Father time comes for every athlete, but it’s not how long you avoid it that matters. Rather, it’s how you respond to the decline, and whether you are willing to make the necessary adjustments to maximize your impact. Stephen Curry understands this better than most, and it’s why he’s apparently open to one day giving up his starting role, despite being the GOAT of his franchise.
“There are some guys that if they can’t be themselves, if they can’t be dominant, it’s time to go,” said Howard Beck on ‘Run It Back.’ “Or if they still can’t contend, it’s time to go. Steph and I talked about this for the story I did back in January, and his thing was ‘Yeah, I could be a role-player. I could come off the bench.'”
Curry doesn’t have any plans to retire soon, and he’s still playing at an elite level. But when his game does start to slip (he’s 37 right now), Steph will not take the stubborn approach and insist on keeping his regular role. Instead, he will accept a lesser spot on the team as he works to stay effective coming off the bench. Thankfully, his game is timeless, and his shooting will always provide some value.
“You think about guys like Vince Carter, his last several years where he was like part role-player, part mentor/seventh assistant coach or whatever,” Beck added. “Paul Pierce toward the end, Grant Hill toward the end. There are a lot of different ways you can go out as an NBA legend in this league, and Steph, when we talked about it, seemed to put everything on the table. Like he wouldn’t mind, if he’s diminished, or lost a step, two steps, can’t be a starter anymore. He basically said, ‘I don’t want to be a traffic cone out there defensively,’ but he’s always going to be able to shoot.”
As a four-time champion, two-time MVP, 12x All-Star, and 11x All-NBA player, Curry’s basketball legacy is already set, and he’s got nothing left to prove in the NBA. That’s why he’s not thinking too hard about the future. When it nears the end, he’ll accept whatever role he is given, so long as it’s on the Warriors.
“So there are various ways he could decide to carry out his last two, three, four, however many years he wants,” Beck continued. “The one thing that was very, very clear, though, was that he wants that to end in Golden State.”
With averages of 27.2 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game on 46.8% shooting and 39.1% shooting from three this season, Steph isn’t on pace to slow down in the near future, and that means the Warriors will continue to build around him as they aim for another title.
But when the time comes, the Warriors can trust Steph to do what’s best for the organization. When they find that next young star, Curry will not get in the way, and that humble nature is one of the many things that make him so easy to play with.
