Warriors superstar Stephen Curry is no stranger to surprising those around him.
Usually, that happens on a basketball court, but on Friday in Abu Dhabi, the four-time NBA champion stunned his U.S. teammates and onlookers with a fearless display of flair with a shuttlecock.
Curry was initially surprised when he passed a beautiful peregrine falcon as the team arrived, but then stopped and held the bird, which is the national emblem of the UAE, under his left forearm.
“Yay!” Callie yelled with her new friend in her arms.
But his U.S. teammates weren’t as enthused.
July Holiday stood next to Curry looking like he wanted nothing to do with it, and Curry turned to Holiday to give him the finger, but the Boston Celtics star guard shook his head and walked away.
A stunned Joel Embiid stood at a safe distance, close enough to see the action but far enough away to avoid contact.
Curry’s former Warriors teammate, Kevin Durant, also stopped by to see what all the fuss was about before quickly leaving.
Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo later captured some of the incident on photo and video.
The U.S. team arrived in Abu Dhabi on Friday ahead of two exhibition matches in the UAE as it prepares to compete for a basketball gold medal at this summer’s Paris Olympics.
But I also made some friends along the way.
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