Former NBA player Gilbert Arenas is not fully backing down from comments he made about Ayesha Curry, wife of Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry, even after Curry publicly called him out.
On his “Gil’s Arena” podcast, Arenas said his point was that Steph Curry rarely draws controversy, but that his wife’s recent acting role was the one blemish on an otherwise clean family image.
“All I said is he doesn’t get in trouble for nothing,” Arenas said. “He says the right things. If you gotta judge this family, his only blemish is what his wife said. That’s all I said. If there is a blemish, it’s that.”
Arenas, a three-time All-Star, offered a partial apology but stopped short of a full retraction.
“I’m sorry if he’s offended. I didn’t mean it like that. I was just saying that he’s such a perfect dude… but I am sorry.”
Podcast contributor Nick Young, who played alongside Curry for one season in Golden State and won the 2018 NBA title with the Warriors, took a more direct approach.
“This man Gil won’t say sorry at all. I’m sorry, Steph. You my dog. I love you. If I offended you, I apologize like a man. I’m sorry,” Young said.
Former NFL player Emmanuel Acho, who made separate comments on his own podcast, also apologized.
“When a man humbly comes to you and requests an apology, then you wouldn’t be ignorant to respond with anything else than I’m sorry,” Acho said. “Steph, I’m sorry for not just offending you but potentially offending your wife. I’m sorry for how it may have made you feel.”
Acho went on: “I’m sorry for how it may have made you feel seeing headlines, commentary, all these things about your wife… I’m sorry for the reactions it may have caused internally, vicariously among you, in your central and nervous system.”
The apologies followed Stephen Curry’s own social media response to criticism of his wife of 15 years, posted in an Instagram video on Wednesday.
“Usually the noise doesn’t bother me, it doesn’t bother Ayesha, but this one in particular, when you’re trying to step on the accomplishments of my wife and, you know, obviously needing podcasts, tapings and topics and giving opinions on somebody else’s wife,” Curry said.
The criticism centered on a scene in Ayesha Curry’s Roku romantic comedy “Second Chance Holiday,” in which her character kisses co-star Matthew Daddario. The scene drew debate among sports commentators online.
Curry named his critics directly in the video. “Nick, Gil, Emmanuel, and anybody else who feels the need to wanna have to, you know, jump in and give an opinion of something you don’t really know about, something that kinda speaks to a bigger conversation on how you view women in this world and what they’re allowed and what they’re not allowed to do.”
He closed the video by thanking the critics sarcastically for the extra publicity his wife’s film received.
On the court, Curry’s week took another turn when he left Wednesday’s game against the Houston Rockets early with less than seven minutes left in the first quarter. He later underwent an MRI that revealed an oblique abdominal tear. The Warriors lost that game 115-108.
Curry is expected to miss at least two weeks, though ESPN reported Thursday, citing sources, that the team anticipates he could be sidelined closer to a month.
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