There were no big surprises with Stephen Curry’s decision to sign a contract extension with the Golden State Warriors. He always said he wasn’t going anywhere, and the two-time MVP was telling the truth as he signed a fairly team-friendly two-year contract extension which has a player-option for the second year.
This all but ties Curry to the Warriors for the rest of his career and keeps him a Warrior for life, but it also cements the fact that the end of his career is probably going to look a lot like the final years of Kobe Bryant’s career with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Stephen Curry is following in Kobe Bryant's footsteps
Bryant remained with the Lakers his entire career and while he won five titles with Los Angeles, the last few years of his career were pretty bleak. The Lakers were a complete non-factor and didn’t make the playoffs the last three years of his career, with the Warriors now trending in that direction after missing the playoffs in two of the past three years.
Golden State may not reach the level of ineptitude that the Lakers did. In Kobe’s last three seasons the Lakers won 27, 21 and 17 games respectively. The Warriors shouldn’t be that bad, but it wouldn’t come as a major shock if the Warriors end up winning 30-something games these next few years and remain in Play-In purgatory, maybe sneaking into the actual playoffs if they're lucky.
There are worse fates for an aging superstar, but it would be sad if Curry just faded into irrelevance that way. He’s the greatest shooter of all time and he’s still going to get butts in seats no matter where he plays, but it would be a shame if he went the last few seasons of his career without making the playoffs.
Warriors may have tough time making playoffs in Curry's final seasons
The Warriors have a decent team on paper, but just like last season it's full of older, injury-prone players. Kristaps Porzingis is already out with another mysterious ailment which is a reminder of just how fragile the hopes of this Warriors teams are.
Curry is obviously content to remain with Golden State even if they aren’t in championship contention. He is unendingly loyal which makes him stand out in this era of the NBA. If he doesn’t mind the fact that his last few years in the NBA are on a team unlikely to win another championship then that’s all that really matters.
Like Kobe in the twilight of his career, Curry has nothing left to prove. So long as he’s happy with the Warriors, then there really isn’t much to complain about.
Add us as a preferred source on Google