Steph wants to be ‘greedy,’ push for a fifth NBA championship originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Through more than 15 seasons in the NBA, Stephen Curry collected enough trophies, plaques, medals, jewelry and souvenirs to fill a wholesale warehouse. His Golden State Warriors career is full, yet there is one more box he wants to check.
And it is one that he has already checked not once or twice or three times.
Even later four NBA championships, satisfying as they areCurry misses a fifth ring.
“Honestly, it’s the only thing I’m really playing for right now,” Curry said on NBC Sports Bay Area’s “Dubs Talk,” which debuted Wednesday. “It is the only thing that matters in the sense of fulfillment.”
There are other career goals, some personal and some for bragging rights to clean up his Hall of Fame bio. So, it’s not exactly championship or agony. At age 36, basketball remains, outside of Curry’s wife and four children, a gratifying experience.
“I still love playing the game,” Curry said. “I still love coming to work every day. Basketball is still fun to me. The challenge of trying to figure out how to score on a nightly basis, I’m still going out for it.”
Proof of that can be found in Curry’s stats through the first 10 games. He is averaging 23.0 points per game, shooting 47.9 percent from the field, including 42.7 percent from beyond the arc. The Warriors rank dead last in the NBA in free throw percentage, but Curry stands apart, shooting 94.3 percent from the line.
Curry, the reigning NBA Clutch Player of the Year, continues to weave late-game magic. When the Warriors faded in the fourth quarter in Oklahoma City on Nov. 10, Curry saved them by scoring eight of their 11 points over the final 3:23.
Two days later, with Golden State trailing the Dallas Mavericks by six (114-108) and just over three minutes left, Curry secured the victory scoring his team’s last 12 points.
Such feats partly illustrate Curry’s thirst for a fifth championship ring to go with those he won in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2022. Another ring, and maybe another Finals MVP trophywould remind everyone that he can still lead his team to a championship.
“There’s a lot more that goes on off the court that can try to drag you down a little bit or distract you,” Curry said. “Trying to fight that is great. The league has changed so much, and trying to reimagine what it would look like for the Golden State Warriors in the 24-25 season to win a championship is completely different than even ’22. It’s completely different than. ’17 or ‘ 18 or ’15.”
Different because Curry’s signature shot, the 3-pointer, established its grip on the game of basketball, changing court geometry and becoming an essential element for most teams in the NBA. Different because seven of his 14 teammates were not with the Warriors when they last won a title.
Different because Curry’s longtime sidekick, Klay Thompson left the Warriors and now plays for the Mavericks – who happen to be defending Western Conference champions.
Curry has the rest of this season and the next two to capture ring number 5. If the Warriors won another NBA Finals during those three years, it would end his unlikely climb to the top.
Curry has built his career on achieving improbable feats, perhaps none more so than becoming the first — and only — player to win the league’s MVP award by unanimous vote. Facing doubters from high school and college and well into his NBA career, he would love to shove another ring in the faces of skeptics.
He knows a fifth ring would put him on the same level as Hall of Famers Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Magic Johnson.
“It all goes into the obsession of trying to be the best basketball player I can be,” Curry said, “and trying to lift my team up and have them lift me up to be able to be important in that conversation.
“And then, obviously, in the historical realm of basketball, there’s another level. You’re talking about five-time champions and beyond that. It’s a good place to start, but I definitely want to be greedy.”
