Whenever the day comes that Steph Curry decides to retire from the game of basketball, it will certainly be a somber day for the sport.
Arguably one of the greatest players to have ever played the game -- and definitively the best shooter to ever live -- Curry's impact on the sport reaches far beyond the countless records he has and continues to break.
The Warriors, and basketball fans alike, hope the 33-year-old has plenty left in the tank.
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Warriors owner Joe Lacob spoke with Yahoo Sports NBA Insider Chris Haynes shortly after Klay Thompson's triumphant return to the court Sunday night in Golden State's 96-82 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers and reflected on the Warriors' success over the previous decade and what the goal is for the future of the team.
“Our goal is to be great throughout this decade,” Lacob told Yahoo Sports. “We had a great last decade and our goal is to set ourselves up for another great decade. We’ve got Steph, Klay and Draymond for the next several years at a high level, hopefully, longer. [Andrew] Wiggins is only 26. With [Jordan] Poole, [James] Wiseman, [Jonathan] Kuminga and [Moses] Moody, we’ve got a lot of talent to develop and a lot of work to do, but we’re pretty excited.”
Curry is without a doubt the most important factor in any success the Warriors might have in the near future. Already in his 13th season in the NBA, it's unclear how much longer the Warriors superstar will play, but Lacob hopes that he follows in the footsteps of an NFL legend who knows a thing or two about longevity at the professional level.
“Well, Tom Brady’s 44 now," Lacob said. "I tell Steph all the time, ‘Do whatever he does. Whatever he does, you do.’ I told him that,” Lacob told Yahoo Sports. “But who knows? The world is changing a lot and maybe I’m just being my usual optimist self. But I feel like Steph can play at a high level, and maybe Klay, too, for longer than most people would have done in the past.
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"Those are skill guys. High-skill guys. So, I don’t know how long, but we all assume we’ve got two or three really great years with the core, and the great news about that is even if they did drop off, we think the young guys would have developed by then, which is our plan. But if they can continue to play at a high level, that’s even better. So maybe it’s more than three years.”
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Not only do Lacob and the Warriors hope that Steph follows in Brady's footsteps in terms of longevity, but it also wouldn't hurt if Curry tacked on a few more championships to keep pace with Brady's seven Super Bowl wins.
It's unlikely that Curry will be able to play into his 40s, let alone his mid-40s. The oldest player to have ever played in an NBA game was 45-year-old Nat Hickey all the way back in 1948. Since then, players such as Kevin Willis (44), Robert Parrish (43), Vince Carter (43) and Dikembe Mutombo (42) round out the five oldest players in NBA history.
Another eight or nine years of Steph Curry would certainly be awesome.