On Wednesday, Sports Illustrated dropped its second annual list of the “50 most influential figures and forces in sports.” That list did not include four-time NBA champion, two-time MVP and now Olympic gold medalist Steph Curry, who just finished one of the most noteworthy summers of his career, which included a storybook Olympics, the debut of his Peacock series and a China trip that was so overcrowded he had to cancel multiple appearances.
The list included four different categories: icons and leaders; athletes; executives and dealmakers; and influencers. Curry was included on the first edition of the list in 2023, but the outlet offered no explanation for why he was dropped this year.
The list even has eight total active basketball players, with six in the athletes category: NBA stars Anthony Edwards and Victor Wembanyama; WNBA stars A’ja Wilson, Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark; and USC standout JuJu Watkins. LeBron James was included in the Icons and Leaders category, and LSU junior Flau’jae Johnson was in the influencers category in part because of her rap career.
While the 50 “figures and forces” who were included certainly have their own merits, there are some questionable decisions when you try to map back how Curry was omitted. SI gave “LSU Tigers Talent” one of the spots, seemingly as a catch-all to list several of the school’s alums in one spot. (The fact that Reese and Johnson are both on the list separate from this LSU one is generally confusing.)
Social media seemingly played a heavy role in the decisions for this list, as follower counts were cited several times — for example, “On3 Insiders” Joe Tipton and Hayes Fawcett “have more than 500,000 followers on Instagram and 300,000 on X,” the story reads. Of course, Curry has 58.1 million followers on Instagram.
A dog also made the list over Curry, with SI giving one spot for Kirk Herbstreit and his golden retriever, Ben — a curious choice over the greatest shooter who ever lived.
SI even mentions Curry in the explanation for including Wembanyama, citing how Curry was on the NBA’s list of “most viewed players on its social media.” Yet somehow, Curry coming in with more than 400 million more views than Wembanyama didn’t get him on this list, while the Frenchman is included.
Athlete? Icon? Influencer? Curry could easily fit in those categories — after all, his “Night Night” celebration has become a global phenomenon, with soccer star Lionel Messi using it recently. Topps has even made a special trading card with the two on it, both doing the celebration Curry made famous.
