NEW YORK — When Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry takes the court to compete in the Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout and Degree Shooting Stars contest on All-Star Saturday Night, he plans to "honor the memory" of Deah Shaddy Barakat, one of three Muslim students killed this week near the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Barakat, 23, his wife, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, 21, and her sister, Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, were shot to death on Tuesday in North Carolina, where Curry grew up and starred for Davidson College. Craig Stephen Hicks, "a self-described 'gun toting' atheist with a reputation for bullying his neighbors," later turned himself in and faces three charges of first-degree murder.
Barakat's sister, Suzanne, told reporters during a press conference in Raleigh, N.C., on Wednesday that her brother, a second-year dental student at the UNC School of Dentistry, "was well-known for his 'all embracing kindness, lightheartedness, dedication to community service, love for basketball and anything Steph Curry.'" He frequently communicated his love of Curry on his Twitter account.
Word of Barakat's fandom soon reached Curry, who tweeted a message of condolence:
#RIP to my fan and from what I hear a great human being @arabprodigy30, his wife & sister-in-law. Horrible tragedy & prayers to his family!
— Stephen Curry (@StephenCurry30) February 13, 2015 Curry later decided to pay special tribute to Barakat, according to Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group:
Curry said he will write on his shoes and hoped the tribute to one of his biggest fans would be picked up by national television cameras at Barclays Center in Brooklyn as he participates in the Three-Point Contest.
"Even though we never met, I think it will hopefully mean a lot to his family and friends that knew what kind of a basketball fan he was to have some kind of peace knowing that people are thinking about him and they're not alone," said Curry, the leading vote-getter in the All-Star balloting. [...]
"[..] anytime you have a guy that was that supportive and takes it to a whole another level, I'm going to do something tonight," said Curry, who typically writes the Bible verse "I can do all things..." on his shoes.
Curry's planned tribute was briefly derailed, as the shoes he planned to wear during All-Star Saturday Night — two different variations of his signature Under Armour Curry One sneaker, the "Candy Reign" and "Father to Son" models, earmarked for the Three-Point Shootout and Shooting Stars contest, respectively — were "stolen in transit to Brooklyn," as reported by George Kiel of NiceKicks.com. The theft was reported in time for Under Armour to make alternate arrangements, though; ESPN.com's Darren Rovell reported that the backup pairs "will be carried to the Barclays Center for Curry to wear," and for him to pay his respects to his late fan.
2015 NBA All-Star Game coverage from Yahoo Sports:
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