The Golden State Warriors are trying to do whatever they can to wring something out of the final years of Stephen Curry's career. Unfortunately, that has amounted to pretty much nothing so far this offseason, as Golden State seems poised to run back essentially the same roster that exited the second round a season ago.
Trading Curry has never seemed to be a remote possibility for the Warriors, as the star has long made known his desire to spend his entire career in the Bay.
Recently, NBA insider Marc J. Spears gave an example of just how much Curry has been embraced by the community over his career.
“Steph united the Bay, he got old ladies loving basketball that didn't even watch basketball wearing 30 jerseys,” reported Spears, via The OGs podcast, per HoopsHype.
“And you couldn't go into a restaurant in the Bay and expect somebody to eat food there on a Warriors night unless you had a TV on,” he added. “So there was a restaurant I like and they had Curry effect on the wall. They did not want a TV, but nobody came to watch have dinner there unless on Warriors game nights unless you had a TV. And so they put a TV in there. So like Steph's influence on the Bay that's crazy is incredible. He got cred in the hood of Oakland.”
While the Curry family has drawn criticism for their opposition to low-income housing being built near their home in Atherton, it appears Steph has no problem stepping out into less guarded areas away from his own property.
Can the Warriors compete?
It's worth wondering what the Warriors would have been able to do had Curry stayed healthy in the team's loss to the Timberwolves last year in the second round.
However, even if they had gotten past that series, it's hard to envision this iteration of the Warriors having enough talent or depth to compete with the Oklahoma City Thunder, who went on to win the NBA championship last season.
At this point, it looks like the Warriors will be banking heavily on Curry and Jimmy Butler to carry them once again next season.
