Emily Parker spoke with Marcus Thompson, reporter, sports columnist, and now author of 'Golden', about the faith and skill of basketball star Steph Curry.

Steph, you can just have a conversation with him and it feels like a regular person, so you walk away with this like, "Wow, I just had a conversation with Stephen Curry and it felt like a regular guy," even though there's a billboard of him in China.

Emily: With that in mind, he's very vocal about his faith and his belief in God. How much do you think that has an impact on the decisions that he makes and even the way that he plays?

Marcus Thompson (photo: Jordan Jiminez)

Marcus: I would say it's about 90% of it, the other 10% is his parents are very southern. They were raised in Virginia and he has this southern hospitality about him where you're just kind to people and that's what you do.

A lot of what Steph is about is trying to make sure he uses basketball for a greater good, for what he believes in. He wants to be the one to feel different and be different. He wants to be the one you interact with and walk away saying "Wow, he's different," and when you ask why is he different, he can tell you it's because of his belief in God, because of his lifestyle, and because of his saviour. That's kind of his outlook on it all.

He likes being the good guy; he likes being the sacrificial one, the selfless one. He wants that to be his whole aura. He goes out of his way. It's funny too, he has a security team and he always violates them. It's a running joke where they're like, "No more autographs." He'll speak out another way and sign more autographs, or the public relation staff will say "No more interviews" and then he'll see somebody and give them an interview. He really views all of it as his ministry to the world to bring a goodness to the world. He's pretty serious about it too. I've known him for a long time. He's not joking about it. He's really devoted to showing that good guys end up in good places too.

Emily: On the court he's known for pounding his chest and pointing to the sky as a reminder that he plays for God. What's your opinion on how that's received? Not only by his teammates, but by those who are watching?

Marcus: This is a very interesting question you bring up, because the truth is, most Americans, especially most people in the NBA and in the NFL, or any of these professional sports, identify themselves as Christian and believe in God. But somehow the ones who are really outspoken about it, they tend to get ostracised. It tends to be a negative thing.

So it's really weird to see a guy with a necklace with a cross on it, or a necklace with an image of Jesus on it, and praying hands tattooed on his arm, and then he's mad at a guy for being too religious. It's just a funny thing that happens, but I think the way Steph handles it, he's not the Bible thumping preacher type, he really tries to avoid telling people how to live their lives, telling people what they're doing wrong. He's really adamant about not being that guy.

There was a guy in the NBA before that, his name was Dwight Howard and he was a son of a Baptist minister, I think he was Baptist, his father was a minister, I know that. But when he came into the NBA, he was saying it was his mission to convert the league. He openly said this.

Emily: That was a pretty big statement.

Marcus: Yeah right? I remember seeing the interview, it was on 60 Minutes. He's like, "When I'm done, there's going to be a cross on the NBA logo." I think people didn't like that. Players in the league took offence at that. Many people challenged him like, "You're going to be this strong faithfully? All right. Let's see if you can handle these five strippers I'm going to put on you. Let's see if you can walk away from that."

I think Steph saw that example and said "I'm not going to be that guy. I'm just going to be the guy who loves people; I'm going to be the guy who supports people. I'm going to be the guy who lives a clean life. I'm not going to condemn people who step out on their girlfriends, but they're not going to see me doing it. I'm not going to condemn people who drink alcohol and party at the club and all that. I'm just going to live differently and show them that even though I live differently, you and I can still have a relationship."

He earned people's respect with that, because they know he's not doing it for show and they know he's not doing it to condemn them. This is just the lifestyle he chose and they believe him. I've watched him win his team-mates over. They used to say "Hey Steph, come and hang out with us" and he might go a time or two just to show them that I'm not better than you, I'm not above you. So he's really adamant about making sure he's not the religious zealot that nobody can hang around. He wants to be one with the guys.

Emily: Do you think having key people around him to keep his head in the game, and encourage him with his faith makes a difference?