OAKLAND – [Steph Curry’s name](https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/09/23/steph-curry-warriors-contract-free-agency/) is attached to a slew of high-profile brands. A giant of the Chinese shoe market in Li-Ning. A partnership with Silicon Valley tech giant Google. A long-term relationship with financial titan JP Morgan.
But none of those alliances can boast a connection with a former First Lady.
Earlier this year, Steph and Ayesha Curry unveiled PLEZi Hydration in conjunction with Michelle Obama.
The company’s project, co-created by Currys and Obama, released a fruit-based energy drink earlier this year that has no added sugars or artificial flavors.
Steph Curry, speaking on Wednesday at East Oakland’s Madison Park Primary while promoting eye health a week before training camp begins, said that the former First Lady and her husband have had nothing but great things to say about the product’s first few months.
“We’ve talked to them a good amount, and they’re super proud of it,” Curry told the Bay Area News Group on Wednesday.
The Currys and Obamas’ friendship has been well-documented throughout the years, with Curry even organizing a visit to Barack Obama’s office in 2019 in-lieu of being honored by the Trump Administration after winning the 2018 title.
The two families have maintained their connection for over a decade. When Michelle Obama looked to revamp her company, the Currys were an obvious choice.
“We’re super-grateful that they brought us in as partners in it,” Steph Curry said. “Since me and Ayesha have been a part of it, everything’s been a fun experience when we’ve worked with her.”
The Currys made it abundantly clear that the business endeavor was Obama’s idea, and that the couple followed her lead. For almost 20 years, the former First Lady has made nutrition and health a major focus of her public work.
“I don’t want anyone to get it twisted, this is her baby, and we’re just happy to be brought in and able to lend our opinions and advice and ideas,” Ayesha Curry told the Bay Area News Group. “I think what makes this so special is that she’s not new to this. It’s ensuring kids have access to quality nutrition or getting their bodies moving. … We’re happy to be a part of that vision.”
Available in multiple flavors, the drink is targeted toward athletes. But the Currys also wanted to make the beverage something that children, like ones attending Madison Park, could drink without being overloaded with artificial sugars. The average 17-ounce bottle has nine grams of natural sugar.
By comparison, a standard 20-ounce bottle of standard Gatorade or Powerade each have 34 grams of artificial sugar.
Ayesha Curry has had a long track record of food-related enterprises, including a cooking show and a San Francisco restaurant that remained open for a decade. Entering the hydration business was a new but familiar challenge she and her husband embraced.
“From a culinary perspective, from a performance perspective, and from an overall hydration perspective, I feel like we made the perfect hydration drink,” Ayesha Curry said.
Steph and Ayesha involved their four children in the process, too, as the brand continues to grow.
“Anytime there’s a new flavor, we’re sending it around to the kids, family members and friends, and we’re all taste-testing and taking everyone’s opinion seriously,” Ayesha Curry said. “It’s a fun process.”
So what’s next for the Currys and Obamas’ collaboration? Steph Curry said he hopes that PLEZi competes and possibly overcomes the Gatorades and Powerades of the world, but also set realistic goals
“The growth of the business has been promising, and we’re taking a patient approach as we expand,” he said, before walking back into the East Oakland elementary school.