and sons Canon, 7, and Caius, 21 months, with Stephen.
"We kind of just left it in the fridge to see what they would do. We didn't push it on them and within a week, they were like, 'Can I have a PLEZi? Can I have another PLEZi?' and we realized that they really, really like it."
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
