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Stephen Curry confirmed something Warriors fans had assumed for months without ever hearing him say it outright: he actively tried to recruit LeBron James to join Golden State this summer, before James ultimately signed with the Philadelphia 76ers. Curry didn't shy away from admitting it. "If anybody didn't try, I think they'd be a fool," Curry said, adding that seeing a player of James' stature get to choose his own next chapter was good for the league as a whole.
Entering his 18th NBA season with his contract set to expire in 2027, Curry made it clear he has no interest in testing free agency or walking away from the franchise that drafted him. "I want to be a lifer with Golden State," Curry said.
Stephen Curry: "It was a great run. Under Armour had a great experience over the 12, 13 years I was there. I developed Curry Brand underneath Under Armour. They were able to take my brand out and search for a new partnership that for me is looking at the longevity and legacy of what I think is possible not just here in the US, but globally across basketball, golf, lifestyle, and training. Li-Ning has been an unbelievable partner. It's a long-term scope of what we're trying to do. It's crazy just from a product perspective, I got to try out a bunch of different shoes and I lived up to the free agent tag for sure. I tried literally everything and there was a reason that Li-Ning stood tall at the end because the product reigned supreme and so Dwyane Wade, Jimmy Butler, two guys that have been with the brand for a very long time, they kind of set the stage. I'm excited, we're five months in, I just got back from a tour the last week, so I'm excited about the opportunity."
Oh No He Didn't: Anthony Slater on how involved Steph is in personnel decisions: "He's heard, his voice matters. Mike Dunleavy will call him at various points. And obviously, anytime Steph Curry calls, Mike Dunleavy, Joe Lacob, they will pick up, and they'll hear what he has to say. But he doesn't want to be too involved, he never has wanted to be too involved. He called LeBron James this summer as a recruiter, he'll do that, but I'll give you an example. A couple of years ago, the Warriors were deep in trade talks for several players. They ended up trading for Jimmy Butler, but Steph Curry very much values his place as a leader in the locker room. And he doesn't wanna be viewed as moving chest pieces around. He was very friendly with Andrew Wiggins. They had to trade Andrew Wiggins to get any of those trades done. So Steph Curry, I think always is wanted a separation between front office and him. And that's how he's always kept it"
NBA on ESPN: "I'll guess in the next week and a half we'll come to some clarity about if he wants to do an extension now or wait." @anthonyVslater details the latest on Stephen Curry's contract extension talks with the Warriors ✍️
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FullCourtPass: Steph Curry on if watching LeBron James switch teams is appealing to him "Not at all. I've always stated that I wanna be a lifer with Golden State… My mission is to stay in Golden State and be competitive, the contract stuff will take care of itself"
Oh No He Didn't: "We just saw your buddy LeBron James go through this process. Is that appealing to you at all?" Steph: "Not at all. I've always stated that I wanna be a lifer with Golden State. What we've built there, the fact that I get to run it back this year with Draymond and Coach Kerr. All the contract stuff is this NBA thing from year to year is so crazy things change really fast. But I do know my interest and mission to stay in Golden State and be competitive is there and the contract stuff will take care of itself"
During an interview with CNBC on Thursday, Curry addressed the league's investigation and subsequent penalties against the Clippers, saying NBA commissioner Adam Silver's decision made sense after the lengthy process. “I wasn’t surprised,” Curry said. “I think the reason the investigation took as long as it did and the idea that Steve Ballmer, who I’ve gotten to know and I know he’s a great guy, is standing by the punishment – there’s a reason that it’s happened all the way it has. And at the end of the day, Adam Silver had a job to do, and I think the punishment makes sense, and we all move forward.”
NBA superstar Stephen Curry made a quick trip to Hong Kong on Monday, and visited a local school where he told pupils that working hard and accepting that sometimes failure happens had helped make him a four-time champion. Appearing in the city for the first time in 10 years, Curry arrived at Shun Tak Fraternal Association Leung Kau Kui College in Tuen Mun to thunderous cheers from pupils, teachers and a crowd of more than 1,000 onlookers.
Curry, who has earned a reputation for making crucial and often game-winning shots, also said “it’s OK” to be nervous. “I still get nervous because if you don’t, that means it doesn’t matter to you,” he said. “But I rely on all the times that I’ve shot the shots that I know that I’m about to go do on the court, and then I’m OK if I miss it, I’m not gonna be happy. I know that failure is a part of it. You have to be able to accept what happens out there on the court.”
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“You have to understand that’s part of life,” said Curry, who was drafted seventh overall by the Golden State Warriors in 2009. “People are always going to say that you can’t do this, you can’t do that. But I just made sure that I had as much fun as possible, and I relied on my work ethic to get me through. I had big dreams, but I worried about just getting better every single day, and then eventually, hopefully, I could accomplish those goals.”
You covered the Warriors' golden era for years. What do you make of Stephen Curry's current situation and future? Do you expect him to re-sign with the Warriors? Marcus Thompson: Steph is re-signing. Steph isn't going anywhere. He never was. It's really important to him. He said this for years. He wants to play for the same team his whole career. And I think it would take something dramatic to get him off that. And at 38, it's tough. Like, where's he going? I mean, that's a big one. Where does Steph Curry feel comfortable going and feel like it's his? I think he's a very honor-driven player and I do think he takes honor in, hey, he'd rather go down not winning with his guys than going somewhere else and winning. People have to remember he had a front-row seat to what happened to KD. You go to another team, win a championship with somebody else, people will turn that against you. Steph hears everything. He listens and he's very protective of his reputation that way. So I think the Warriors would have to say, 'Hey, we don't want to do this anymore.' They would have to be like, 'We don't want to win; we just want to get rid of all this money, go cheap, and let's go the cheap route.' And that's just not who the Warriors are. It just isn't.
Marcus Thompson: I feel like they include him in the process. He's aware of what's going on. His voice matters, and as long as that's the case, Steph is fine. He's going to hold their feet to the fire; he's going to make sure they're sticking to it. The Warriors want to win. They are thirsty to win. So their match made heaven that way. As you can see, they tried to get every star out there. They failed, but... I mean, that's what it is at the end of a run, right? It's not going to be pretty. This was probably as best as you can hope for. Hopefully Jimmy Butler comes back for them, and they can make another run, and maybe upset somebody, maybe give it one last valiant effort. What more can you ask for? They want four championships. I think Steph is good enough to stay in the game to where it's like, okay, if you get him the right pieces and get him in a matchup, he'll scare somebody. Now, ideally, they can get somebody good enough to make him like the No. 2. So, he's not carrying everything. That's just hard to do when the two oldest people on the team are making, you know, $120 million. It's tough to not go and get another player who's better than both of them.
Marcus Thompson: Eventually, like after this year, they have to make some decisions about what to do with that spot. But I think Steph, at the end of his career, he's going to want to say, 'I spent 20 years or whatever with the same franchise like Kobe Bryant.' And he'll be more proud to say that than he would if he went somewhere else. Because if he goes somewhere else and doesn't win a title and gave that up, that would be tough. Now, if he goes to a place that is almost a lock to win the title, maybe you do that. But then if he goes to a place and it's a lock to win the title, will he actually get credit? Or will people say, 'Ah, he just had to go team up with this person.' I think Steph cares about all that stuff and he's going to do the thing that's best for his legacy.
