Stephen Curry has made his future with the Golden State Warriors much clearer.
Curry and the Warriors agreed to a two-year, $116 million contract extension that can keep the franchise icon in Golden State through the 2028-29 NBA season — what would be his 20th season with the organization. The deal includes a player option for 2028-29, giving Curry control over whether he plays the final year of the extension. [ESPN]
Perhaps the most important part of the agreement is what Curry did not take. The 38-year-old was eligible for an extension worth as much as approximately $136.7 million, meaning he accepted roughly $20 million less than his maximum possible deal. ESPN reported that the discount is designed to give Golden State additional financial flexibility as it attempts to build another championship contender around him. [ESPN]
What Is Stephen Curry’s New Contract?
Curry’s extension is worth $116 million over two additional seasons.
The new agreement does not replace the contract Curry already had for the 2026-27 season. Instead, it begins after that season.
His contract timeline now looks like this:
2026-27: $62.6 million under his existing contract
2027-28: First season of the new extension
2028-29: Second season of the extension, with a player option
That means Curry can earn approximately $178.6 million over the next three seasons if he plays through the player-option year. [Sky Sports]
The extension ensures Curry will not enter the 2026-27 season as a pending unrestricted free agent.
How Much Is Stephen Curry’s Extension Worth Per Year?
The $116 million extension averages approximately $58 million per season.
That is an enormous salary by normal NBA standards, but it is actually below what Curry could have received.
Curry became eligible on August 29 for an extension worth up to two years and approximately $136.7 million. The Warriors reportedly presented him with several possibilities, including the maximum extension, versions involving smaller discounts and the option to wait before making a decision. [ESPN]
Curry ultimately chose the $116 million structure.
Why Did Stephen Curry Take Less Money?
The primary reason is roster flexibility.
According to ESPN, Curry agreed to take approximately $20 million less than the maximum extension available to him, giving Golden State significantly more financial flexibility next summer. [ESPN]
That does not mean the Warriors suddenly have an unlimited amount of salary-cap space. NBA roster building is governed by the salary cap, luxury tax and the league’s first and second apron restrictions.
But every dollar can matter for a team trying to construct a contender around an expensive veteran core.
Curry’s decision therefore represents a compromise: he still receives $116 million in additional guaranteed earning potential while leaving the Warriors more room to maneuver than they would have had if he demanded the maximum possible extension.
How Much Money Did Curry Give Up?
Curry was eligible for approximately $136.7 million over two years.
He accepted $116 million.
That means the difference is approximately $20.7 million.
NBA.com described the contract as a discount from Curry’s maximum earning potential and noted that it reinforced his longstanding desire to finish his career with Golden State. [NBA]
Why Is There A Player Option In Curry’s Contract?
The player option gives Curry control over the final season of the agreement.
The extension guarantees his contract through 2027-28, while Curry can decide whether to exercise his option and remain under the deal for 2028-29.
That is particularly significant because Curry will be entering his 40s by that stage of his career.
If Curry wants to continue playing under the existing agreement, he can exercise the option. If circumstances change — whether because of his health, retirement plans or the direction of the Warriors — the option gives him another choice.
ESPN reported that the player option applies to the 2028-29 season. [ESPN]
How Old Will Stephen Curry Be When The Contract Ends?
Curry was born March 14, 1988.
He is 38 entering the 2026-27 season and would turn 41 during the 2028-29 season if he exercises the player option and plays out the entire extension.
That would make 2028-29 Curry’s 20th NBA season, all with Golden State. [NBA]
Reaching 20 seasons with one organization would put Curry in an extremely exclusive group.
Could Curry Play 20 Seasons With The Warriors?
Yes.
If Curry plays through the 2028-29 season, he would join a small group of NBA players who spent at least 20 seasons with one franchise.
NBA.com noted that the group includes Dirk Nowitzki with the Dallas Mavericks, Kobe Bryant with the Los Angeles Lakers and Udonis Haslem with the Miami Heat. [NBA]
That would be a fitting distinction for a player whose identity has become virtually inseparable from the Warriors.
Is Stephen Curry Going To Retire With The Warriors?
The extension makes that increasingly likely, although it does not formally guarantee it.
Curry has repeatedly said he wants to spend his entire NBA career with Golden State.
The Warriors selected him with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, and he has never played for another NBA organization.
