The NBA is facing accusations that it racially profiled the father-in-law of Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry when its security officers allegedly mistook Ayesha Curry’s dad for a man who had previously scammed the basketball league.
At Game 6 of the NBA finals at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Stephen’s wife Ayesha tweeted, “Police racial profiled my father and told him to remove credentials and tried to arrest him. It’s been a long night for me.”
After the game, Curry elaborated further, telling reporters, “I was just kind of debriefed on what the security thought happened with some guy that poses with fake credentials and gets backstage at a lot of events, the NBA finals and all that stuff. They kind of profiled my father-in-law and thought he was him. They threatened to arrest him before they checked out his credentials. It’s kind of been an emotional and tough night all the way around.”
Police racial profiled my father and told him to remove credentials and tried to arrest him. It's been a long night for me. I apologize:
— Ayesha Curry (@ayeshacurry) June 17, 2016
The man in question was apparently David Aminzadeh, who has previously sneaked into numerous major sporting events, according to ESPN.
Side-by-side photos of Ayesha’s father and Aminzadeh show that the two do not look alike, and the alleged scammer appears to be younger.
In an earlier interview with Parents magazine, Ayesha said her father is African American and Polish. Aminzadeh’s ethnicity is unclear.
After the 115-101 loss to the Cavaliers, Curry told reporters that the ordeal with security was upsetting for his family.
“That was kind of a traumatic situation where her [Ayesha’s] dad almost got arrested. So it was kind of a tough situation to deal with in a hostile environment. All in all, it’s just a game. I hope that everybody is all right.”
Ayesha publicized her concerns about racial profiling after firing off a number of frustrated tweets regarding her experiences at Quicken Loans on Thursday night.
She wrote that she and other relatives of the players were stuck on a bus right before the game began: “10 mins til game time and the whole teams families are sitting here on a bus. They won’t let us in yet. Interesting tactic though. Again.”
She also tweeted and subsequently deleted a post saying that the game was “absolutely rigged” after her husband was ejected from the game and fined for throwing his mouthpiece into the crowd.
She later tweeted she was upset at people attacking her family “for absolutely no reason”.
I'm okay that we lost... I just can't take people coming at my family for absolutely no reason. Something I don't understand or stand for.
— Ayesha Curry (@ayeshacurry) June 17, 2016
Spokespeople for the Cavaliers and the Warriors declined to comment on Friday, and the NBA and Aminzadeh did not respond to requests for comment. Ayesha’s representative did not respond to an inquiry.
Game 7 of the finals is on Sunday in Oakland.
