NBA basketball player Stephen Curry, left, and his wife Ayesha Curry. (Photo by Omar Vega/Invision/AP)
Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry is making the most of his time during the suspended NBA season. The two-time league MVP and three-time NBA champion, along with his wife Ayesha, hosted numerous Christian music artists on Instagram Live Thursday night.
The list of artists included big names like David Crowder, Toby Mac, Chris Tomlin, JohnnySwim, Kari Jobe and Cody Carnes. Each of the artists performed a short concert for Curry, Ayesha, their children Riley, Ryan and Canon, and the rest of the Instagram Live viewers.
Steph and Ayesha Curry dubbed the whole event “Home + Hallelujah” to help uplift the spirits of many who are struggling to cope with the coronavirus pandemic.
Tonight we will be singing about THE hope with @stephencurry30 and a bunch of gifted friends. It’s something we could all use right now. Much love. My baby girl (Marlee) gonna be on the harmonies!!! It’s my honor to be a part. (7pm central on https://t.co/WD3rax9Ezq) pic.twitter.com/qzSCQhNT9J
Watch a few of the snippets from the artists’ performances:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-N-4GsA6MI/
Steph & Ayesha Curry Home and Hallelujah Instagram live with the girls + Canon Jack dancing and saying daddy + JohnnySwim singing. 🥰 pic.twitter.com/JRqjKGBvse
“Being able to have a perspective that’s refreshed in terms of the people in our lives that need prayer, that need that phone call, that text. To be honest, there is no more excuse of ‘Oh, I’m busy,'” he said on the broadcast. “It’s about being truly selfless in a way that Jesus would have us, and to be able to be that village for whoever needs us.”
Curry spent much of the 2019-2020 season dealing with a broken left hand, which occurred in the fourth game of the season. He made his much-anticipated return for only one game before the season was suspended on March 11.
The 37-year-old made the announcement on Tuesday and closes out her career with 8,396 career regular-season points to go along with 4,262 rebounds.
“It was all a dream, that’s the thought that keeps finding me,” she wrote in a statement posted on social media announcing her decision. “That, and deep gratitude. God has covered my life in ways I can’t fully put into words, and by His grace and mercy, I’ve been able to live out something bigger than I ever imagined.”
Charles was selected No. 1 overall by the Connecticut Sun in the 2010 WNBA Draft and quickly delivered on the hype, earning Rookie of the Year honors before being named league MVP in 2012. Ahead of the 2014 season, she was traded to her hometown team, the New York Liberty, where she spent six seasons and made five All-Star appearances.
Over the course of her career, she also had stints with the Washington Mystics, Phoenix Mercury, Seattle Storm and Atlanta Dream, before returning to Connecticut for her final season in 2025. Charles was named to the All-WNBA first team five times and the All-Defensive first team once, while also leading the league in rebounding four times and in scoring twice. She helped the U.S. win three Olympic gold medals, and in 2021 she was selected to the WNBA 25th Anniversary Team.
Before turning pro, Charles starred at UConn, leading the Huskies to national championships in 2009 and 2010. As a senior, she swept nearly every major national honor, including AP Player of the Year, John Wooden Player of the Year, USBWA National Player of the Year, and Big East Player of the Year.
“Fifteen years at the professional level and a lifetime of love for this game,” Charles wrote in her post. “I’ve experienced the highest highs and the lowest lows, and I’m thankful for all of it. Through it all, I learned how to show up. When doubt got loud and narratives were written about me, I kept showing up. That’s the New Yorker in me, where resilience is built, not talked about.”
Her bio on X references her faith in God: “His time. His way. His glory.” She’s also been public about her faith in interviews. She told The Ballers Magazine in August 2025 that she accepted Christ through Athletes In Action, and that faith helped her grow in how she was able to handle the mental and physical transition from the college game to the pros.
“My faith is everything for me,” she told the magazine. “Athletes in Action was on our campus and Maya Moore was a part of it. I had another teammate, Kaili McLaren (as well). I went to the camp and I was really able to learn how to make Jesus my motivation for my sport, so just giving thanks to Him for the blessings that I have. Once I accepted Christ — that was in 2009 — every time I took the floor my junior and senior year that’s when I started to turn the corner. I just kept saying to myself: ‘I’m playing for Him. I’m playing for an audience of One.’
“That was my motivation out there. That was the reason why I was going hard. That was the reason why my effort was what it was. That’s why I wanted to get in the gym because it was just my way of glorifying God when I was out there playing. That’s when things started turning for me my last two years at UConn.”
In August 2024, after becoming the WNBA’s second-leading scorer, she gave glory to God in her press conference comments.
“Just a whole bunch of gratitude,” Charles said. “I know this moment is big, but I have to give glory to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I’m just so much in awe at just how faithful He is … it’s unimaginable, and God just really gets the glory.”
She sat out the 2023 season and thought she was done playing. Not in a great space emotionally or mentally, she wasn’t sure if she still had a place in the league.
“So for me to be here right now, this is really special,” she said in the press conference.
