Stephen Curry will be entering Year 12 in the NBA come next season, and the Golden State Warriors would like to adopt a more conservative approach with him moving forward.
Speaking this week on the “Hoops, Adjacent” podcast with The Athletic’s David Aldridge, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr indicated that the team is going to start managing Curry’s minutes.
“Now, he’s at the point where he’s been at the peak of his powers for the last couple of years,” Kerr said. “If anything, it’s on us to try to begin to manage his minutes. We’ve always been really blessed. We’ve been able to do that because of the talent on our team. We’ve never really run Steph into the ground. We don’t have as much depth as we once did. It’s on us as a coaching staff to make sure we get him his rest every night, and we’re not wearing him out.”
Curry, who will be 33 next season, has averaged 34.3 minutes a game for his career. A broken left hand derailed the two-time MVP’s 2019-20 season after just five games though, forcing the Warriors to consider his long-term health.
Some close to Curry think that he might even be able to play into his 40s, but for that to even stand a chance of happening, the Warriors will indeed have to start gradually easing his load. It sounds like that process could begin the next time that we see Curry in action.
