NBA superstar Steph Curry’s hall-of-fame level professional basketball career is winding down.
Curry, 36, recently spoke to ESPN’s Malika Andrews on “NBA Today” about his historic run in the league. Andrews asked the 10-time NBA All-Star how much thought he puts into walking away from the court.
“It’s OK to accept and acknowledge that the end is near,” Curry admitted. “But only because it allows you to enjoy what’s happening right now.”
The Golden State Warriors point guard continued, “But I think the more you talk about it and the more you acknowledge it, the more it levels up the sense of urgency in the moment, now.”
Curry still has several years committed to the Warriors. In August, the son of retired former Charlotte Hornets guard Dell Curry signed a contract extension with Golden State through the 2026-27 season for a reported $62.6 million a year.
A few weeks later, some of the Warriors faithful were worried their basketball hero had a change of heart when Curry removed the team from his Instagram bio.
Even Steph’s wife, Ayesha Curry, was confused by the father of her four children changing the text on his Instagram page from “Guard for the @Warriors” to “Olympic Gold Medalist.”
“Wait, what?!” Ayesha, 35, exclaimed when she learned about Steph’s bio switch during a filmed conversation with Bloomberg Originals host Emily Chang at the couple’s Workday Charity Classic golf tournament in Aug.
Steph explained to his spouse, “I was just proud to be an Olympian.” He won his first Olympic gold medal at the 2024 Paris Games as part of the United States men’s basketball team.
Curry essentially teased that his days as a professional basketball player could be coming to an end soon generated discussion on social media.
One person tweeted, “Honest, vulnerable, and there’s nothing wrong with looking father time in the eye and acknowledging it. That being said, #30 still has plenty of games left to go out on his terms!”
A self-described NBA fan speculated, “I think he plays 3 more seasons and hits 19 seasons and retires.” However, someone replied, “He got about 2 years.”
One of Curry’s supporters stated, “I can’t imagine the league without Steph… in fact, I pray for another Steph right after this one hangs [up] his jersey.”
Another X user referenced Curry’s on-court rivalry with Los Angeles Lakers player LeBron James. The person suggested, “He should play longer than Lebron.”
James, then playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers, faced off against Curry four times in the NBA Finals between 2015 and 2018. The Warriors defeated the Cavs for the title in three of those four championship-round matchups.
“It’s a fun battle because of the longevity of how long we’ve been doing this,” Curry said about his friendly competition with LeBron during the ESPN interview.
He added, “There’s more appreciation and respect than probably back in the day. There was a lot of pettiness and resentment. The rivalry was real.”
James, who started his 22nd NBA season in 2024, scored the most recent victory in his decade-long duel with Curry. The Lakers pulled off a 115 -113 win over the Warriors on Christmas Day.
Curry has played 16 seasons with the Warriors. The San Francisco-based franchise selected him as the seventh overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft.
Throughout his pro career, Curry won four NBA championships, two NBA Most Valuable Player awards, and two league scoring titles as Golden State’s point guard.
The former Davidson College standout has averaged 24.7 points and 6.4 assists per game in the NBA. He holds the all-time record for three-pointers at more than 3800 and counting.
Golden State currently sits in tenth place in the Western Conference standings with a 15-15 record. The Steve Kerr-coached team is 5-5 over its past 10 games as of Dec. 28.
