Stephen Curry receives Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award for 'Eat, Learn, Play' foundation

NEW YORK -- Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry has received the Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award for his work with the Curry family's "Eat, Learn, Play" foundation.

The award comes before the ESPY's Wednesday night, where some of the greatest athletes on the planet will gather, including Curry.

Curry was on "Good Morning America" to talk about his foundation's mission and much more.

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The foundation serves thousands of students in the Oakland Unified School District and Curry said a particular focus is early childhood literacy.

"We want to serve the whole child and the whole school experience and transform the school experience for a generation of kids in Oakland through those three pillars," he said. "It's where 35,000 kids go to eat, learn and play every single day in the Oakland Unified School District."

Curry said it was an honor to receive the award and that it validates the work they are doing in the community.

"It was super surreal," he said. "The Ali family, understanding what Muhammad stood for, what his life was dedicated to, in the ring, off the ring in terms of change and what me and my wife Ayesha and what our foundation's been able to do. We're super proud of it. It's a great encouragement to keep doing the work that we're doing. And we're only seven years in and the impact that we've had in Oakland has been real. So it's more of an acknowledgment of our team, our donors, our partners, the Oakland Unified School District, and the kids that we're serving because it's obviously about them."

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Curry said former Warrior guard Mona Ellis was a influence on having a foundation and showed him how to do the best with the platform and resources that he has.

He also touched on his family, noting that his daughter Riley is about to start high school, and made a pitch again for LeBron James to join the Warriors.

"The Bay, we know how to win. It's beautiful weather, great golf. I know he's into that, but...the USA experience that we had, the the battles that we had over the years, we just know how to play basketball, and I think that he would enjoy just the idea of what it means to finish your career the right way."

Curry even shouted out the Golden State Valkyries, who are having a successful second season in the WNBA.

"It's just a cool vibe being at Chase Center, how we show up with our team and what they do during their season. They got a really good thing going," he said.

The ESPYs air on ABC on Wednesday at 8 p.m. PT.

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