NBA MVP Stephen Curry advertised his brother Seth Curry’s camp in response to accusations that he was overcharging families to attend a recent basketball camp.
Over the July 4th weekend, Stephen Curry hosted a camp on the campus of BYU-Hawaii to instruct kids on how to be a better basketball player. Curry observed that about 90 kids attended and thought that “it’s a pretty cool experience for campers, for parents to enjoy the game of basketball.”
Curry charged $2,250 per child, and that high price tag drew the ire of Michael Bennett, a Pro Bowl defensive lineman with the Seattle Seahawks. Bennett wondered why Curry, who will make over $12 million for the 2016-17 NBA season, could not give back to the community by running a camp for free.
Bennett observed that, “in my mind it's like, how much money do you need before you start giving back for free? And I think a lot of athletes should start focusing on that.” The NFL athlete lives in Honolulu in the offseason and runs a free camp alongside other NFL players in Hawaii every year for over 700 kids.
He views the camp as a great opportunity to bring football to Hawaii, which sees zero NFL play outside of the Pro Bowl.
In response to Bennett’s criticism, Stephen Curry posted a flyer on Instagram advertising his upcoming camp as well as merchandize. Seth’s camp will be held in Los Angeles on July 30th, and Stephen acknowledged Bennett’s accusation by observing that Seth’s camp “won't cost you 2K and it will be a great time learning from a really TALENTED player.”
Seth’s camp will still charge $200 per player. And while Stephen is arguably the best player in the NBA, Seth has struggled to make it into the league. He did sign a two-year, $8 million contract with the Dallas Mavericks in the offseason.
Some NBA players like Damian Lillard do charge athletes for their camps, but others do it for free. Milwaukee Bucks forward Jabari Parker hosted a free camp earlier this summer, and other star NBA players like Demarcus Cousins and Kawhi Leonard have hosted free NBA camps recently.
