Life can’t get any sweeter for Stephen Curry right now. The greatest shooter of all time won his fourth title in eight years and his first Finals MVP. He’s been playing golf on some beautiful courses, got to host the ESPYs, and was invited to throw the ceremonial first pitch at an Oakland A’s game on Wednesday.
After his first pitch, Curry was subsequently interviewed and asked about living in the Bay Area and wanting to stay with the Golden State Warriors for the entirety of his career.
“That was a really natural process actually for me,” Curry told NBC Sports Bay Area, “Cause like you said, I just finished my 13th year, and to be able to say I’ve played for one team my entire career, and also to say between the 10 years in Oakland and these last three years in San Francisco, I can honestly say how special this place is — Honestly, I don’t want to leave ever. I want this to be my one and only home, and even thinking about what happens after basketball is done.”
“I don’t want to leave ever. I want this to be my one and only home” – Steph on the Bay Area 😊 pic.twitter.com/aWHLidy8b1
— NBC Sports Bay Area & CA (@NBCSAuthentic) July 27, 2022
Curry signed a four-year max extension last summer and won’t hit the free agent market until 2026, when he’s 38-years-old. The happiness that will come with playing Golden State comes with one caveat; he wants to play out the final years of his career with the championship teammates that he’s gone to battle with for the last decade.
Curry reportedly wants Golden State’s front office to pay Draymond Green and Klay Thompson so they can play together, at least through the end of his current contract. The only problem is the luxury tax the Warriors will have to pay to keep Green, Thompson, Curry, Andrew Wiggins, and Jordan Poole on the team for the next three seasons. Green reportedly wants a max contract that, per multiple reports, could be in the four-year range.
The one thing that could keep the band together would be a player deciding to take a paycut. The Warriors are also in a win-and-develop mode right now as they focus on making the most out of Curry, Thompson, and Green’s remaining prime years while making sure that their young core of Poole, Moses Moody, Jonathan Kuminga, and James Wiseman get a chance to play and be thrown the fire of playing on a championship contender team.
