Stephen Curry sees a window of opportunity for Warriors: ‘It’s still about winning’

Marcus Thompson IIAug 30, 2024

Windows, in basketball, are a metaphor for opportunity. Finite chances for achievement. Open spaces closing fast. The passing lane on a backdoor cut. A good look at the rim off a screen. The stretch run of a season. A swing game in a playoff series. An era.

Stephen Curry’s window is open, as evidenced by what he did in Paris. He widened it Thursday — signing a one-year, $62.6 million contract extension — while simultaneously underscoring the inevitability of its closing. A creative move for a player whose career is creating and exploiting windows.

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Curry is now under contract for three more years for just shy of $178 million. His contract is set to expire the same offseason as Draymond Green’s. And suddenly it feels like the beginning of the end. A calculated move to set up one last push.

“It’s not different from my perspective,” Curry told The Athletic. “You have an appreciation for the position and the opportunity and the support from people who’ve been with you on the journey. I’ve always said I wanted to play for one team my whole career. So it’s good to get (the extension) question out of the way and give complete focus to basketball and to the season.”

It’s a feeling Curry just experienced in his debut with Team USA. The basketball world is still feeling the effects of his Paris explosion at the Olympics. And he’s still moved by it.

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It happened, Curry said, because he needed to be completely in the moment. He waited too long for this to not immerse. It was a window thought to be closed, but the persistence of his eliteness kept it propped open long enough to take advantage. And did he ever.

“You’re fully there,” Curry said. “The sacrifice of what my family went through to allow me to be fully there. It just gave me the ability to play basketball and try to have as much fun as possible. It was one of those pure moments that will stand out when you look back on your life and the experiences you had. It was the most surreal feeling, especially the way it ended. I felt like a kid again. A 12-out-of-10 experience.”

Part of the impetus for signing now was to capture that purity of focus. A fifth championship would be a storybook conclusion to a storied career. But the Warriors, having missed the 2024 playoffs, have a steep hill to climb in a limited time.

Could Curry play longer? Of course. But he’ll be 39 at the end of his current contract, so it’s not a lock.

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This is the time the Warriors have. Three years to scale the mountain again. Three years to make the most of the generational figure who’s been a pillar for one of modernity’s great sports franchises. The final trilogy for the 3-point king.

If Curry’s priority was prolonging his career, the move would’ve been to wait until next summer to sign an extension. Then, at 37, he could’ve inked a two-year deal, locking in an extra year of maximum salary and fully extracting every ounce of his earning potential as an NBA superstar. But signing now for one year — the most allowed under the NBA’s “Over 38″ rule, which limits contracts to three years when the player is 38 or older at the end of it — has some symbolism behind it.

Curry took the money now and not later. He curated a three-year window instead of scheming for four and perhaps set up what just might be a final trifecta. In doing so, he crafted a clever way of giving a vote of confidence to Golden State’s front office without sacrificing urgency.

“It’s still about winning,” Curry said, “and taking the steps necessary to give ourselves a chance. The standard hasn’t changed. The expectation hasn’t changed.”

Stephen Curry got a taste of the Olympics after helping lead Team USA past France in the gold-medal game in Paris. (Tom Weller /VOIGT / GettyImages)

Knowing when the end may come should deter complacency. Curry, who knows when he might hang up his Under Armours, might be even more motivated to capitalize on his last best years. And more likely to force his way somewhere else if he begins to think the Warriors aren’t up to the task of a title. All NBA contracts are tradeable.

The obvious leverage play was waiting until next offseason when he’d have just a year remaining on his contract. That’d be the traditional way to hold Golden State’s front office accountable, the mere possibility of his departure serving as flames beneath their proverbial feet.

Curry wouldn’t ink his name to the contract if he thought it formed a white flag on the Warriors’ championship hopes. No way. He said the decision to sign now was a vote of confidence and a seizing of the moment. A commitment that promises patience while increasing the pressure.

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He believes the Warriors’ attempts to land him a worthy supporting cast were earnest enough. This extension is a declaration of trust the Mike Dunleavy-led front office will keep pushing toward a title. Whatever happened this summer — mostly what didn’t happen, as the Warriors failed to pull off a difference-making move — wasn’t an indictment on the effort of the franchise even though it underscored the reality of their scarce upgrade options.

But Curry was in the mix of all the moves, in constant dialogue with Dunleavy. Curry recruited Paul George. So Curry is aware of what was in the Warriors’ control and how much of their whiffs were creditable to their rivals.

The next window is the February trade deadline.

The Warriors aren’t, by any objective measure, title contenders this season. They lost Klay Thompson to Dallas. They struck out on trading for George and Lauri Markkanen, two players who could’ve elevated them in the loaded Western Conference.

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Of course, this would be sufficient reason for Curry to wait until next offseason, hold off on extending his contract until the Warriors provide evidence of championship potential. But he re-upped despite facing 82 games of kitchen-sink defenses without a co-star to help power the Warriors’ offense.

Another reason he’d do that: adding $62 million to the end of his current deal is a bounty tough to pass up, especially while believing the Warriors won’t let off the gas. With training camp weeks away, Curry’s name is the hottest in the NBA, having freshly re-casted his legacy in gold. He’ll be 37 at the end of this season. Plenty of sense in grabbing the big-dollar extension now.

But if anyone has perennial clout, if any NBA superstar can be certain his exit would be seismic enough to crumble a franchise, if anyone, even in their mid-30s, still has a reliable market for his services, it’s No. 30 in Golden State. The likelihood is he’d have the juice next season.

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Still, Curry may have accomplished the dual task of maximizing his earnings and giving the Warriors reason to not look to the distant future. Because if the Olympics did anything other than remind of his greatness, it conjured the harsh truth of its mortality. Him with LeBron James and Kevin Durant was captivating because of how impressive it was they could still produce at this level of their career. And it concurrently evoked an appreciation knowing their magnetism can’t last forever.

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Curry’s first Team USA foray was his last. Because the show won’t last always.

Now the energy shifts from the latest Olympics to the Larry O’Brien Trophy. Where his display of brilliance was inspiration for the hope that patience, diligence and quality cohorts can once again produce a fantastical climax.

Curry knows it’s possible ring No. 5 might evade him. Championships are difficult. The Warriors need a big break just to get out of the Play-In Tournament. But what’s important is a valiant effort. What’s enough for him is honoring all he puts into being ready for the season, and being an ideal face of the franchise, by endeavoring to win now.

The window is open a little longer. But windows are only such because they’re closing.