Back in 2012, before he became perhaps the NBA’s biggest star, Stephen Curry agreed to a four-year, $44 million contract extension.
Looking back on the deal now, Curry is woefully underpaid given his value to the Golden State Warriors, but the 27-year-old MVP insists that he doesn’t let the money bother him.
Steph is the fifth-highest paid player on the Warriors, something he says he’s at peace with.
Per Yahoo! Sports:
“I had to make a conscious decision and remind myself over and over [to let it go],” Curry said. “I could’ve had a different perspective and said, ‘I want to get everything that I could get, wait it out, test free agency that next year – and who knows what would’ve happened? But for me, a $44 million contract was plenty for me to be able to provide for my family. When I made a decision to sign an extension, I told myself that was the right decision for the moment. […] And, yeah, you should get paid market value, paid for what you’re worth, but at the time, for four years, I was comfortable with it. You can’t look back, because it’ll bring negativity. It’ll cause dissension in the team if you allow it to.”
“After three years, I’ve still got to remind myself every day,” Curry said. “Number one, there’s nothing I can do about it. There’s no point to moaning and complaining and trying to change something that really can’t be changed. I knew there might be a time down the road, after all the ankle injuries, that if I’m playing to my potential, it’s going to be human nature to think, ‘Oh, I should’ve done this, or that …’ […] [But] at the time, the counsel that I got from my family, my agent, myself, was that it was the right decision to make. With that, I could take care of my family and be good. And hopefully anything that happened after that would just be icing on the cake.”
The Warriors are (24-1), and Curry is playing ball at a level seldom seen in the history of the sport. In the summer of 2017, Steph Curry will stand to be paid a five-year, $175 million-plus maximum extension. He’s right. Things do happen for a reason. […] “I’m taken care of, and I’m thankful that I can be on the court able to play at a high level,” Curry said. “I’m thankful it’s not the other way around, that I didn’t become an overpaid player. That’s a different conversation.”
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