Arya News - Stephen Curry was only eligible to add 2 years to his existing contract due to the NBA`s
Stephen Curry has agreed to a two-year, $116 million contract extension with the Golden State Warriors , according to ESPN"s Shams Charania — a re-up in line to keep the two-time NBA Most Valuable Player and future Hall of Famer with the team that drafted him through his 20th professional season.
The team confirmed the extension on Friday, but did not provide details. The deal reportedly includes a player option in the 2028-29 season, per Charania.
Curry could add a maximum of two years to his existing contract due to the "over-38 rule" in the collective bargaining agreement between the NBA"s teams and players union. Tacking two more years at 35% of the projected salary cap line — the maximum wage he"s eligible to command as a player with 10 or more years of NBA service time — onto the one-year, $62.6 million extension he signed back in 2024 will bring the total value of Steph"s current contract to $178.6 million through the end of the 2028-29 campaign. (Add that to the new 10-year, $400 million endorsement deal with Li-Ning , and it"s been an awfully lucrative summer for your man Steph.)
That would be Curry"s 20th season as a Warrior. Only 12 players in NBA history have played 20 or more seasons. Only three — Dirk Nowitzki , Kobe Bryant and Udonis Haslem — have spent the entire span with one franchise.
Across nearly two decades in the Bay Area, Curry has effectively resurrected the Warriors, restoring the once-proud organization of Wilt and Rick Barry to the consistent contention that preceded the largely fallow "80s, "90s and Aughts. Yes, he"s had plenty of help along the way: from Mark Jackson and Steve Kerr, from Splash Brother Klay Thompson and defensive complement Draymond Green , from Swiss Army knife Andre Iguodala and championship guarantor Kevin Durant , plus many more.
More than any of them, though, it"s Curry who redefined how the franchise could feel and the heights to which it could aspire. In the process, he helped redefine the very shape of the sport in the modern era, revolutionizing the geometry of offense — and necessitating a counter-revolution in defensive strategy and tactics. That is all thanks to the unprecedented accuracy, volume, speed and depth of his 3-point shooting, whether pulling up off the dribble or slaloming through off-ball screens before relocating for a catch-and-shoot look.
The gifts that made Curry a collegiate sensation at Davidson and the No. 7 pick in the 2009 NBA Draft — right after the Timberwolves selected a pair of point guards, Ricky Rubio and Johnny Flynn, much to Minnesotans" chagrin, and right before the Knicks " No. 8 slot, much to New Yorkers" — immediately translated, as he averaged 18 points on 47/44/91 shooting splits and 5.9 assists per game across his first two seasons.
But after persistent right ankle injuries cost him 40 games in his third year and resulted in season-ending surgery, concerns over whether the young sharpshooter might be too big an injury risk to bank on limited him to just a four-year, $44 million extension of his rookie-scale contract.
"My ankle was a big factor in the [contract extension] number," Curry told Yahoo Sports" Marc J. Spears at the time . "They had to protect themselves a little bit."
That hedge-your-bets figure would wind up being one of the most consequential bargains in NBA history.
After getting scar tissue removed from the troublesome ankle and setting about a stem-to-stern revamping of his core, hip and ankle strength , Curry transformed into one of the league"s most durable and productive superstars. He has averaged 20 or more points per game in each of the last 14 seasons; only six players in NBA history ( LeBron James , Durant, Karl Malone, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bryant and Michael Jordan) have more 20-plus-point campaigns over the course of their careers.
Curry is one of 44 players in NBA history to win at least four championships , one of 29 players ever to make at least 12 All-Star teams, one of 22 with at least 11 All-NBA/ABA selections , one of 19 with multiple scoring titles , one of 16 with multiple MVP trophies , and one of just six with four rings, multiple MVPs and a Finals MVP . He was also the first, and to date only, unanimous MVP in league history. There are 10 seasons of 300 or more made 3-pointers in NBA history; Curry owns six of them , including the only 400 -triple campaign on record.
While the former "baby-faced assassin" has continued to produce at an All-Star/All-NBA level through his mid-to-late 30s, the Warriors have slipped from their dynastic perch since their 2022 title , winning two playoff series in the past four years. Last season, waylaid by injuries to both Curry and fellow superstar Jimmy Butler , Golden State finished under .500 for just the second time since the 2011 lockout.
After a home-run-swing bid to add LeBron James fell short of the warning track, the Warriors seem to be stuck — long on aging veterans, light on notable young talent, projected to remain mired in the play-in picture in the Western Conference.
That somewhat grim near-future outlook led some to wonder whether Curry might consider seeking greener pastures in a bid for a fifth championship as he walks the back-nine of his legendary career. But Golden State brass projected confidence that he"d want to stay the course, and Curry — a "realist" who understands the franchise"s predicament — reportedly maintained a desire to remain with the only franchise he"s ever known.
This agreement removes any doubt about those desires. Wherever the Warriors go next, and whoever and whatever they want to be, they"ll continue to revolve around Curry for the foreseeable future. Same as it ever was.