It's the kind of preposterous scenario a 7-year-old might dream up. Grow up to become rich, famous ... and good friends with your favorite football team’s quarterback.

That’s exactly what has happened to Stephen Curry, who was 7 when the Carolina Panthers began playing in 1995. More than 20 years later, Curry and Cam Newton are the hottest, and arguably the most outwardly joyful, athletes on the planet.

And though they have a strong friendship, Curry didn’t reach out to Newton immediately after the Panthers’ blistering performance in the NFC Championship Game put them in the Super Bowl.

“I don’t want to blow his phone up,” Curry said this week. “From experience, when good things happen, you don’t want to get in the way.”

That’s probably one of the reasons Curry has put the brakes on talking about his beloved Panthers this week, though he has been overwhelmed with requests from Charlotte. The other might be the childhood impulse of not wanting to jinx anything.

When he was in Charlotte in December, Curry spoke of being a lifelong fan of the team and predicted a deep playoff run. At the time, both the Panthers and the Warriors were undefeated.

“I wouldn’t say I’m surprised — they’ve shown signs over the last few years of elevating to that next level,” Curry said then. “It’s great to see everything click. And it’s fun to see the world outside of the Charlotte area be surprised by what they’re doing. It’s cool.”

Curry, long ago, looked at the schedule to make sure he would be able to attend the Super Bowl, and he will be at Levi’s Stadium on Feb. 7 to cheer on his team. He’ll be wearing his custom No. 30 Panthers jersey that Carolina head coach Ron Rivera hand-delivered to him in March at Oracle Arena.

“That one is my go-to,” Curry said this week. “It’s in a safe.”

Curry and the Panthers have a symbiotic relationship. In 2011, during the NBA lockout, Curry visited the team and sat in on the quarterbacks’ meeting to learn more about their leadership and communication. In March, when Rivera visited the Warriors, he was impressed by their unity and chemistry.

Curry headed to Seattle to watch the Panthers play in last season’s NFC playoff game. The NBA’s MVP, who can sing the words to the Panthers’ fight song, banged the drum at the home opener against the Houston Texans. Newton and some of his teammates sat courtside in December when Curry scored 40 points against the Hornets in Charlotte.

“We talk about the ride but we also kind of motivate each other without really speaking,” Curry told Sports Illustrated last month. “What we’re seeing each other do on the field and on the court, that’s just motivation for us.”

Newton told Sports Illustrated that he appreciates how Curry has remained the same person ever since he has known him.

“Just knowing that he’s a guy I have conversations with and he’s never changed,” Newton said. “He’s approachable. You text him, he texts back.”

In many ways, they are opposites. Newton is an enormous, imposing presence. Curry can blend into a crowd. Newton is known for his outrageous clothes, such as his “Cam”-ouflage suits. Curry leans toward a more traditional style.

However, they do wear one thing in common: Under Armour gear. Newton represented the company first, since 2011. When Curry was without a sponsor in 2013, Newton vouched for the company.

“Steph had a lot of respect for Cam, so his words meant something,” said Kris Stone, the brand’s director of sports marketing for pro basketball.

The company now has the MVP of the NBA and the likely MVP of the NFL (along with baseball’s Bryce Harper and golf’s Jordan Spieth).

“You wake up every day and want to pinch yourself,” Stone said. “It’s an amazing time for our company. It’s like lightning in a bottle.”

In addition to their athletic gear, Curry and Newton have something more important in common. They play their sports with unbridled joy, smiling and having fun in the midst of competition. Newton has been criticized for his celebrations, though he has won over many of his harshest critics with his outreach to children in the stands at each game. Curry, too, has been labeled by some as a showboat, though most fans are enamored when he skips down the court stretching out his arms like a little kid pretending to be an airplane.

“I’m a guy that likes celebrations — obviously — in games,” Newton told S.I. “And he’s known to hit a three and do something crazy. When he’s feeling it and goes in the zone, it’s fun. It’s hard to not be a fan watching him play.”

It’s hard not to be a fan of both men, who play their sports like 7-year olds having fun, fueled by preposterous dreams.

Ann Killion is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. E-mail: akillion@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @annkillion