By extending Curry through a potential 20th season, Golden State has positioned itself to keep him for essentially the remainder of his playing career.
Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy said after the agreement that the organization was thrilled to extend Curry’s historic career with Golden State, calling him an extraordinary representative of the franchise both on and off the court. [NBA]
Why Didn’t Curry Sign A Longer Extension?
The two-year length is tied to NBA contract rules governing older players.
Curry’s age limits how far Golden State can extend his contract because of the NBA’s Over-38 rule, which is designed to prevent teams from using contracts extending deep into a veteran’s 40s as a way to manipulate salary-cap rules.
As a result, Curry became eligible for a maximum extension of two additional seasons rather than the longer extensions available to many younger stars.
ESPN reported that Curry became eligible on August 29 for the two-year extension worth as much as $136.7 million. [ESPN]
Why Did Curry Sign The Extension Now?
Curry could have waited.
According to ESPN, the Warriors presented him with multiple possibilities after he became extension-eligible, including the option of delaying a decision until the franchise had more information about its future roster and finances.
Curry considered those possibilities for nearly a month.
But shortly before training camp, he made clear that he did not want his contract situation becoming an ongoing storyline during the season. Curry told ESPN that he wanted “no drama” surrounding his future. [ESPN]
Signing the extension eliminates the possibility of Curry spending the entire 2026-27 season answering questions about impending free agency.
Was Stephen Curry Going To Become A Free Agent?
He could have.
Before signing the extension, Curry’s contract was scheduled to expire after the 2026-27 season.
He is earning approximately $62.6 million in that season under the one-year extension he signed with Golden State in August 2024.
Without another extension, Curry could have reached unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2027.
The new agreement eliminates that immediate possibility by adding the 2027-28 season and a 2028-29 player option.
Does The Contract Mean Curry Cannot Leave Golden State?
No NBA contract makes a future departure impossible.
Curry could theoretically be traded, and the player option gives him control over whether to remain under contract for 2028-29.
But there is no indication that either Curry or the Warriors signed this extension with a separation in mind.
The opposite is true: both sides publicly framed the agreement as another step toward Curry completing his career with the franchise that drafted him.
Could The Warriors Trade Stephen Curry?
Technically, a long-term contract does not make a player permanently untradeable.
But Curry occupies an unusual position in Golden State.
He is not simply the team’s best-known current player. He is the central figure in the most successful era in franchise history and one of the most consequential players in NBA history.
The extension also ends any immediate speculation that Curry’s expiring contract might force Golden State to consider its options if the team struggled.
Curry’s stated desire to remain a Warrior and Golden State’s willingness to extend him indicate that both sides are planning around his continued presence rather than a trade.
How Did Curry Play In 2025-26?
The contract comes after a season that demonstrated both Curry’s continued effectiveness and the biggest concern surrounding the final stage of his career: availability.
Curry averaged 26.6 points, 4.7 assists and 3.6 rebounds while shooting 46.8% from the field, 39.3% from three-point range and 92.3% from the free-throw line. [NBA]
But he appeared in only 43 games.
A persistent right knee problem caused Curry to miss more than two months. He eventually returned in April after initially hoping to be back shortly after the All-Star break. [NBA]
Curry said before training camp that he had taken advantage of the offseason and felt physically ready to begin the new season. [ESPN]
Why Would The Warriors Give A 38-Year-Old $116 Million?
Curry’s age makes the contract unusual, but his performance remains unusual for his age as well.
Even during an injury-shortened 2025-26 season, he averaged 26.6 points while making 39.3% of his three-pointers. [NBA]
There is also no realistic way to separate Curry’s value from the Warriors franchise itself.
Since Golden State drafted him in 2009, Curry has become a two-time NBA MVP, four-time NBA champion, Finals MVP, 12-time All-Star and the league’s all-time leader in made three-pointers.
He has been the centerpiece of every Warriors championship team during the franchise’s modern dynasty.
Golden State is therefore paying both for a player who remains highly productive and for the opportunity to keep the defining player in franchise history with one organization for his entire career.
What Does Curry’s Discount Mean For The Warriors?
This may ultimately be the most important basketball component of the extension.
If Curry had taken every dollar available to him, Golden State would have less financial flexibility to reshape the roster around him.
Instead, ESPN reported that the roughly $20 million reduction from his maximum extension creates significant additional cap flexibility for the Warriors next summer. [ESPN]
That matters because Curry’s remaining seasons place Golden State on a very short competitive timeline.
