Hot pot-loving NBA star serves up first animated film

Stephen Curry, the four-time NBA champion who reshaped basketball with his 3-point shot, has added a new role to his resume — one that may soon have his Chinese fans cheering for him in local theaters.

For the first time in his career, Curry serves as a producer of an animated film. The project, Goat, the latest release from Sony Pictures Animation, is set to open across Chinese mainland on March 14.

On Saturday, a preview screening of the film was held in downtown Beijing, where the venue was decorated with several iconic elements from the story — chief among them, a basketball hoop.

Set in an all-animal world — where creatures, whether predators or prey, live side by side just as humans do — the sports-action fable introduces a wild game called "roarball". With a court and rules similar to basketball, the sport requires players to conquer a series of natural obstacles — from writhing vines to cracking sheets of ice — while striving to score.

Its protagonist, Will Harris, is a goat who has nurtured a dream of becoming a great "baller" since childhood. After unexpectedly becoming an internet celebrity thanks to a viral video featuring him facing off against a professional Andalusian horse player, Harris is recruited by the owner of the Vineland Thorns — a celebrated team boasting his idol, black panther Jett Fillmore as a player. Their fates intertwine, and an underdog story begins to unfold.

Curry, who appeared in a video message following the Beijing screening, said he was captivated by the story just like the audience — both as a producer and as the voice of Lenny Williamson, a veteran roarball player and giraffe.

Having visited China seven times over the past decade, Curry said he misses the country — adding that he particularly craves hot pot and spicy crawfish, two iconic local dishes.

Tyree Dillihay, who co-directed the film with Adam Rosette, described Goat as a generation-defining underdog story, noting that great sports films are emotional, inspirational and transcendent.

He added that the film's humor — stemming from the sight of rhinos, polar bears and a tiny goat dribbling and dunking with oversized bling and signature sneakers — made him laugh from the very beginning.