Stephen Curry should not be the best player on a basketball team anymore. At age 38, approaching his 39th birthday in March, the Golden State Warriors should have surrounded him with a fair bit of help in his NBA twilight. Instead, a hefty burden will fall on his shoulders.
Jimmy Butler's return to the Warriors may not come until January or February. Even when it does, Butler is not going to be positioned to properly alleviate Curry of that offensive load in a meaningful way. For one, Golden State needs to carefully manage his health after the ACL injury. Furthermore, even a fully healthy Jimmy is not a first option, and that is what Steph truly needs beside him.
It is not that Curry cannot still be a first option in the league. A franchise hoping to maximize his final years in the NBA should not really want to put him in that position, though.
Steph had some of the greatest supporting casts a superstar could ask for during his prime years. Perhaps this is the scales balancing out. The bar is low for what is expected of the Warriors from a competitive standpoint in 2026-27. Golden State only has themselves to blame.
Stephen Curry needs to be one of the game's best for the Warriors to even stay afloat
Here is a little look behind the curtain. Heading into the upcoming season, there was a legitimate discussion among Site Experts on Fansided as to whether Curry was still a top-five point guard in the NBA. Warriors fans can find comfort in the consensus answer to that question being yes.
Even so, having that conversation at all does point a clear picture of where Steph is in his career.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Doncic are both firmly above him in the pecking order at the position. Most are even giving Cade Cunningham and Jalen Brunson the benefit of the doubt over Curry. Things have gotten to a point where there are legitimate discussions of stacking up Steph versus a guy like Tyrese Maxey.
Again, most are still giving the benefit of the doubt to Curry in that last one. They should be.
However, it does perfectly illustrate the mismatch in how the Warriors are handling Curry's last years and role on the team versus where many others deem Steph to be at this stage. That is not mean as a knock on the four-time champion either.
Curry has remained productive and effective in his older years. Not giving him the proper help will just set him up for the LeBron James experience that followed the 2020 championship for the Los Angeles Lakers. Steph will get his numbers, but the Warriors will not have a real shot to win anything.
Maybe Curry is fine with that. How his upcoming contract extension gets handled will be telling. It is still disappointing to watch one of the two defining legends of his generation go out with a whimper and not a bang.
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