The Warriors cannot reasonably approach roster building around Curry as a long-term rebuilding project. Every season that he remains an elite offensive player represents another opportunity to construct a championship-caliber team around him.
Curry’s extension gives Golden State additional certainty about that timeline while his discount gives the front office more room to make changes.
Does Curry’s Extension Mean The Warriors Are Still Trying To Win A Championship?
Everything about the structure suggests Golden State intends to continue building around Curry rather than begin a full rebuild.
Curry could have demanded his maximum extension. Instead, he accepted less money in a structure that gives the front office additional flexibility.
That sacrifice would have considerably less value if the organization were simply planning to spend Curry’s remaining seasons rebuilding.
The agreement therefore aligns the two sides around the same basic timeline: Curry remains the centerpiece while Golden State continues trying to assemble a roster capable of making another postseason run.
How Many Championships Has Stephen Curry Won?
Curry has won four NBA championships with Golden State:
2015
2017
2018
2022
He won the NBA Finals MVP award for the first time in 2022.
Curry also won consecutive regular-season MVP awards in 2015 and 2016, becoming the first unanimous MVP in league history in 2016.
How Much Money Has Stephen Curry Made?
Curry’s earnings have changed dramatically since he entered the NBA.
One of the most consequential contracts in league history was the four-year, $44 million extension Curry signed in 2012. At the time, recurring ankle injuries created uncertainty about his long-term durability.
Curry subsequently became an MVP and the foundation of an NBA dynasty while playing on what became an extraordinarily team-friendly contract.
His later contracts reflected his transformation into a superstar. In 2017, he signed a five-year supermax contract worth more than $200 million, and in 2021 he signed another four-year extension worth more than $200 million.
His new agreement adds another $116 million in potential salary and could keep him among the NBA’s highest-paid players into his 40s.
What Records Does Stephen Curry Hold?
Curry is already the NBA’s career leader in made three-point field goals.
He passed Ray Allen for first place in December 2021 and has continued extending the record ever since.
His résumé also includes:
4 NBA championships
2 NBA MVP awards
1 NBA Finals MVP award
12 All-Star selections
2 scoring titles
NBA career record for made three-pointers
First unanimous MVP in NBA history
Curry has also fundamentally changed the strategic value NBA teams place on three-point shooting and shooting range.
What Does The Extension Mean For Curry’s Retirement?
The contract does not establish a retirement date.
Curry could play through the 2028-29 season, exercise the option and then continue playing under another agreement, or decide to retire before reaching that point.
The player option gives him flexibility.
What the extension does establish is a realistic framework for the final stage of his career.
If Curry plays through 2028-29, he would complete his 20th NBA season with the Warriors and would be 41 years old by the end of that season.
That makes the new agreement a plausible final NBA contract — but neither Curry nor the Warriors has announced that it will definitely be his last.
Stephen Curry’s Contract Extension At A Glance
Team: Golden State Warriors
Extension: 2 years
Extension value: $116 million
Average extension value: Approximately $58 million per season
Current 2026-27 salary: Approximately $62.6 million
Total potential earnings over next three seasons: Approximately $178.6 million
Extension begins: 2027-28
Player option: 2028-29
Maximum extension available: Approximately $136.7 million
Approximate discount: $20.7 million
Curry’s age entering 2026-27: 38
Potential final season: 2028-29
Potential season with Warriors: 20th
NBA championships: 4
NBA MVP awards: 2
What Is The Bottom Line On Curry’s New Contract?
Stephen Curry’s extension accomplishes several things at once.
It removes the possibility of an expiring contract dominating discussion around the Warriors during the 2026-27 season. It gives Curry another $116 million in potential salary. It provides him with control over the final year through a player option. And it creates a path for him to spend 20 NBA seasons with the only franchise he has ever represented.
Most importantly for Golden State’s immediate future, Curry did not take the maximum amount available. He accepted roughly $20 million less than he could have received, with ESPN reporting that the decision gives the Warriors greater financial flexibility as they attempt to build around him. [ESPN]
So the $116 million extension is not simply a retirement-tour contract for a franchise legend. Curry remains an elite scorer, and the structure of the agreement gives Golden State a clearer window to try to make another championship run before the greatest player in franchise history finally calls it a career.
