“The House That Stephen Curry Built”: Warriors’ $7.88 Billion Valuation Growth Has NBA Twitter Cheering On 10x All-Star

The Golden State Warriors were a largely irrelevant franchise for almost four decades. After winning their third champions in 1975, the team made minimal headway in the 20th century and was bottom of the barrel in the West for the first 12 years of the new millennium.

However, things started to change in 2012. The team had three promising young players in guard Klay Thompson and forwards Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes, and were led by rising young phenom Stephen Curry, who was entering his fourth season at the time. The quartet ended the Warriors’ four-year streak of finishing the regular season with a losing record before leading them to their first 50-win season in two decades in 2014.

The 2014-15 season commenced the era of the Golden State Warriors in the 2010s. The team won a franchise record 67 games, and Curry was named the league MVP. They would then go on to beat LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals to end the team’s 40-year wait for an NBA title.

The following year, Curry and the Warriors went 73-9 in the regular season and broke the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls‘ record of 72 wins. The guard became the first and only player to win the MVP award unanimously. They failed to win the NBA title but added former MVP Kevin Durant in the offseason and won back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018.

After his exit from the franchise in 2019, the Warriors endured two down years but returned to the pinnacle of the NBA by winning the 2022 NBA title, their fourth title in eight years. Curry was named the Finals MVP, ending his wait for the coveted prize. The Warriors going from bottom-dwellers to a dynasty since drafting Curry has made them one of the most popular teams on the planet and one of the most valuable.

In 2009, Forbes magazine valued the Warriors at $315 million. They were the 18th-most valuable team in the league. Fast forward to 2024, the Warriors are not only the most valuable NBA team, they are the second-most valuable franchise in the world behind the Dallas Cowboys.

Curry is one of the key reasons for the Warriors’ 2503.17% increase in valuation. The guard turning the franchise from an afterthought to a juggernaut has raised its value by $7.88 billion in only 15 years. He’s the biggest reason why the Warriors are one of the most recognizable sports brands in the world at the moment.

Fans hail Stephen Curry’s impact

Stephen Curry has been the face of the Golden State Warriors since 2009. His loyalty to the franchise during the tough times in his early years and his role in changing the franchise’s culture cannot be overstated.

He sacrificed his role in the offense to accommodate stars like Kevin Durant to ensure the team stayed as successful as possible even at the highest level. Curry also took the responsibility of dragging them to the 2022 NBA title after Durant left the franchise in 2019. Fans who have been on the journey since the start recognize Curry’s role in building the dynasty. And so, they almost unanimously want the franchise to do right by him by giving him equity.

A few fans even noted how Curry’s #30 jersey has become a brand like Michael Jordan’s #23 jersey.

It’s unclear if Warriors owner Joe Lacob would entertain handing Curry equity in the franchise. However, there’s no denying that the guard has played a more important role than anyone else in helping the franchise go from 18th-most valuable in the NBA to one of the most valuable on the planet.