On March 19, 2026, the Charlotte Hornets retired Dell Curry’s jersey number 30 inside the Spectrum Center. As he made his way to the center of the court, the people walking with him said more about the past five years than an interview ever would have: his three sons Stephen, Seth and Sydel, six grandchildren, his mother Juanita, and his wife Nicki.
The search for “Dell Curry new wife” gets its peak when people are reminded of moments like that one, because Nicki Smith is the subtle second part of the tale that ends dramatically. Here is who she really is, how they met, and a popular myth about her that needs to be reconsidered.
Who Is Nicki Smith (Dell Curry new wife)
Nicki Smith is the second wife of former NBA sharpshooter and longtime Hornets broadcaster Dell Curry, and the stepmother of Stephen, Seth and Sydel Curry.
She does not have any public profession in sports or entertainment. She has not been giving interviews since the news of the relationship came out. She has maintained a private profile without mentioning anything related to the marriage or the divorce that she had gone through.
| Nicki Smith: Profile | Detail |
|---|---|
| Known as | Dell Curry’s second wife (or Dell Curry new wife) |
| Married Dell | Reported to be late 2022 |
| Publicly confirmed | October 2023, in a Charlotte Observer interview |
| How they met | Introduced by mutual friends |
| Stepchildren | Stephen, Seth, and Sydel Curry |
| Public profile | Very low, no interviews given |
| Notable appearances | 2022 NBA Finals, March 2026 jersey retirement |
How They Actually Met: A Month On The Phone:
Dell told the story himself, and it is more charming than most celebrity remarriage narratives.
The first thing that came into his mind after the divorce was leaving Charlotte and maybe moving to the west coast to be with his boys. Then his friends introduced him to Nicki. In this part of the chapter, the story follows the old tradition where the couple talked on the phone for a month and then they met each other for the first time. His quote in the meeting with her is the best quote in the chapter where he says he understood immediately that he liked the woman in front of him.
He also admitted he had not planned any of it. He said flatly that he was not going to get married again, then did.
When The Marriage Actually Happened:
There is a small timeline discrepancy worth clearing up, because different sites give different years.
Dell publicly announced his marriage in an interview that he gave in October 2023 to the Charlotte Observer. In this interview, he says he had been married for almost one year. Hence, the marriage took place in late 2022 and not in 2023 as some articles indicate. This confusion comes from those media sources that date the marriage based on when they announced it rather than when it happened.
The wedding itself was private. There was no public announcement at the time, no photographs released, and no confirmation until he chose to mention it nearly a year later.
The Divorce That Came First:
Context matters here, because the second marriage cannot be understood without the first ending.
Dell and Sonya met at Virginia Tech and got married in 1988 while he played for Charlotte Hornets. Their marriage lasted for 33 years, and they have three kids. They used to be the role models in the NBA families because they always sat next to each other supporting their boys’ careers.
Sonya filed for divorce in North Carolina in June 2021 and then the news was announced in August 2021. The divorce went wrong quickly. The court documents published by TMZ indicated that both parties accused the other of being unfaithful, and Dell accused Sonya of having an affair with Steven Johnson.
| The First Marriage | Detail |
|---|---|
| Met | Virginia Tech |
| Married | 1988 |
| Duration | 33 years |
| Children | Stephen, Seth, and Sydel |
| Divorce filed | June 2021, by Sonya |
| Grounds alleged | Marital misconduct, with infidelity claims on both sides |
The Claim About Nicki That Needs Careful Handling:
Here is the rumor that circulates hardest, and where most sites overreach badly.
A number of outlets have reported that Nicki Smith is the former spouse of Steven Johnson, the same retired NFL player Dell named in his divorce filings. If true, it would be a remarkable detail. But the sourcing is genuinely weak. Sportskeeda, one of the outlets that raised it, attributed it only to various sources and explicitly noted it was unclear whether Nicki was the woman in question. No court filing, no statement from any of the parties, and no reporting from a major outlet has confirmed it.
The honest position is that this is an unverified claim about private individuals in the aftermath of a contested divorce, and it should be labelled as such rather than presented as established fact. Sites stating it flatly are repeating a rumor with a confidence the evidence does not support.
March 2026: The Night That Put Her Back In The Spotlight:
The reason interest in Nicki resurfaced this year is a single evening in Charlotte.
The number was retired on March 19, 2026, by the Hornets for Dell Curry in a halftime ceremony when the team played against the Orlando Magic. The game ended in victory for the Hornets with a score of 130-111 and $20,000 donation to the Boys and Girls Club of America in the name of Dell Curry was also made by the Hornets organization.
