SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Stephen Curry is committed to keeping some of the reliable, familiar faces around him on the Golden State Warriors for the stretch run of his career.
So, Curry took a pay cut to stay put. At 38, he wants to win now, and add another title to his list before he finishes — and finishes right where it all began as a doubted, undersized point guard — with the Warriors.
That's the plan, to be sure.
“Yes I was presented the max," Curry
said Monday at media day, "yes there was everything on the table."
On Friday, the 38-year-old Curry received a two-year contract extension worth $116 million — $20 million less than the maximum he could have commanded.
“It was a very, kind of, thoughtful journey, partnership of putting all the different scenarios out there. It was of interest of making sure I was here, figuring out what was in the best setup for me, for the team, for the now, for the flexibility the rest of my career,” Curry said.
"So trying to balance all of that is such a unique situation with all of the circumstances of where we've been the last four years, what's currently on the table and where we're trying to go to be competitive and give ourselves a chance.”
Curry is eager to get going at training camp. The Warriors were flying to Hawaii later Monday to hold their first practice session Tuesday. Their first preseason game is Sunday against the Clippers at the University of Hawaii campus in Honolulu. Veteran center Kristaps Porzingis is out indefinitely with a health issue.
While Golden State missed out on LeBron James in the free-agency sweepstakes, Curry is headed into his 18th NBA season determined to do what he can to make the Warriors a contender again in the talented Western Conference after last season's latest miss.
That started with his flexibility on the contract.
“We found a middle ground where he was incredibly generous in taking this deal, where he’s taking less money to help the team out because, as Steph goes, he’s as competitive as there is,” general manager Mike Dunleavy said. “He wants to win. He’s put us in a position where it gives us a little bit more flexibility to do that. So I think the middle ground was signing him up to be able to almost ensure that he’ll finish his career here while also keeping some flexibility, keeping some optionality on it, and we’ve done that.”
Last season was derailed by the loss of Jimmy Butler to a season-ending right knee injury Jan. 19 against his former Heat team that required surgery. The Warriors lost Moses Moody, too, and both guards are expected back at some point. They have progressed to very light on-court workouts and will travel with the team to Hawaii.
Butler would love to see Curry play his entire career wearing No. 30 for Golden State.
“It’s very hard to do, but it just shows how great he is, the great things that he’s done in this community, obviously for this organization, and just how beloved he is by the world, actually,” Butler said. “I see it firsthand now being his teammate.”
With his teammates long admiring his humility just as much as his dazzling shot-making from way, way back, Curry has always been about winning and not his own lofty accolades and numbers. The two-time MVP and all-time 3-point leader has embraced playing alongside star teammates such as Butler, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.
"Because he's extended this window for himself, he’s extended the window for the team, and we’re going to continue to build it because of him," Dunleavy said.
Curry has plenty to prove after a lingering right knee injury that kept him out of 27 straight games and more than two months down the stretch. Curry averaged 26.6 points, 4.7 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 1.1 steals while playing 30.9 minutes but was limited to only 43 games last season.
“It’s great to get him re-signed,” said coach Steve Kerr, who decided in May to return on a two-year deal. “We never doubted it for a minute.”
Neither did Curry himself.
“This is home, this is what we've built, this is the community that I've played in front of my entire career and being able to finish the story the right way is a big part of, I think, what I control, thankfully, hopefully health-wise as well,” he said. “I know the list, a short list of guys that have been able to do it, but reimagining what that looks like with the level that I feel like I can play at down the stretch of my career.
“There's a pride of representing the Bay, representing this franchise, that when I stepped foot here in ‘09 and what we’ve all been able to accomplish, this isn't just a ‘me’ thing, it's a ‘we.’ I want to do right by that.”
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