Stephen Curry signed a two-year, $116 million contract extension with the Golden State Warriors in the offseason, committing the end of his career to the franchise and that he'll play into his forties.
Saying something negative about Curry feels blasphemous given everything he's done for the Warriors as the greatest player in franchise history, but the 38-year-old's availability (or lack thereof) could easily become problematic over the course of the two-year extension he just signed.
Warriors have a Stephen Curry problem no one wants to discuss
Curry dealt with a frustrating knee injury at the end of last season, missing 27-straight games and appearing in only 43 for the year. Its now taken less than a week into this season for Curry to get his first rest, having sat out Saturday night's 131-122 loss to the Phoenix Suns on the second night of a back-to-back.
That's a game the Warriors could have forseeably won were Curry available. They were competitive against a less than impressive Suns outfit, with Curry joined on the sidelines by Draymond Green, Brandin Podziemski and Al Horford, along with the continued absences of Jimmy Butler, Kristaps Porzingis and Moses Moody.
The fact Golden State have to rest Curry and Green three games into the season, on top of the injuries they're already dealing with, is proof of why they're going to really struggle to even be a playoff contender.
The Warriors do have to be careful with their superstar guard no doubt, but things are only going to get worse when it comes to managing Curry going forward. Are we going to get to a point where he won't be considered for both sides of any back-to-back? Based on the fact he rested the third game of the season, we might have already reached it.
Warriors don't have the roster to afford Stephen Curry's absence
Having your franchise superstar and $60 million player resting regularly is a problem within itself, but the bigger issue is arguably the state of the roster and the fact Golden State have no insurance for when Curry is unavailable.
Joel Embiid and LeBron James have already rested alternative games for the Philadelphia 76ers in their back-to-back. It helps that James only makes the minimum, but also that the 76ers have so much talent that they can still be a good team without one of their veterans.
Will Curry rest so many games that his extension won't actually be that valuable? Perhaps it simply doesn't matter and it was simply a case of looking after Curry and rewarding him for everything he's delivered the franchise.
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