Steph Curry’s Unwavering Loyalty Is a Rare Commodity in the NBA

This summer, the Golden State Warriors tried for weeks to convince LeBron James to play alongside them for one more title run, considered in earnest the possibility of acquiring Anthony Davis through a trade, and asked Draymond Green to forgo a guaranteed contract in order to clear the way for both. None of it panned out. LeBron chose Philadelphia. Golden State failed to seriously pursue the possibility of acquiring Davis. And the defending champions enter training camp with a mostly intact roster that posted an identical record as the previous season 37-45 and missed the playoffs altogether for the first time since 2020-21.

Through it all, not once did Stephen Curry express any interest in leaving the franchise. And he's not about to. That's exactly why it's so important.

Steph hasn't shown even a hint of wanting to move on from the only organization he's ever played for, and it's widely expected he'll sign a new two-year extension this offseason to stay in the Bay Area through his 40th birthday. Which brings a pertinent question nobody inside the Warriors' organization would be comfortable answering publicly to the forefront: has

Curry's loyalty made it too easy for Golden State to not give him his best?

It should be remembered what Curry is worth. Four-time NBA Champion, two-time MVP (the only one in history to win the award unanimously) who added Finals MVP honors to his resume in 2022 the first time he earned one after being outshone by players who won that accolade in the previous three championship campaigns. 12-time All-Star who won two scoring titles and Clutch Player of the Year honors. Two-time All-Star Game MVP. Two gold medals with Team USA at FIBA World Cup tournaments before Curry ever played in the Olympics (at 36) in Paris. There may be a compelling case that no other basketball player redefined the game and its culture like Curry did. Golden State was a team that few paid any attention to for the better part of the last two decades. Now it's a league's biggest brand.

It's worth giving credit where it's due: the ownership of the Warriors responded in kind. Golden State's owner Joe Lacob said on many occasions that he would like Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green to play their final games for the franchise. At one point, he openly stated his desire to accumulate rings equal to LeBron James'. As for the front office, they provided Curry with the richest extension possible under the current labor agreement to avoid opening up any daylight between Curry and the organization.

Yet the results speak otherwise. Over the last three seasons since the last championship campaign, the Warriors have lost twice in the second round of the playoffs, missed the playoffs two times already, and put up a sub-.500 record this season for the first time since 2010-11. Bob Myers a longtime general manager departed the organization in 2023. Klay Thompson joined Dallas last summer. High draft picks used for building the next era James Wiseman and Jonathan Kuminga failed to deliver as hoped for. Wiseman couldn't stick with the Warriors. Kuminga was traded without becoming a co-star that the front office hoped he could become.

This summer was supposed to be the corrective measure. Green declined a $27.7 million guaranteed contract in order to make room for the front office to chase two stars, and Jimmy Butler who is recovering from a torn ACL and has expressed his desire to end his career with the Warriors was thrown into the trade negotiations in order to get them. Neither prospect panned out. All that's left is a retention strategy: sign Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis back, hope for Green to return with a contract friendly to the team, and wait for Butler and Moses Moody (who is recovering from a ruptured patellar tendon) to come back healthy.

None of it has happened by accident and doesn't look to be anybody's fault. The current labor agreement punishes the kind of overspending over the cap that created this dynasty. Green, Butler, and Curry are well into their late 30s already. And according to people who cover the team closely, including longtime Bay Area reporter Tim Kawakami, Lacob might also be quietly trying to preserve his draft picks and salary cap room for the next era which will come after Curry's time with the Warriors a perfectly defensible move and an acknowledgment that this era is almost over at the same time.

None of it doesn't mean Curry is about to be traded. Curry has repeatedly stated that he would never play for anybody but the Warriors and that he's about to sign a deal until his 40th birthday. Nobody reported that he expressed any desire to leave. But the mere fact that the question gets asked after three mediocre seasons, the spectacular failure of chasing LeBron, and the roster that remains short of a third star speaks volumes about the thinning margins involved.

Dynasties have their limits. The Warriors have decided to use Curry's loyalty to determine where it lies and mostly, it's worked for the benefit of the fanbase. Whether this approach can be viewed as a good strategy depends on what happens in the next couple of seasons and whether Curry gets another shot at a fifth ring before the loyalty they keep praising quietly turns out to be the reason why he never had the chance to get it.