Stephen Curry just won his fourth NBA championship in eight years, but even that unbelievable accomplishment doesn't quite do the historical gravity of his current level of play justice.
Before Curry tormented the Boston Celtics en route to finally winning his first Finals MVP, only five other players had earned that individual honor at 34 or older : Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, John Havlicek, Michael Jordan and LeBron James. Curry, of course, is used to keeping that type of legendary company by now. If his epic performance during the Warriors' title run didn't prove his case as the best point guard ever, it at least gave him a fool-proof argument to be listed right alongside Magic Johnson.
The question now isn't whether Curry deserves to be considered next to names like Jordan, LeBron, Kareem, Magic and Wilt. He's cemented that standing already. The only thing left to ponder after even more evidence of his singular greatness—especially against a defensive juggernaut like Boston on the game's biggest stage, no less—is just how much higher Curry can climb on the game's all-time individual hierarchy.
Good news, Warriors fans. Even entering his 14th NBA season, Curry still has a lot of his career left to play. In a must-read interview with Matt Sullivan of Rolling Stone, the Warriors legend said he'd like to “at least” fulfill the terms of his existing contract before calling it quits.
Curry’s body doesn’t respond to heavy offseason workouts or his secret love of Chipotle like it used to. But he has four more years left on his $215 million contract, and Curry tells me he’d like to play “at least that.”
Curry signed his four-year, $215 million extension with Golden State in late October, becoming the first player in league history to put pen to paper on a $200 million deal. As a result, he's set to earn a whopping $59.6 million in 2025-26, a potentially problematic salary for a 38-year-old even given the NBA's coming cap spike.
But as Joe Lacob stressed after locking him up long-term, though, Curry won't be like most 38-year-olds.
“He's Steph Curry,” Lacob said, per Ali Thanawalla of NBC Sports Bay Area. “Not only is he an incredible player, the likes of which we maybe have never seen. He's revolutionized basketball in a lot of ways and he's a great human being. He's just a terrific person. So anything we could do to sign him up to another extension, though it's a big number for us, worth it, right? Absolutely worth it. So the only risk in it from a business standpoint would be, he's 38 when it's over, and so the question is, is he still healthy at that point? I mean, that's a risk. Having said that, he takes care of himself like nobody else, so I think it's great.”
Those remarks came about eight months before perhaps the most significant achievement of Curry's career. After playing some of the best basketball of his life while winning another title, who's to say Curry is even close to slowing down?
We'll start to find out for sure when Golden State tips off the regular season with ring night on October 18th. Until then, Dubs fans can bask in the comfort of knowing they'll have at least four more years of watching Curry make basketball magic—and all signs to point to more.
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