If the Golden State Warriors’ 101-104 loss against a 9-31 Toronto Raptors side didn’t convince Dubs fans to give up on the 2024-25 season, Stephen Curry’s post-game interview at Scotiabank Arena certainly did. At a time when fans expect most superstars to leverage the threat of their potential departure to make urgent midseason trades, the four-time NBA Champion told reporters, “Desperate trades or desperate moves that deplete the future — there is a responsibility on keeping the franchise in a good space…when we’re done.”
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“[Just because you want to win now] doesn’t mean that you’re desperate, just flinging around assets all over the place because you want to do something,” Curry added. The Warriors superstar did say that the team should make trades that make sense. However, they shouldn’t jeopardize their future in the process.
NBA analyst Brian Windhorst was shocked by Curry’s comments in Toronto on Monday. “I have never heard an interview like this from a player midseason,” he admitted.
The ESPN analyst tried to take into account the possibility that the two-time MVP’s comments might be influenced by the brutal weather in Canada right now. But he didn’t seemed too convinced with the theory himself.
Windhorst then went on to say that he believes Curry has accepted that the Warriors would not be good enough to contend for a Championship before he retires. “You know those stages of loss: it sounds like Steph Curry is at acceptance stage,” the 46-year-old said on NBA on ESPN.
“I’ve never heard an interview like this from a player in midseason.” @WindhorstESPN on Stephen Curry’s comments about not being “desperate” to improve the Warriors’ roster despite their 19-20 record. pic.twitter.com/zWy7VUDCEd
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) January 14, 2025
The Warriors are 12th in the Western Conference right now with a 19-20 record. They need to throw the kitchen sink at the trade deadline if they want to save the season. However, Curry’s comments show no such urgency.
Windy compared Steph’s stance to that of LeBron, who has always shown a propensity to demand his franchise to trade whatever assets required to get him the required personnel to compete right now. On the contrary, Curry is taking the opposite route—to preserve the franchise’s future at the expense of wasting the last of his prime years in mediocrity.
“When you listen to him talk like that, it makes you think, that the Warriors, who have been sniffing around a star player since last summer…instead of doing that, they can make a trade to save money because they are not far enough from the luxury tax. ‘Cause it sounds like they’ve got Steph’s sign-off on it,” Windy concluded.
The ESPN reporter also said that Curry doesn’t have to make these sacrifices to leave the franchise at a better place than he found it in. His Dubs dynasty is the cornerstone of whatever progress the Warriors have made in the past decade. So if anything, the 36-year-old deserves to squander the team’s future resources to make the most of his remaining days in the league.
