Steph Curry has been pumping up the American table tennis team since the Olympics started.
Friday, he got a chance to meet the players.
Lily Zhang, Rachel Sung, Amy Wang and Kanak Jha were in attendance at Team USA’s basketball practice ahead of a Saturday matchup with Puerto Rico. When practice was over, Curry walked over to the table tennis stars with a ping pong ball and asked for the entire team to autograph it. The players seemed stunned but promptly signed the ball for the Warriors legend.
Steph got his table tennis ball signed by the entire @usatabletennis team! @StephenCurry30 x #USABMNT pic.twitter.com/q6aSr58G59
— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) August 2, 2024
Zhang, who grew up in Palo Alto and went to Cal, just completed her fourth Olympics. This time, she made it to the Round of 16, the furthest any American woman has made it at Olympic table tennis.
In attendance at her Round of 32 victory was NBA star Anthony Edwards, who had previously been talking smack at the opening ceremony, when he insisted he’d be able to take one point off any of the table tennis Olympians.
Curry assured him he would not score a single point.
Zhang, an Olympian since she was 16, told the New York Times this sort of thing happens all the time. While at Cal, she said there’d be “frat guys” constantly challenging her, and once in a while she’d give them the privilege of playing opposite an Olympian.
“I’d hustle them a little, give them a little,” the 28-year-old said, “and then destroy their egos.”
Jha, from Milpitas, was also defeated in the Round of 16, but not after making history as the first American man to make it that far.
Sung, from San Jose, will pair up with Wang in women’s doubles. Their first match is against Germany on Tuesday at 1 a.m. PT.
