When it was revealed that former NBA player Dell and wife Sonya Curry were calling it quits after more than 30 years, and doing so in a less than amicable way, people had plenty of thoughts. One of them was, how does their split impact their well-known adult children? Sure, Stephen, Seth, and younger sister Sydel are all married with children of their own, but you never get too old to have feelings about watching your parents break up.
In a recent interview with sports site The Ringer, Stephen decided to share how he’d handled the divorce, which involved being of support, sans judgment, to both his mom and dad.
“I had to make sure I was in that moment with both of them separately and this wasn’t just this whole kind of thing,” he told the publication. “That is how I choose to approach that. Because it is challenging.”
His parents, who’ve always been spotted together rooting for him at his NBA games and seemed like a happy, hand-holding couple, were not only on the outs, but also at odds — throwing damaging accusations at each other. Stephen’s role has been to show them both compassion and respect.
“It’s challenging for sure,” he says. “I could be mad and be like, ‘Y’all effed this up,’” he said. “I could have that approach. But it’s going to be an acknowledgment of both of y’all in terms of how y’all raised me. The calmness I have in myself is because of y’all.”
As mentioned, Dell and Sonya were college sweethearts, marrying in 1988 and raising three children. Sonya filed for divorce last summer, but the paperwork came to light months later.