Steph Curry and Klay Thompson gear up for new NBA season by taking on sumo legend Hakuho Sho
Golden State Warriors stars Steph Curry and Klay Thompson are undoubtedly two of the greatest generational talents of the modern basketball game but their talents in sumo wrestling were put to test by retired legend Hakuho Sho during the team’s tour in Japan.
The so-called ‘Splash Brothers’, who are likely to play in Friday’s preseason game against the Washington Wizards at the Saitama Stadium, took turns in attempting to put the highly-decorated Sho on the ground during Thursday’s practice.
Curry, who is six-foot-three inches and weighs 185-pounds, opted to go first but embarrassingly failed to make the six-foot-four inches, 348-pound Sho move at all in front of his teammates.
Despite using all of his force, Steph Curry didn’t made Hakuho Sho move in practice Thursday
Sumo Champion Hakuho Sho holds the record for the most undefeated championships at 16
The point guard did learn a few sumo techniques, however, from Suko, such as the way to start off a wrestling match and to bend his knees to force weight on his opponent.
Of course, those techniques didn’t work against Suko, who was wearing formal attire to make things worse, leaving Curry gassed.
‘That’s all I got,’ Curry joked before showing a bit of Japanese culture by bowing in front of Suko, which is considered as a sign of gratitude in the Land of the Rising Sun.
The next person to enter the ring, or dohyo, and give his best shot was shooting guard Klay Thompson, who weighs 220 pounds and is six-foot-six inches.
The 32-year-old immediately grunted as soon as he tried to destabilize Suko while pushing forward with his knees. Similar to his teammate’s outcome just minutes earlier, Thompson also failed to move the longest-serving yokozuna of all-time.
The four-time NBA champion even shook his head in disbelief while catching his breath before telling reporters: ‘I can’t.’
The other member of the ‘Splash Brothers,’ Klay Thompson, tried to push Kho but to no avail
Thompson, who is locked in a five-year, $189million contract with the Warriors, came back to the dohyo to try his luck one more time against Kho, this time lasting only two seconds in the ring before definitely walking away.
After the wrestling contest between the trio, Kho tried his hand at basketball and showed off his shooting skills by impressively making a couple of shots in a row.
The Mongolian-born-naturalized-Japanese once broke the record for the most wins in a calendar year, winning 86 out of 90 bouts, before going on the second longest winning streak in sumo history in 2010.
He also hold the most undefeated tournament championships – 16 – in sumo wrestler history. Suko was once so dominant in the sport that a Washington Post columnist called him the ‘greatest figure in sports, ever.’
The wrestling legend obtained Japanese citizenship in 2019 before retiring in 2021. He is 37-years-old.
Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors with Sumo wrestler, Hakuho Sho during practice