Steph Curry visits with A's, rakes in BP

OAKLAND -- The building that shares the same parking lot as the Oakland Coliseum -- Oakland Arena -- is where Stephen Curry emerged as a basketball icon while playing his home games there for a decade. On Wednesday, the star hooper returned to try his hand at a new sport.

Fresh off capturing his fourth NBA championship with the Golden State Warriors in June, Curry and his wife, Ayesha -- who co-founded the Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation -- partnered with the A’s to host over 1,000 children in the Oakland community at Wednesday’s series finale against the Astros. Prior to the game, Curry took batting practice off manager Mark Kotsay and spent time inside the A’s clubhouse with players and coaches.

Kotsay, who is a friend of Golden State head coach Steve Kerr and donned a long sleeve Warriors shirt for the occasion, was impressed enough with the hitting session that he told Curry afterwards that he’d consider batting him third in the A’s lineup.

“I grew up in a different era where Magic Johnson was my childhood basketball hero,” Kotsay said. “But I would put Steph in that category right there with him.”

Curry’s baseball roots run deep. His father, Dell, was drafted by the Orioles in the 14th round of the 1985 MLB Draft out of Viriginia Tech before ultimately going on to have his own solid 10-year NBA career.

“I should have spent some more time in the cages before I came out," Curry said on the NBC Sports California broadcast. "I played baseball until I was about 13 growing up in Charlotte, N.C., so I’ve got some fundamentals. But we didn’t hit with a wood bat back then. That was the most interesting part. I had 55-65 mph coming at me and a couple of them stung a little bit. But it was nice to just get some swings and feel like I was moving the ball somewhere.”

In addition to hanging out with the A’s, Curry also linked up with Astros manager Dusty Baker, who gifted him a pair of batting gloves.

Curry addressed the crowd before the game and expressed his gratitude to the fans who came out in support. Shortly after, he and Ayesha both threw out a ceremonial first pitch before heading up to the Stomping Ground section in the Coliseum’s right-field plaza to watch the game with the over 1,000 kids in attendance from various summer camps across Oakland.

“This foundation started because they wanted to give back to Oakland in a major way and in a way that lasts a long time,” said Eat. Learn. Play. CEO Chris Helfrich. “Today is our third anniversary, and we can think of no better place to celebrate it than here with the Oakland A’s, who have been a great partner of ours, and with over 1,000 kids from the community that we’re bringing out. This is a dream come true for Stephen and Ayesha, and, hopefully, for these kids.”