Steph Curry boarded the team plane, leaving Utah on Wednesday night with more wins than expected.
His Golden State Warriors thoroughly dispatched the Jazz, as Curry scored 27 points in a 140-124 win.
But the four-time NBA champion also took home his first victory as a movie director at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City.
It wasn’t without a twist, though.
Curry’s film, titled “The Baddest Speechwriter of All,” won Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize for short films. A celebration was held Tuesday night, but the Warriors’ schedule didn’t allow Curry to get there in time. The team flew in late Tuesday.
So Curry scrambled and accepted the award via WhatsApp.
“Ironically, it was the first time I did an acceptance speech over WhatsApp video,” Curry said. His co-director, Ben Proudfoot “was up there on the stage and I got to do a 30-second acceptance speech. I was there in spirit.”
Curry is no stranger to Sundance, first coming to the event in 2023. He was featured in a documentary about himself, called “Underrated.”
“I couldn’t make it last night but I went to Sundance three years ago when we did the ‘Underrated’ doc,” Curry said. “Did some screenings up there.”
Curry’s latest film, which he co-directed with Proudfoot, is about Martin Luther King Jr.’s longtime speechwriter Clarence Jones.
Jones was a civil rights leader and lawyer. Now in his 90s, he spoke with Curry for the documentary.
“You do projects not really looking for that type of acknowledgment,” Curry said. “You do it for the story you are trying to tell. I was having this conversation with somebody, these kinds of awards only further the opportunity to tell Clarence’s story. He’s had such an impact on this country through his civil rights work, the speech writing and legal work for Dr. King.”
In a statement, the Sundance jury said the film “implores us to take action with a message that is timeless and timely. Through the eyes of its subject, we find one of the most important moments in modern history has a new perspective.”
“We have the opportunity and the platform to share Clarence’s story from his own perspective, his words,” Curry said. “He got to tell his story. We are ecstatic to win, but it is not about us. It is about him and his life.”
