Stephen Curry has agreed to a contract extension with the Golden State Warriors, the team announced. The deal is worth $116 million over two years, according to ESPN. It's structured similarly to the extension Kawhi Leonard just signed with the Toronto Raptors, comes with a player option for the 2028-29 season.
"We couldn't be more excited about reaching an agreement with Stephen and extending his historic career with the Warriors," Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy said. "Personally, I don't think there has ever been a better face to a franchise in professional sports history, both on and off the court, than Stephen Curry with the Warriors. He embodies everything this organization strives to represent through his legendary play on the court, his unique leadership and sacrifice, and his unmatched impact in the community. We've been incredibly blessed to experience 17 years of Stephen's artistry and are thrilled that our fans will continue to have the opportunity to watch him perform and write additional chapters to his illustrious story."
This contract takes Curry, 38, just below $650 million in guaranteed career earnings in the NBA. For now, that would make him the highest-paid player in league history. The irony of that distinction is that Golden State's dynasty was built in part as Curry's rookie extension was perhaps the single most team-friendly contract in NBA history. Because of early-career ankle issues, Curry was only able to sign a four-year, $44 million deal after his third season. During that contract, he won two MVPs and two championships, and his deal helped Golden State afford Kevin Durant as a free agent in 2016.
While this contract is obviously far more lucrative than that one was, it still represents a discount from what Curry could have made. With a projected $176 million salary cap for the 2026-27 season, most players with 10 or more years of experience like Curry would be eligible for a deal starting at 35% of the cap. That would pay $128 million over two years.
However, an individual player's max salary is never less than 105% of his previous salary. As Curry is already the highest-paid player in the NBA at $62.6 million for the 2026-27 season, he would have been eligible to start a new contract above the 35% max and ultimately earn close to $137 million in total over two years had he sought the most money possible. Instead, he took more than $20 million below his max as the Warriors attempt to put one last championship contender around him in the twilight of his career.
Curry, in a recent ESPN interview, indicated he was considering the Warriors' financial flexibility in his contract negotiations.
"We're in a very interesting situation," Curry said. "All the different salary cap conditions of whether I sign for a max or less or whatever it is, I want to be on a competitive team. I want to have an opportunity to have some flexibility because we haven't had that in years past, the recent past. ... This team should have flexibility to make necessary moves if things happen. Those are always just the considerations. For me, information and patience is key. It's just a very unique situation all the way around based on where we've been the last four years, where I'm at in my career, what our team looks like this year and the absolute desperation to win. Trying to balance all that."
Curry is entering his 18th NBA season, all with the Warriors. Since winning their last championship in 2022, the Warriors have made the playoffs just twice in the last four years and haven't returned to the Western Conference Finals.
