What's better than four NBA championships? Five. And what's better than five? Six.
You get the idea. And so does Steph Curry.
The Warriors superstar, now 37 years old and in his 16th NBA season, already has one of the most decorated careers in league history and is a lock for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame whenever he decides to retire.
Might that day come if Golden State wins a fifth championship this summer? Longtime teammate Draymond Green joined NBC Sports Bay Area's Monte Poole and Kerith Burke on the latest "Dubs Talk" episode and shared why he doesn't believe Curry will ride off into the sunset if the Warriors' dynastic duo were to secure its fifth ring this season.
"He is definitely that type of person where he's just not going to hold on and do the whole thing a lot of guys do," Green told Poole and Burke. "If he's not at an elite level, he's not going to do it. The problem he has is, if we're winning number five this year, he's got a strong chance to get six next year. And he's not going to screw me out of six so he has no chance of retiring, because if we have a chance to get six, I'll be at his house every day making sure he ain't retiring. Because we need to go after that."
That's not to say Curry at least won't consider the possibility of retiring on top, but Green believes his teammate ultimately will recognize that if the Warriors are able to win another championship this year, then they will have a strong chance to do so again next season.
"Honestly, I think the decision will come across his mind for like a week or two where he's like, 'Man, I did it.' And then I think he'll chill for a week or two and then be like, 'Alright, I'm doing this again. I feel too great, I'm too at the peak of my powers,'" Green said. "He still has too much left to give to this game to let go now.
Golden State Warriors
"He just turned 37 and he can 1,000 percent play this game at the level he's playing at for another three years until 40. I wholeheartedly believe that. As much as he's said that, and I believe him, and I think that would make the question run across his mind, I don't see it happening this year. Whether we win or not, I don't think it happens."
Green's assessment seems to line up with what Curry himself has said about how much longer he will play, recently telling 95.7 The Game's "Steiny & Guru" that he would like to outplay his current contract, which expires after the 2026-27 NBA season
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All three of Curry, Green (player option) and star forward Jimmy Butler are under contract through the 2026-27 NBA season, and many believe the contracts aligning could allow the trio, along with coach Steve Kerr, whose contract is up one year prior, to retire around the same time.
Will Curry and Green secure their fifth rings by then? Only time will tell.
