Stephen Curry, star point guard for the Golden State Warriors, is unable to choose a side in the ongoing controversy about whether the Harry Potter books or films are superior.

“I’ve read all the Harry Potter books,” the 33-year-old four-time NBA champion proudly proclaims to PEOPLE. However, “I missed the movies.”

True enough, Curry, a self-proclaimed “math nerd” during his youth in North Carolina, claims to have read “every single one” of J.K. Rowling’s famed Harry Potter novel series but has yet to view any of the films based on the books.

“I know it’s blasphemous, but yes, that’s where I’m at,” says Curry, laughing.While on a video connection with his wife Ayesha and his three children (daughters Riley and Ryan and son Canon), he muses, “I guess I’ve just got to have a little movie marathon.”

Ayesha, now 34, admits, “I was a Chronicles of Narnia girl,” eliciting hysterical laughs from her husband. It’s like asking, “Why are you laughing?!”Stephen claims that mathematics was his favorite subject in school, while Ayesha claims that science was her favorite. The mother-of-three admits to PEOPLE that she has always been fascinated by the human body and its inner workings. Getting to examine things in one of my classes was a highlight for me because of how lucky I was.

The founder of Sweet July also talks about “the most amazing teacher” she had in economics and government. What was it about that lesson that really got to you? The classroom instructor. I’ll never forget how kind and thoughtful she was to me. Ayesha reflects, “That has stayed with me.

Since Stephen’s 2009 NBA draft by the Warriors, the couple has made Oakland, California their permanent home. Both Stephen and Ayesha are originally from Charlotte.

As Stephen puts it, “it’s our adoptive home,” adding, “There’s such a unique culture here, unique energy, but there are also a lot of challenges.”Stephen cites a lack of “access to the appropriate resources, especially for young kids,” as an example of one such difficulty.

Stephen and Ayesha Baldwin, founders of the Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation, launched on Wednesday a new $50 million program to address the needs of Oakland’s youth.The Currys will continue to foot the bill for the public charity’s administrative and fundraising expenses, which are then re-invested in the neighborhood through initiatives like rehabilitating schools and playgrounds, purchasing books, and providing food for pupils.

The 2019 foundation was founded because Stephen and Ayesha wanted to “understand how we could truly make an impact” in their neighborhood.

The athlete elaborates, “We say it’s time to really wave the flag of Oakland and confront these issues head-on.”In addition to their substantial financial contributions, Stephen and Ayesha also volunteer a great deal of their time in the Oakland area.

Ayesha recollects how disappointed the pupils at an Oakland public school were to meet the Warriors star, but thrilled to take home books instead. As soon as I spotted a basket, the thought “Oh, we have so many books to give away!” sprang to mind. Not a single person needs these. “The kids are going to show up, and when they see Stephen, they’re going to be like, we’re going to hoop,” she predicts.

But no, it really was that crazy. When the bus doors opened, the youngsters saw the books and immediately made a beeline for them.Ayesha was moved by the amount of students who asked if they might take books home to share with their siblings. Oakland is where she and Stephen “grew into adulthood” together.

I was blown away by the enthusiasm the students shown for reading and learning. The evidence is staring us in the face. She explains that “access is the key factor” in the issue.According to Stephen, his 2022 release, I Have a Superpower, was one of the most requested books at Oakland schools. “Guess I’m putting in a plug here, but many of them seemed genuinely enthusiastic,” he says.

A lot of people were interested in “the little satchel that you could take and load up to see how many books it could carry,” he explains. That’s the enthusiasm for reading we’re want to foster, and it’s great to know that reigniting it isn’t all that difficult. You need only be there for the kids and make yourself available to them.