Steph Curry, Draymond Green go out on their shields as Warriors' season ends

PHOENIX - His 17th season with the Golden State Warriors over after losing to the Phoenix Suns 111-96 in a play-in game Friday night, Stephen Curry, his cap worn backward, tried to make sense of its highs and its lows.

No, he isn't competing in the playoffs with his fifth NBA championship in mind. Yes, he managed to find fulfillment Wednesday - tormenting the Los Angeles Clippers in the play-in tournament.

"When it comes to the Warriors, you're always talking about championships. That's what we've established in a goal," said Curry, dressed in a scarlet bomber jacket with a white T-shirt beneath.

"We had to reshape that. It's like, OK. Can we make something out of this year and get a playoff experience and playoff berth? That felt like the right goal and why I forced my way to get back. For us to have that moment that we did in L.A., the highs of that and the lows of tonight, it's just what basketball, what sports, is about. You never know what's going to happen, but you give it everything you have."

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Curry stayed true to his competitive character and left Mortgage Matchup Center on Friday with pride over how the wounded Warriors fought through the end of a disappointing 2025-26 campaign. His season was compromised by right knee soreness that kept him courtside for 27 straight games - after teammate Jimmy Butler tore his right ACL in mid-January, ending any credible championship chase.

But Curry's hardwiring and passion for playing stopped him from succumbing to runner's knee if there was realistic hope that he could healthily play in the postseason, be it for a game or two. His 35-point eruption Wednesday included a ruthless tie-breaking 3-pointer that he followed Friday with 17 points and some late-game limping in a 15-point defeat.

"I'm proud of the way we finished it," Curry said. "Because it could have been very sleepy. Like I'm not coming back. We get blown out the first game and everybody kind of just goes into the summer with no real direction. It was a fun ride the last four days."

At 38, Curry still ranks among the best players in the NBA, but the tread on his tires showed more wear than ever before. In 43 games - the third fewest he has played in a single season - he averaged 26.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 4.7 assists and shot 46.8% from the field and 39.3% from 3-point range. He still commands a double team whenever a ball screen comes his way and help in the gaps whenever he bends or cuts around an off-ball screen.

But 1,069 regular-season games and 155 playoff games against every coverage known to coaching take their toll eventually. So does the sprinting and sprinting and sprinting, thus the genesis of runner's knee.

"Steph's still got it. We watched it the other night. He can still do it," head coach Steve Kerr said. "But it just gets more difficult as you get older. Obviously, he plays a different game than a lot of other older players. … Steph is flying off screens. He travels a further distance than anybody in the league year after year. Obviously, the injury after the season was difficult for him to deal with. Did an amazing job just getting back to this point."

Curry expects any lingering soreness to subside with rest (and golf) this offseason, armed with experience managing it the past two weeks since his return to play. He acknowledged "it's kind of touch and go, knowing rest will get me right" with the hope of getting to training camp healthy and tracking his workload early in the season.

He also hopes to sign a new contract - with his $62.6 million deal expiring after next season - and return the Warriors to competitive relevance.

"But can we rethink how we do things with the foundation that we established? We don't have to keep saying championship, championship, championship every day even though we experienced that," Curry said. "It's - can we build a foundation again with what this team needs to do? How fast it is. How young and athletic it is. All those things, we have to kind of put everything back on the drawing board to get back to just being competitive every single night."

As Curry was stuck on the sideline this season, teammate Draymond Green endured a decline - losing his minutes for the first time (in a season with Curry healthy) since his rookie year of 2012-2013. In 68 games - his second most since 2017-18, including 23 of the 27 Curry missed - Green averaged 8.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists, shooting 41.8% from the field and 32.6% from 3-point range.

He's still among the league's most disruptive disruptors, but his offensive holes are hard to hide. He wants to remain with Golden State and has a player option worth $27.7 million next season.

"I don't ever want to be like - ‘Yo, we just going to keep him around because what he's done before.' Like, what can I still do?" said Green, whose defensive brilliance Wednesday against the Clippers mirrored Curry's brilliance offensively. "And by the way, that's not just playing, right? That's leadership. That's helping bring the young guys along. That's helping move the organization forward. Hopefully, I've done enough to still be here, but if not, we'll see what it looks like. It's been a hell of a run."

If Green's time with Golden State is over and he's traded, his stay ended Friday with five points, two rebounds, six assists, six fouls, two technical fouls and his own mimed ejections of the referees. Curry caught the last part of Green's postgame news conference (before he began) and sat in the front row for the last couple of minutes, applauding as Green departed the dais.

Ending their 14th season as teammates.

"We'll see what happens," Green said in reflection. "But if we don't get another crack at it, it's been great."

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