While some people may throw a cheaper rookie contract into the discussion, the debate of which player is the best bargain in the NBA begins and ends with Golden State Warriors' demi-god Stephen Curry. As his rookie contract was coming to an end, Curry's chronically injured ankles were the biggest question surrounding his game, and it made the Warriors understandably skeptical when it came to offering him a huge long-term deal. In the end the two sides agreed on a modest, but at the time fair, four-year deal for $44 million.
Curry has since become, arguably, the best player in the NBA. He's won an MVP. He's led the Warriors to an NBA title, which has made that deal a monster bargain for the Warriors. He's become the top All-Star Game vote-getter, and helped lead Golden State to the best start in NBA history -- all in the past year. That $44 million is a complete steal for Golden State, and everyone knows it -- including Curry, who won't get a shot at another big contract until the summer of 2017. But that doesn't mean the Warriors star is worried about it. Curry seems to be at peace with the situation, and is clearly being careful to not upset the chemistry of the team with a bunch of talk about his contract.
From Adrian Wojnarowski at Yahoo:
"I had to make a conscious decision and remind myself over and over [to let it go]," Curry told Yahoo Sports. "I could've had a different perspective and said, 'I want to get everything that I could get, wait it out, test free agency that next year -- and who knows what would've happened? But for me, a $44 million contract was plenty for me to be able to provide for my family. When I made a decision to sign an extension, I told myself that was the right decision for the moment.
"And, yeah, you should get paid market value, paid for what you're worth, but at the time, for four years, I was comfortable with it. You can't look back, because it'll bring negativity. It'll cause dissension in the team if you allow it to."
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"After three years, I've still got to remind myself every day," Curry told Yahoo Sports. "Number one, there's nothing I can do about it. There's no point to moaning and complaining and trying to change something that really can't be changed. I knew there might be a time down the road, after all the ankle injuries, that if I'm playing to my potential, it's going to be human nature to think, 'Oh, I should've done this, or that ...'
"[But] at the time, the counsel that I got from my family, my agent, myself, was that it was the right decision to make. With that, I could take care of my family and be good. And hopefully anything that happened after that would just be icing on the cake."
That's really the only way Curry can look at the situation at this point, otherwise it would drive him into a jealous fit when other players on the Warriors, and around the league, who are nowhere near the player he is, are making, in some cases, significantly more money than him. The Under Armour deal certainly helps Curry, who has plenty of endorsements to make up for lost value in NBA wages.
Plus, it's not like he's getting paid the veteran's minimum. He's making eight figures a season and knows he's in line for a max deal with a huge salary cap spike in 2017 when he's able to sign a new deal. He knows he's not always going to be the fifth-highest-paid player on his team. It also shows how far he's come with the ankle issues and improving as a player to even make this an issue.
