Stephen Curry sees a window of opportunity for the Warriors: “It’s still about winning”

Windows are a metaphor for opportunities in basketball. Limited probabilities of success. Open spaces that close quickly. The passing lane on a backdoor cut. A superb view of the basket from a screen. The final stretch of a season. A decisive game in a playoff series. An era.

Stephen Curry's window is open, as his performance in Paris proves. He prolonged it on Thursday – signing a one-year, $62.6 million contract extension – while stressing that it’ll inevitably close. A creative move for a player whose profession is all about creating and exploiting windows.

Curry is now under contract for 3 more years and is price almost $178 million. His contract expires in the identical offseason as Draymond Green's. And suddenly it appears like the start of the top. A calculated move to launch one last push.

“From my perspective, it's no different,” Curry said. “You appreciate the position and the opportunity and the support of the people who have been with you along the way. I've always said I want to play for one team my whole career, so it's good to get the (contract extension) issue out of the way and focus fully on basketball and the season.”

It is a sense that Curry just experienced in his debut with Team USA. The basketball world remains to be feeling the consequences of his Explosion on the Olympic Games in ParisAnd it still moves him.

It happened, Curry said, because he needed to be within the moment. He waited too long to not dive in. It was a window considered closed, however the persistence of his elite kept it open long enough to take advantage of it. And he did.

“You're fully present,” Curry said. “The sacrifice that my family went through allows me to be fully present. It just gave me the opportunity to play basketball and try to have as much fun as possible. It was one of those pure moments that stands out when you look back on your life and the experiences you've had. It was the most surreal feeling, especially the way it ended. I felt like a kid again. A 12 out of 10 experience.”

One of the explanations for signing the contract was to attain this purity of focus. A fifth championship can be a fairytale ending to a wonderful profession. But the Warriors missed the 2024 playoffs and have a steep mountain to climb in a brief time period.

Could Curry play longer? Of course. But he shall be 39 at the top of his current contract, in order that's not a given.

That's the time the Warriors have left. Three years to climb the mountain again. Three years to get essentially the most out of the personality of a generation that was a pillar of certainly one of the best sports franchises of the fashionable era. The last trilogy for the 3-point king.

If Curry's priority had been extending his profession, he would have had to attend until next summer to increase his contract. Then he could have signed a two-year deal at 37, giving him an additional 12 months of max salary and fully realizing his earning potential as an NBA superstar. But signing for a 12 months now – the longest 12 months allowed under the NBA's “over 38” rule, which caps contracts at three years if the player finally ends up being 38 or older – has a certain symbolism.

Curry took the cash now, not later. He curated a three-year window somewhat than planning for 4, perhaps organising what may very well be a final three-peat. In doing so, he created a clever strategy to give Golden State's front office a vote of confidence without sacrificing urgency.

“It's still about winning,” Curry said, “and taking the necessary steps to give ourselves a chance. The standard hasn't changed. The expectations haven't changed.”

Knowing when the top might come should prevent complacency. Knowing when he might hang up his Under Armours, Curry is perhaps much more motivated to capitalize on his final prime years. And he's more prone to push himself elsewhere if he starts to imagine the Warriors aren't as much as the challenge. All NBA contracts are tradeable.

The obvious advantage can be to attend until next offseason, when he only has one 12 months left on his contract. That can be the normal way of holding Golden State's management accountable, and the mere possibility of his departure can be a slap within the face.

Curry wouldn't sign the contract if he thought it might be a blow to the Warriors' championship hopes. Absolutely not. He said the choice to sign now was a vote of confidence and a likelihood to capitalize on the chance. A commitment that guarantees patience while adding pressure.

He believes the Warriors' attempts to get him a worthy supporting solid were serious enough. This contract extension is a vote of confidence that the Mike Dunleavy-led front office will proceed to work toward a title. Whatever happened this summer — especially what didn't occur, with the Warriors failing to make a decisive move — wasn't an indictment of the franchise's efforts, even when it underscored the fact of their scarce upgrade options.

But Curry was involved in all of the motion and in constant dialogue with Dunleavy. Curry recruited Paul George. So Curry is evident about what the Warriors had under control and the way lots of their failures were the fault of their rivals.

The next window is the February trading deadline.

The Warriors will not be title contenders by any objective measure this season. They lost Klay Thompson to Dallas. They were unsuccessful in trading George and Lauri Markkanen, two players who could have moved them up within the crowded Western Conference.

Of course, that may be reason enough for Curry to attend until the subsequent offseason to increase his contract until the Warriors showed their championship potential. But he prolonged his contract despite having to play mediocre defense for 82 games with no co-star who could bolster the Warriors' offense.

Another reason he would do that: The extra $62 million at the top of his current contract is a reward that's hard to pass up, especially when you assume the Warriors won't let up.. With just weeks left until training camp, Curry's name is the most popular within the NBA after he just turned his legacy into gold. He'll be 37 at the top of this season, so it makes perfect sense to snag that expensive contract extension now.

But if there's anyone who has lasting influence, if there's an NBA superstar who can ensure that his departure can be so massive that it might bring a whole franchise to wreck, if there's anyone who still has a reliable marketplace for his services, even in his mid-30s, it's Golden State's No. 30. There's an excellent likelihood he'll be hitting the bottom running next season.

Still, Curry can have done the double job of maximizing his earnings and giving the Warriors a reason to not look to the distant future. Because if the Olympics did anything apart from remind us of his greatness, it was to evoke the tough truth of his mortality. Him with LeBron James and Kevin Durant was fascinating because they were still so impressive at this level of their careers. And at the identical time, they evoked an appreciation, knowing their appeal can't last perpetually.

Curry's first appearance on Team USA was his last. Because the show won't last perpetually.

Now the energy shifts from the last Olympics to the Larry O'Brien Trophy, where his sensible performance inspired hope that patience, labor and quality cohorts can once more produce a unbelievable climax.

Curry knows he may not give you the option to succeed in ring number 5. Championships are difficult. The Warriors need an enormous likelihood simply to get out of the play-in tournament. But what counts is a valiant effort. All he needs is to honor the whole lot he's put into preseason and be a perfect face of the franchise by attempting to win now.

The window is open a bit longer. But windows are only windows because they close.