Steve Serio: Basketball Paralympian
Steve Serio delivers high-performance leadership insights shaped by his Paralympic gold-medal career, championship mindset, and groundbreaking impact on wheelchair basketball.
Quick Facts:
- Highlights:
- Paralympic gold and bronze medalist with Team USA
- Three-time Paralympian and multi-time world championship medalist
- First wheelchair basketball player to win an ESPY Award for Best Male Athlete with a Disability
- National champion and MVP at the University of Illinois
- Formats: Keynote Speaker and Paralympic Athlete
- Audiences: Corporate teams, athletic programs, leadership groups, education organizations, and audiences seeking motivation through resilience and high-performance habits.
- Outcomes:
- Actionable strategies for resilience, discipline, and sustained performance
- A team-first mindset rooted in communication, accountability, and preparation
- Inspiration to set ambitious goals and lead with purpose, adaptability, and confidence
- Travels from: New York, NY
- **Fee range: $10,001 - $20,000
Talent Services
Talent Short Bio
Steve Serio is a Paralympic gold medalist, world medalist, and ESPY Award–winning wheelchair basketball athlete whose career has redefined excellence in adaptive sport. A New York native, Steve underwent surgery as an infant to remove a spinal tumor, resulting in incomplete paraplegia. Rather than allowing that challenge to dictate his future, he embraced the competitive drive that would make him one of the world’s most respected athletes. He discovered wheelchair basketball at age fourteen, quickly emerging as a standout talent and earning MVP honors at the National Junior Championship Tournament.
Steve continued his success at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, where he led the team to a national championship and earned multiple awards including NWBA Tournament MVP and NIWBT Player of the Year. His professional career carried him to Germany for five years before joining Team USA, where he competed in three Paralympic Games and secured both gold and bronze medals. In 2017, he became the first wheelchair basketball player to win the ESPY Award for Best Male Athlete with a Disability.
Read Full Bio
New York native, Steve Serio, has been playing wheelchair basketball since high school, where he was quickly named MVP of the National Junior Championship Tournament.
From there, he racked up many more championships and MVP titles, including medaling at Worlds (2 silvers, 1 bronze) and competed in three Paralympic Games (1 gold, 1 bronze) with Team USA. In 2017, Steve was the first wheelchair basketball player to win an ESPY Award for Best Male Athlete with a Disability 2017.
Today, Steve spends his time traveling and training for Team USA tryouts and Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. He credits his success to his supportive family.
Steve Serio had surgery to remove a spinal tumor which resulted in the compression of his spinal cord when he was 11 months old…Was paralyzed and is classified as an incomplete paraplegic…Began playing wheelchair basketball at the age of 14 as a sophomore in high school…
Led his high school to a title and was named the MVP of the national tournament…After high school, he played for University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign.
Steve Serio led them to a national championship, winning championship game player of the game, NWBA tournament MVP, and the NWBA 31st NIWBT player of the year in the process…Lived and played professionally in Germany for five years…Son of Ed and Hilary Serio…Has two younger brothers, Will and Luke…Hobbies include reading, exercising and traveling.
HIGHLIGHTS
- 4x Paralympian (2008, 2012, 2016, 2020)
- 2x Paralympic champion (2020, 2016)
- 3x Paralympic medalist (2020: gold;2016: gold; 2012: bronze)
- Four-time world championship medalist (three silvers, one bronze)
- Team captain of Paralympic gold-medal team and nominee for Team USA Awards’ Male Athlete of the Paralympic Games in 2016
- 2017 ESPY winner
- Had a spinal tumor removed at 11 months old that left him paralyzed
- Played professional wheelchair basketball in Germany for five seasons
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Talent Videos
Per4max Conversations with Steve Serio
A short, heartfelt clip of Paralympic champion Steve Serio reflecting on the company that believed in him at sixteen and why giving back to the next generation now drives his purpose.
Video Summary & Key Moments
In this brief conversation, Steve Serio expresses deep gratitude for Per4max, the company that signed him when he was just sixteen years old. He explains that before he had accomplished anything in wheelchair basketball, Per4max recognized his potential. Their early belief in him, both through their products and their encouragement, helped shape his athletic journey. Steve notes that he can never fully repay what they provided during the most formative stages of his development.
He shares that participating in their grassroots initiatives, such as DK’s 3-on-3 event, is his way of giving back to the organization that supported him from the start. As he reflects on where he is now in his career, Steve acknowledges that he has entered a new chapter. Winning championships and earning gold medals, while still meaningful, are no longer the central priority. Instead, he feels a growing responsibility to invest in the next generation of athletes.
Steve talks about helping younger players pursue opportunities like college scholarships or guiding a Division 3 athlete toward championship-level performance. The sport has given him extraordinary opportunities and personal growth, and he emphasizes that if he has the chance to pay that forward, he intends to seize it. The clip closes with music underscoring his commitment to mentorship, service, and legacy within wheelchair basketball.
Key Moments
- 00:15 He explains how their support shaped his early development and why he feels indebted to them.
- 00:32 Steve describes giving back through grassroots programs like DK’s 3-on-3.
- 00:48 He reflects on shifting priorities from medals to mentorship.
- 01:02 Steve discusses helping young athletes pursue college or higher-level performance.
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