Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry unveiled a special pair of shoes on Sunday night, which featured the hand-painted likeness of Bruce Lee. He did so to stand in solidarity with the Asian community and sparked praise from the martial arts legend‘s daughter. Shannon Lee, the head of the Bruce Lee Foundation, said that she was honored by Curry’s choice.
“I think Stephen’s gesture is a beautiful example of allyship and solidarity in action,” Shannon said, per TMZ. “I am honored he would choose my father and my family as the symbol for the idea that we are all one family, as my father said, and therefore must all stand for one another.” Curry will auction off the game-worn shoes to raise money for the families of the victims of the Atlanta-area shootings.
Videos by PopCulture.com
View this post on Instagram
Following the 117-111 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday, Curry spoke to the media about his custom shoes. Explained why he chose to partner with the Bruce Lee Foundation and why it was so important to him to highlight Lee and his family with the hand-painted designs.
“It’s a significant opportunity to raise some money. We’re gonna auction them off and obviously what Bruce Lee stood for in terms of unifying people, speaking on the collective harmony of everybody from different backgrounds, different races but especially his Asian heritage,” Lee said. “I think he has a lot of quotes and just narratives and themes that he spoke of consistently that still ring true today and I know his foundation do a lot to live that out, to impact people’s lives and continue to spark change.”
The attacks took place on March 16. A man, Robert Aaron Long, allegedly killed eight individuals in spas in Atlanta. He has been charged with eight counts of murder. According to CNN, the shootings occurred at Youngs Asian Massage, Gold Massage Spa, and Aroma Therapy Spa.
Curry is not the only high-profile figure to help raise money for the families of the victims. Ken Jeong, one of the stars of The Masked Singer, made some donations to the families of the victims. He reportedly made five $10,000 donations to the families of Soon Chung Park, Hyun Jung Grant, Suncha Kim, Xiaojie Tan, and Yong Yue. NBC News confirmed that Jeong had made the donations to the individual GoFundMe campaigns set up after the shootings.
