Marc Stein: Stephen Curry to sign 4yr/$215M extension with Warriors

SPLASH BRO GETS PAID!

The free agency madness is about to hit the NBA today, as teams are officially permitted to talk to prospective players starting at 3PM PT. Deals can’t be finalized until Friday, but we’ll have a pretty good ideal of how it’s all gonna shake about by then thanks to breaking news reports from all over. We can count reports from the usual suspects like Adrian Wojnarowski, Shams Charania, and Marc Stein to keep NBA fans checking their phones every 15 minutes to stay updated on player movement.

Speaking of player movement, or lack thereof, Stein reported that the two-time MVP Stephen Curry is expected to sign a four-year, $215 million extension with the Golden State Warriors.

This is obviously fantastic news; Curry is once-in-a-lifetime player, the face of the Bay’s franchise, and the Warriors’ biggest hope to reclaiming the throne. He’s coming off arguably the greatest season of his illustrious career, nearly snatching a third MVP after willing a broken down and depleted Golden State team to the 8th-best record in the West. Even though his team missed the playoffs, there’s no doubt Curry reminded everyone that HE IS THAT GUY.

Return of Unanimous

I hope this news serves as a nerve calmer for those basketball observers who spent the last year beating the “CURRY’S GONNA DEMAND A TRADE BECAUSE THE FRONT OFFICE FAILED HIM” drum.

Maybe those fans were too scarred from the mismanagement debacles of years past where Golden State couldn’t hang on to studs like Wilt Chamberlain, Robert Parish, Chris Webber, the We Believe core, and several other certified hoopers.

Or maybe these fans knew nothing of those days and were merely Curry supporters that were frustrated seeing Unanimous struggle with a tattered roster during the age of “player empowerment”. We’ve heard tell of star players allegedly quitting on their franchises because the team is “just not good enough”. Even the great Kobe Bryant was openly vocal about demanding a trade because he lost faith in the Los Angeles Lakers’ organization:

“At that time, the Lakers had to do something. I was just losing faith in what they were trying to do. It was like I was a meal ticket,” Bryant told ESPN this week when asked about that time period. “You come out and score 40, 50 points, fill the seats, we’re going to keep the payroll at a minimum, generate revenue. It’s like, look, listen, I am not with that, dude. I have to win without Shaq. I’ve got to do it. We’ve got to do something.”

But I think we have enough evidence to show that these current Warriors are very interested in winning championships with Curry. Heck, they already won three in five straight Finals trips, literally making NBA history for their dominance. And there’s a very understandable reason they haven’t won the last two years: they had a dead max contract slot assigned to the injured Klay Thompson, who is one of the premier wings of the modern era. (I hear he’s coming back though mwahahah).

Even if some pundits may disagree, it’s clear Curry hasn’t lost faith in this ownership group or his teammates. In fact, if we know anything about Curry’s history, we know that he relishes creating something great out of adversity.