She posted on Instagram at the end of 2023 reflecting on what had been a trying year for her and gave praise to God through it. She also referenced Hebrews 12:11, which says, “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”
“Trials are apart (sic) of life, but God always provides what we need in order to endure,” Charles wrote. “He sifts & refines us & closes doors to position & put us in our right place. Through the disappointments & losses, God’s purpose in all His choices for us is His glory. His goal is not to inflict pain unnecessarily but to let Christ’s life shine through us in hardship, to stabilize our confidence in God’s goodness, and to strengthen our trust in His loving sovereignty.
“His grace is always sufficient. Remember, it’s not the trial that develops or destroys us, but rather our response to that hardship.”
Then, in September 2024, after becoming the WNBA’s all-time rebounding and double-double leader, she gave glory to God in her postgame locker room speech after thanking her coaches and teammates.
“I have to give glory to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” she said. “Last year, my faith is what carried me. My faith is what allowed me to be standing here right now.”
Charles now retires as one of the most decorated players in college and pro basketball history. Perhaps the only thing missing was playing in the WNBA Finals.
“This game gave me everything, and I’ll miss it deeply,” Charles said in her statement. “But my mom always taught me, don’t stop at what you’ve done, keep going toward what you still see. And I still see so much. There are still dreams in my heart waiting to be lived, and I can’t wait to share that journey with you all.”
Detroit Pistons forward Tobias Harris (12) and guard Cade Cunningham (2), May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
As expected, the Detroit Pistons — the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference — have advanced to the second round of the NBA playoffs. But not as expected was how difficult it was for them to get there.
The Pistons fell behind three games to one against the No. 8-seeded Orlando Magic in the best-of-seven opening-round series as their offense sputtered against Orlando’s stifling defense. But they turned the tide by beating the Magic at its own game. After twice staving off elimination — including a Game 6 in which Detroit overcame a 24-point second-half deficit and Orlando managed only a season-low 79 points — the Pistons forced a Game 7 back in Detroit on Sunday.
With a raucous crowd eager for its team to advance to the second round for the first time since 2007-08, the Pistons seized control of the game in the second quarter and cruised to a 22-point win, 116-94.
Incredibly, this was not the first time the Pistons have come back from a 3-1 series deficit to win; they also accomplished the feat in 2003 as a No. 1 seed against these very same Orlando Magic. Those Pistons won their second-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers but subsequently fell to the New Jersey (now Brooklyn) Nets in the Eastern Conference Finals.
These 2025-26 Pistons hope to advance further than the conference finals, and they’re well positioned to do so. Their 60 regular-season wins were the third-most in franchise history, they have home-court advantage in the East, and the No. 2-seeded Boston Celtics were taken out in the first round.
Detroit has been led all season by young superstar point guard Cade Cunningham, and he delivered again on Sunday with a team-high 32 points and 12 assists. The 24-year-old five-year pro averaged 23.9 points, a career-high 9.9 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game in the regular season. He also swiped a career-high 1.4 steals per game, tied for 15th-best in the league.
Cunningham’s production this season led to his second consecutive All-Star selection. At the All-Star Game in February, the 2021 No. 1 overall pick was asked in a press conference about his aura.
“I get my aura from Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior,” he said. “God blessed me with parents that raised me in a way that I wouldn’t trade for the world.”
“Every day that I wake up understanding how blessed I am, how fortunate I am,” he said during the course, via the The Christian Post. “When I do a lot of the community outreach with the youth, I can easily see the blessings that I’ve had in my life, even as a young kid growing up.”
Later, he spoke about the importance of seeking to root his joy in Jesus.
“I always try to make sure that the workspace that I’m in — the NBA, there’s highs and lows — but I always make sure that I never let the highs and lows truly determine my true happiness as a person,” he said. “… I look at it like if I’m playing basketball in the NBA or if I’m a principal at a school, which is something I would love to do when my career is over, I’m going to find ways to always bring Christ out in my life.”
Tobias Harris in Game 7? OUTSTANDING.
🎯 30 PTS, 5-7 3PM, 11-18 FGM, DET W
Harris and Cade Cunningham become the 11th duo in NBA history to each total 30+ PTS in a Game 7! pic.twitter.com/XmeBjfQKO8
Another Piston who has contributed to the team’s memorable season is Daniss Jenkins, a lightly touted undrafted second-year pro quickly developing a reputation as a knockdown 3-point shooter and intense defensive stopper. In Sunday’s Game 7 victory, Jenkins sparked Detroit with 16 points (4-of-5 on 3-pointers), five assists and three rebounds in 29 minutes off the bench.
“This is Sunday. It’s the Lord’s day, baby. It’s the Lord’s day,” he said. “My mama prayed for me today. She said a great prayer. I believe in God and I trust my work.”
With some of their key players grounded in faith, the Pistons now look to their second-round matchup against the No. 4-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers (52-30), which begins on Tuesday. Game 1 from Detroit is set for 7 p.m. ET.
