The Athletic’s Marcus Thompson published an excerpt from the upcoming paperback edition of his Stephen Curry biography Golden on Thursday, that included an interesting, and somewhat shocking nugget, that owner Joe Lacob kicked around the idea of not offering the two-time MVP a max contract this offseason. General manager Bob Myers eventualy put the kibosh on the idea, and made sure anything other than a max offer was never on the table.
Even Curry’s own coach, Steve Kerr, publicly listed Durant, LeBron, and San Antonio Spurs’ star Kawhi Leonard as the elite of the elite in the NBA. Kerr was referring to two-way players, but it was in lockstep with the general sentiment.
On top of that, as the Warriors prepared for the postseason, Warriors owner Joe Lacob was considering offering Curry a contract below the max, even though Curry has been one of the most underpaid players in all of sports over the last three seasons. Warriors general manager Bob Myers kept Lacob from bringing a reduced offer to the negotiating table, but it was enough of a thing that Myers reassured Curry of the franchise’s commitment.
While the idea that Curry, a consensus top-five player, would not be in line for a max deal is preposterous in a vacuum, it is even more so when you take into account that Curry was the most underpaid player in basketball for the last four seasons, making just $11 million per year. The report is also significant considering the reportedly strained relationship between Curry and Lacob, who has a habit of taking credit for Curry’s accomplishments on the court without acknowledging his star.
The Warriors did end up offering Curry the full max of 5-years, $201.1 million, which he accepted without hesitation, dodging a potential bullet had cooler heads not prevailed.