Matt Barnes on Stephen Curry: “He’ll retire as a Warrior”
Matt Barnes has no doubts: his former teammate Steph Curry won’t leave the Warriors in pursuit of a fifth championship, but will instead prepare for a Kobe Bryant-style retirement
How much longer will we get to enjoy Stephen Curry on an NBA court? In October, the Akron native will begin his 18th NBA season, which will also be the final year covered by his current contract with the Golden State Warriors.
And head coach Steve Kerr won’t ask him to take a step back, but rather to provide the same leadership that has been at the heart of the league’s last great dynasty. Looking at the roster, it couldn’t be any other way: there are young talents with upside – from Brandin Podziemski to rookie Yaxel Lendeborg – but the face around which to build the post-Curry era remains a question mark.
As the start of the season approaches, the outlook around the team seems to clearly suggest that the Warriors don’t have enough resources to seriously compete for a championship. And it’s not just because they failed to sign LeBron James.
Limited salary flexibility discouraged Golden State from matching the Memphis Grizzlies’ offer for Quinten Post, one of the breakout stars of the 2025 playoffs, while no team has shown significant interest in young players such as Moses Moody and Gui Santos, potential trade pieces the Warriors could have used to immediately strengthen the roster in the Bay Area.
And yet, at least for now, the chances of a separation between the Warriors and Curry in the summer of 2027, when No. 30 enters free agency, remain close to zero.
Curry himself reiterated that point in an interview with NBC Sports Bay Area.
There’s no doubt that I want to stay here for the rest of my career, and I’m pretty sure that’s what’s going to happen
Stephen Curry
Echoing his words, which sounded almost like a promise, was Matt Barnes, Curry’s friend and former teammate on the triumphant 2017 Golden State Warriors – the team that gave Barnes a sweet ending to his career, capped by the long-awaited NBA championship.
On the latest episode of the All The Smoke podcast, which he co-hosts with Stephen Jackson, the former forward weighed in on the Splash Brother’s future, drawing a parallel with another close friend: Kobe Bryant.
I have a feeling Steph is on that Kobe train. I don’t think he’s leaving. I think Steph is going to ride the ship until it sinks, just like Kobe did
Matt Barnes
A decision that could, in effect, see Curry sacrifice his chances of winning a fifth championship in favor of remaining loyal to his Warriors until the very end.
Does this version of the Warriors have a chance? I don’t think so. It’s a young league. Steph and obviously Draymond still bring greatness, but they have too much on their shoulders. They need someone to take the pressure off
Matt Barnes
The most likely scenario right now could also make Curry the NBA’s last great one-team player. With Giannis Antetokounmpo leaving the Milwaukee Bucks, Curry could become the only superstar of his entire generation to have spent his entire career wearing the same jersey.
That fact would neither add to nor diminish the player’s greatness, but it would inevitably shape how his career is remembered in the collective imagination.