The retired number ceremony saw Dell being accompanied by his wife Nicki, his three kids and their six grandchildren, along with his mother Juanita. Steph and Seth, both from Golden State at the time, traveled specially in between road games. Dell estimates that about 100 family members and friends were present at the event. He felt emotional in a private dinner the previous night and said that he is nothing but a country boy from Grottoes, Virginia.
For a lady who stays away from publicity as much as possible, center court at a full house arena is the most public event she has been to after her marriage.
Dell Curry: Full Bio
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name | Wardell Stephen Curry |
| Date of birth | June 25, 1964 |
| Age | 62 years (as of July 2026) |
| Birthplace | Harrisonburg, Virginia, USA |
| Raised in | Grottoes, Virginia |
| High school | Fort Defiance High School, Virginia |
| College | Virginia Tech |
| NBA career | 16 seasons |
| Primary team | Charlotte Hornets (1988 to 1998) |
| Major award | NBA Sixth Man of the Year, 1994 |
| Hornets scoring | 9,839 points, second in franchise history |
| Jersey retired | No. 30, March 19, 2026 |
| Current role | Hornets television analyst and team ambassador |
| First wife | Sonya Curry (married 1988, divorced 2021) |
| Second wife | Nicki Smith |
| Children | Stephen, Seth, and Sydel Curry |
A Career Worth Remembering:
It is easy to forget, amid the family headlines, that Dell Curry was a genuinely elite NBA shooter for a very long time.
He was the Hornets’ first pick in the 1988 expansion draft and became the closest thing the franchise has to a lifer. He spent 10 of his 16 NBA seasons in Charlotte, won Sixth Man of the Year in 1994, and finished second on the franchise’s all-time scoring list with 9,839 points. He has now spent 27 total years with the organisation, including 17 seasons as its television analyst.
The shooting gene is the family’s real inheritance. Stephen became the greatest shooter in basketball history and Seth built a long NBA career on the same skill, both of them raised in a household where the jump shot was the family trade.
The Blended Family Now:
The most notable thing about the Curry family after the divorce is how functional it has stayed in public.
Stephen had his parents attend the Golden State championship race in June 2022 in support of him, each independently of the other without making a fuss about it. According to Dell, his kids were happy with him, and everything was fine at home. Sonya has been talking about how difficult the divorce process was in her interviews, while Stephen has talked about how difficult the period was without making it a public drama.
Nicki, however, has managed to join in on family events without making herself a public figure in the whole story, which seems to be just what everybody wanted.
Trivia And Lesser-Known Facts: Dell Curry New Wife
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| A month of phone calls | They spoke by phone for a month before meeting in person |
| He almost left Charlotte | Dell considered moving west after the divorce before deciding to stay |
| Kept quiet for a year | He did not publicly confirm the marriage until roughly a year after the wedding |
| Second in history | Only the second Hornets player to have his jersey retired |
| The country boy line | At the ceremony he called himself just a country boy from Grottoes |
| Family shooting dynasty | He, Stephen and Seth all built careers on the jump shot |
| Twenty-seven years | His total tenure with the Hornets organisation as player and broadcaster |
FAQs: Dell Curry New Wife
Who is Dell Curry’s new wife?
Nicki Smith. She is a private individual with no public career in sport or media, and she is the stepmother of Stephen, Seth and Sydel Curry.
When did Dell Curry remarry?
Reports place the wedding in late 2022. He publicly revealed it in an October 2023 interview, saying at the time that they had been married for almost a year.
How did Dell Curry meet Nicki Smith?
Mutual friends introduced them after his divorce. They spoke on the phone for about a month before meeting in person.
Is Nicki Smith the ex-wife of Steven Johnson?
Some outlets have reported this, but the claim is not confirmed by any authoritative source and at least one outlet that raised it noted the connection was unclear. It should be treated as unverified.
Why did Dell and Sonya Curry divorce?
Sonya filed in June 2021 after 33 years of marriage. Court filings reported at the time included accusations of infidelity from both parties.
Do Steph and Seth Curry get along with their stepmother?
Dell has said his children are happy for him, and Nicki appeared alongside the whole family at his jersey retirement in March 2026.
What is Dell Curry known for?
Sixteen NBA seasons, the 1994 Sixth Man of the Year award, second place on the Hornets all-time scoring list, and a long second career as the team’s television analyst.
Final Take
What sets the story of Dell Curry new wife apart from other scandals is the fact that it is not even much of one. The long and happy marriage of 33 years came to a bitter end in 2021. However, two years after that, the man himself confessed to have remarried to a woman named Nicki Smith who has neither ever done an interview nor asked for a headline.
On the other hand, the internet community is trying to put some other more scandalous twist to this story. The only thing which is a matter of record here is the following fact. Namely, during the jersey retirement ceremony of 2026, she was present at the center of the court together with the rest of his family.
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