Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry was called out yesterday after making comments on the “Winging It” podcast regarding the moon landing, which he thinks may not have happened. In a conversation on the podcast with fellow NBA players Andre Igoudala, Vince Carter, and Kent Bazemore, Curry brought up the subject.
Curry: “We ever been to the moon?”
The other players: “Nope.”
Curry: “They’re gonna come get us. I don’t think so, either.”
Since then, Curry has caught flak for his blasé attitude toward the scientific organization, just as Kyrie did for his peddling of the flat-earth theories (which he apparently stopped talking about when several science teachers contacted him about their students who were buying into the theories because of his example).
Twitter Responds to Curry’s Comments
Twitter has had some pretty great responses to the puzzling comments (though we can’t know how serious Curry was when he said them, and if he does believe in what he said, well, whatever). Here are a few highlights:
@StephenCurry30 And that’s how you get a free tour
@StephenCurry30 Let me just take this chance to say that I don’t believe Oracle Arena front row seats are a real thing.
@dskjfdjnhsjfj @BenyaNbenya @davekent005 @StephenCurry30 The enitre Caribbean islands are not real. Prove me wrong @CarnivalCruise
@StephenCurry30 Steph could go to the moon and still be in 3 point range
Steph Has Faced Some Criticism for the Comments
Just like Kyrie Irving received criticism for his insistence that the earth may be flat, Steph is now facing a similar backlash. NASA quickly responded to the comments with an invitation for Curry to visit their lunar labs in Houston, so that they could give him a tour and help him learn about the facts of the matter.
“There’s lots of evidence NASA landed 12 American astronauts on the Moon from 1969-1972. We’d love for Mr. Curry to tour the lunar lab at our Johnson Space Center in Houston, perhaps the next time the Warriors are in town to play the Rockets. We have hundreds of pounds of Moon rocks stored there, and the Apollo mission control. During his visit, he can see first-hand what we did 50 years ago, as well as what we’re doing now to go back to the Moon in the coming years, but this time to stay.”
Besides roasting him for the comments, some Twitter users also pleaded with the NBA to star to watch his words. As these players are heroes to children–not just in America but around the world–their words are taken seriously and can influence the beliefs and attitudes of impressionable kids.
While peddling a popular conspiracy theory that’s been around for years is certainly less dangerous than, say, being openly racist, sexist, homophobic or hateful, there’s still the problem of influencing how children approach what are proven to be facts. That being said, an argument could be made that Curry is helping kids learn to freely question what they’ve been told and to have intellectual freedom.
That being said, facts are facts. Here’s some Twitter commentary on the matter:
@StephenCurry30 You and your peers are way too influential to be putting out these uninformed opinions. We’re going to have all these kids thinking the world is flat, that NASA never landed on the moon, and that dinosaurs didn’t exist. I get freedom of speech and opinion, but c’mon man! 😂
@StephenCurry30 I am a HS physics teacher. PLease go and listen to what they have to say, and do their own research. Kids listen to you. You are a huge role model. Your support for Science Education and Learning will go a long way.
@StephenCurry30 @ringernba So famous people can sometimes get once in a lifetime cool offers for saying dumb stuff that’s pretty disrespectful? I’m disappointed to see it play out that way, but I guess it’s a teachable moment.
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Steph Curry Doubts the Moon Landing, Twitter Responds