Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, left, watches his daughter Riley as she examines his wax figure by Madame Tussauds after its unveiling Thursday, March 24, 2016, in Oakland, Calif. AP
OAKLAND, California—Toddler Riley Curry snuggled up under the right arm of her father’s wax figure and grinned in delight.
Even if a little bit confused by it all.
“How is it, Riley, is it weird?” her dad asked. “There’s two of us up here. That’s probably weird to see two of us up here looking right back at her.”
When Riley’s baby sister, Ryan, later sat down next to her, in a matching dress and sweater no less, they glanced up and admired their superstar dad’s dribbling pose.
“I don’t know how you could actually dream about something like this,” Curry said about seeing his likeness – and what a resemblance it is – in wax. “You look at the detail and all that goes into a wax figure, so pretty special.”
Madame Tussauds unveiled his wax figure Thursday and it will be on display at the Fisherman’s Wharf museum by the end of next week. A team of artists and sculptors spent nearly four months on Curry’s figure, taking 250 measurements of the NBA MVP and including details down to the tattoos on his wrists.
“That is crazy,” Curry said upon seeing his first view of the finished product, valued at $350,000. “I grew a little bit more facial hair before. During the season I have to shave to kind of match what it was last year. That is pretty cool. It’s pretty incredible, obviously very accurate. The whole process from posing for like four, three hours at that position I got a lot of quad work while they did all the measurements.”
Curry shot a selfie with his figure and posed for family photographs with his wife, two daughters and his mother.
Perhaps the only thing missing: his mouth guard, which he flung in frustration for a rare technical Wednesday night in a 114-98 victory over the rival Los Angeles Clippers.
The 28-year-old Curry shared a story how one of his first dates with Ayesha was to a wax museum.
“For me and my wife, it’s kind of a funny story. One of our first dates in L.A., we went to the museum on Hollywood Boulevard,” Curry said. “So that was one of our first experiences together, walking through and taking pictures with all the wax figures in that museum, and now to have one of my own is pretty special.”
It’s spot on down to his own handwriting on the bright blue Under Armour sneakers. Curry said he was amazed each hair was placed in the wax head by hand.
The Warriors held their team photo day and Curry joked with teammates that his wax figure could stand in for him in the photo.
“He finally hit it big, he finally made it. It’s official,” coach Steve Kerr said. “I can’t wait to see it. I think it will be cool.”
The folks at Madame Tussauds invited Curry to come see his wax figure in the museum.
“The schedule’s a little tight right now,” Curry said, smiling. “It was a great experience all the way through. It’s something I’ll remember for a while, and we’ll get to go see it with all the other distinguished people in the museum.”