NEW YORK — Warriors guard Stephen Curry said Saturday that during All-Star festivities in the evening, he will honor the memory of Deah Shaddy Barakat, who was killed in a triple homicide in Chapel Hill, N.C. that sparked widespread outrage.
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 3-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.
Barakat, 23, was shot to death along with his wife, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, 21, and her sister, Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, on Tuesday in Curry’s home state.
Barakat was well-known for his “love for basketball and anything Steph Curry,” his sister, Suzanne Barakat, told reporters following shootings she described as “execution-style.”
Curry learned of Barakat’s many social media posts about him after the shooting.
Barakat was such a fan of Curry’s that before his wedding in December, the University of North Carolina dental student appeared in a picture bouncing a basketball and wearing a bowtie just like the Warriors star did for a GQ photo shoot earlier in the year.
Barakat is pictured in Curry’s No. 30 while playing intramural basketball at North Carolina State. On Barakat’s Twitter account, (at)arabprodigy30, he identified himself as an “Aspiring Splash Brother.”
Last month, Barakat retweeted news in separate posts that Under Armour was releasing Curry’s first signature shoe and that the point guard received more than 1.5 million All-Star votes.
“So 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.
Barakat’s family asked the shootings of the Muslim college students be investigated as a hate crime, Suzanne Barakat told reporters.
Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder. Police cited a longtime parking dispute as a possible motive for the shootings at the condominium where the victims lived. His wife, Karen Hicks, has denied the killings had anything to do with religion.
“Obviously there’s investigations and all that,” Curry said.
“But anytime there’s a tragedy like that with three young people were killed in that manner is hard to hear about.”
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