Mothers unite! Sonya Curry and Lucille O’Neal, proud moms to basketball legends, Shaquille O’Neal and Steph Curry, are most definitely experts when it comes to raising superstar athletes. And now, the duo has teamed up to host a new heartwarming show, Raising Fame, premiering on July 7th at 10 p.m. The docuseries, airing on TV One, will spotlight the stories of influential celebrities – including those of John Legend, Danielle Brooks and Magic Johnson among others – and the people who raised them.
Bringing years of expertise to the table, Sonya, a former teacher, and Lucille, founder of the Mothers of Professional Basketball Players Association, visit hometowns all over the country and sit down with famed families to relive monumental moments in their child’s youth as they climbed the ladder to success.
“I keep reminding folks that parenting doesn’t come with an instruction book,” Lucille shared at the premiere party cosponsored by Us Weekly and TV One at The Standard, Highline in NYC on Tuesday, June 18th. “This is an opportunity for these celebrities to tell their true story, and we believe that when you see the segments and the programs, you’re going to learn something.”
Those valuable lessons? As a mother of three to Steph, 36, Seth, 33, and Sydel, 29, Sonya has one message she hopes to spread to viewers. Not only is it a motto that she lives by, but she has the Hebrew word “chen,” grace and mercy, tattooed on the back of her neck as a daily reminder.
“Get up every day and be intentional about your parenting and give it all that you have,” the 58-year-old told Life & Style as she celebrated the docuseries at a cocktail party hosted by Us and TV One. “You’ve got to leave the rest, get up the next day, and start all over again with a clean slate and give yourself some grace.”
It doesn’t stop there. Sonya continues to learn patience from her Golden State Warrior point guard son as he navigates the ups and downs of his own life.
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“Stephen is a very patient and persistent individual, and so I look at him and the things that he’s gone through, he always stays joyful and … doesn’t try to rush his life or any situation,” she gushed to Life & Style on the Us Weekly and TV One premiere red carpet. “He just gets up every day, grinds it out, and he enjoys the process and so I like that. I have to watch him and just be inspired to be more patient.”
Watching them succeed from the many outstanding accolades and broken records, to starting beautiful families and making them grandmothers, these NBA moms are proud of the men they’ve raised.
“I’m most proud of the man he’s become,” Sonya told Life & Style. “He’s a great father, he’s a great dad, and he’s an awesome son.” While Lucille gracefully boasts she admires Shaq most for his “confidence, his generosity, his kindness, and the love he shows for humans.”
Raising Fame premieres Sunday, July 7 at 10 p.m. ET on TV One.