Stephen Curry speaks out against gun violence at the ESPYs
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Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry spoke out against gun violence while presenting the Arthur Ashe Courage Award to Zaevion Dobson at the ESPYs on Wednesday night.
Dobson was shot and killed at the age of 15 this past December after using his body to shield other individuals from gunfire in Knoxville, Tennessee.
“In an average year in America, more than 33,000 people die after getting shot by a gun,” Curry said while introducing the award. “That’s about 2,700 people very month, 600 people every week and 91 people every day. Wherever you’re from, whatever you think, whatever your politics are, what you can’t forget is that every once of those people who dies has a story. This is one of them.
“It’s about a 15-year-old kid, an athlete and a role model, who had nothing to do with the bullet that took his life,” Curry continued. “He and his friends didn’t know the people who killed him or anything about the feud that led to their gunfire. But in a split second, because of his incredible courage, he became part of one of the saddest statistics in America, so now we let him tell us his story.”
A subsequent video told the story of Dobson’s life. His mother, Zenobia Dobson, accepted the award on his behalf.
“We as a country need to take a stand to consider the effects of gun violence on families throughout America,” she said.
Curry has also spoken out about gun violence in the past. He was featured in the NBA’s PSA that called for an to gun violence last year.
The full tribute to Dobson can be viewed here.
