NBA star Steph Curry was asked about his fascination with popcorn in a recent interview on Headliners, hosted by Rachel Nichols. He admitted to it being the first thing he looks for once he arrives at his home arena, Chase Center in San Francisco, California, and even keeps a stash in the locker room. His love for popcorn has been there since childhood, and in 2019, it even inspired an elaborate ranking system that pits each NBA team’s popcorn against one another.
There are 29 NBA teams included in the ranking, each given an overall score based on five categories: butter, saltiness, crunchiness, freshness, and presentation. Winners are decided using a 1 to 5 rating system and Curry would rank the popcorn at every arena he visited during the season.
Sitting in the top spot is the American Airlines Center, home of the Dallas Mavericks. In last place is Golden State’s Pacific Division rival, the Los Angeles Lakers. And maybe as an indicator of fairness, his home team landed at number 9. Here is the full ranking for each arena at the time:
Since then, Curry’s passion for popcorn has become the stuff of legend and a frequent topic of conversation in interviews. When talking to Nichols, he said he now receives handwritten notes from locker room attendees and arena chefs saying, “We hope that you love our popcorn.”
Nichols credits Curry with inspiring popcorn vendors at arenas to step up their game, which should be a plus for fans who enjoy a good buttery bucket of it.
