Stephen Curry changed the NBA (and won four championships) with a signature style of play: explosive three-point shots with lightning-fast release from seemingly anywhere on the court. But when it came time to make an impact off the court with their Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation, he and wife Ayesha Curry - who met as teenagers at their North Carolina church - took the opposite approach: slow and methodical, with the goal of making a difference at one specific place on the map.

 We always knew we wanted to do something in the Oakland community,  explains Ayesha of staying close to Stephen's - and, yes, she calls him Stephen, not Steph, as the rest of the world seems to - onetime home base with the Golden State Warriors.  And we spent 10-plus years doing a deep dive on what that could look like and how we could make the most impact. 

Launched in 2019, Eat. Learn. Play. embraces a  whole child, whole school  approach through the three pillars that inspired its name: access to nutritious meals, quality reading resources and opportunities to be active. Over the course of the past seven years, the nonprofit has invested more than $100 million in resources and support for Oakland students, covering 35 million meals for kids and families experiencing food insecurity, $20 million for literacy programs and resources, more than 1 million new books, and the overhaul of 24 schoolyards and six gyms. The Currys also opened their wallet - and kept it open - by funding all operating costs so that 100 percent of donations go directly to supporting Oakland students.

On both: Fear of God clothing; Cartier jewelry. Photographed by Lee Morgan

Their philanthropic work comes on top of his rigorous training and NBA schedule, the pressures of raising four kids - daughters Riley and Ryan, and sons Canon and Caius - and the demands of building multipronged business and entertainment careers.

Stephen has built out Unanimous Media, a full-service production company that covers film, TV, podcasting and publishing projects under a deal at Comcast NBCUniversal. He's jumped in front of the camera to star in Peacock's 

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