THIS IS THE GET IN THE GAME PODCAST
WITH SCOTT LINEBRINK
Our guest today is Fonzo Martinez, the boys basketball head coach at McKinney Christian Academy in Texas.
In 2026, Martinez led his club to the 4A state championship for the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS). He joins host Scott Linebrink to talk about leadership, faith, winning and trusting in the process.
What a season, what a journey, what a team, what a BROTHERHOOD✊🏼🫡 This team was SPECIAL, and has only cemented the standard and CU1TURE of our program. Time to get in the gym, and start working for next season… we’re coming for that 🏆💍💪🏼
Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla, March 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)
Heading into the season, some NBA pundits and fans saw this as a “gap year” for the Boston Celtics. Star guard Jayson Tatum was coming off a torn Achilles suffered in last year’s playoffs, while key contributors Kristaps Porziņģis and Jrue Holiday were dealt in the offseason. Longtime center Al Horford also departed, signing with the Golden State Warriors in free agency.
But as the NBA enters the postseason, there the Celtics are, back in familiar territory as the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference after posting a 55-26 regular-season record. It’s the fifth straight season in which Boston has finished in the top two in the East. After missing most of the season recovering, Tatum is back playing, and head coach Joe Mazzulla is looking to lead his team to a second NBA championship under his watch.
The way the Celtics closed out the regular season was perhaps a microcosm of the 2025-26 season. Tatum and fellow star guards Jaylen Brown and Derrick White, along with a host of key reserves, were unavailable for Game No. 82, yet the Celtics beat the Orlando Magic — which was battling for playoff positioning — with just eight available players.
“We said it all year, one through [18], whoever steps on the floor, there’s an expectation to put us in position with an opportunity to win,” Mazzulla said Sunday after the game. “Stick to the process of winning. Today is no different than the other 81 games from the standpoint of we had eight guys, and the expectation is to put us in position to win, to execute, to play hard, to play together.”
For his efforts this season, Mazzulla is on the shortlist for Coach of the Year honors. Should he win, he’ll point the spotlight off himself and instead toward God, as he often does when on the biggest stage.
When the Celtics won the title in 2024, Mazzulla donned a black shirt that read — in all white capital letters — “BUT FIRST…LET ME THANK GOD.” As the head coach for one of the most storied franchises in all of professional sports, he sees his platform as an opportunity to regularly give glory to God.
He remained in that shirt for all of the postgame celebration photos and interviews. He was even pictured holding up the Larry O’Brien Trophy, smiling while proudly wearing the shirt. It marked the 18th world championship for the Celtics — the most of any NBA franchise — and the official photo and video documentation of it will forever include his bold and public statement of faith.
The championship celebration continued into the early hours of the morning, at which time Mazzulla walked around the confetti-filled arena with his wife, Camai, and prayed.
“On the walk we were talking a lot about how this can’t change us,” he told the audience at a Nations of Coaches event in Boston in 2024. “A lot of it was praying for the humility and perspective to not allow this to change who we are.”
The Mazzulla home proudly features a “prayer board” where he, his wife, and their children add prayers throughout the year. The board oscillates between prayers for their immediate family, friends and other loved ones. At one point, it included a prayer for Mazzulla to rise through the coaching ranks and become an NBA coach. But as he was making the grind through the Division-II ranks, coaching in the NBA felt like sort of a pipe dream.
“I almost took the ‘NBA head coach’ one down and then she kind of yelled at me and made me keep it up there,” he said at the event.
Before he was married, he started a “vision board,” where he put up pictures of goals he wanted to “speak into existence.” On it were goals like winning the NBA championship and working for the Celtics, and eventually photos of his wife and kids as well as NBA coaches Brad Stevens, Erik Spoelstra and Steve Kerr. There was also a photo of Jesus.
“The vision board kind of tells your story — like I want to work for the Celtics, I want to win a Larry O’Brien Trophy, I want to be able to learn from these three guys … I want to keep Jesus at the center of it, and I want to have a family,” he said. “So it kind of helps you tell the story about where you want to go and how you’re going to get there.”
As he’s grown older as a man and as a coach, so too has his faith and understanding of Jesus — in particular the concept of grace.
“Over the last maybe five to eight years I’ve really made a commitment to study grace and what real love is and understanding [all that],” Mazzulla said on the Sports Spectrum Podcast in October 2023. “How I’m able to accept God’s grace or how I’m able to accept His love is going to be how I’m able to give it to my kids or my wife or people. So it’s something that I’ve really been focused on the last few years: grace, love, understanding, mercy, those gifts.”
He’s also able to see how God has orchestrated his career to where he’s gone from the lower ranks of college to coaching an NBA champion.
“There’s no coincidence that I’ve had the opportunity to coach a team of the area that I’m from,” he said on the podcast. “I grew up 45 minutes from [Boston] and God has given me this. I try to be as thankful as I can every single day, knowing it might not last forever, but this is where God has us. So I can’t hide that, and I’m just forever grateful for what He’s done for me.”
Mazzulla and the Celtics will begin their 2026 playoff run Sunday against whichever team emerges as the East’s No. 7 seed from the play-in round.
