Shortly after the Warriors open training camp next month, Stephen Curry will snag his first victory of the season. The first paycheck from the $48.1 million he will earn in Year 1 of a contract that makes him the highest-salaried player in the NBA.
And, still, he is underpaid.
The Warriors are blameless; they’re adhering to the collective bargaining agreement, which sets contractual guidelines. Curry is at the top of the scale. Supermax level.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
If blame must be assigned, point it toward Curry. He has made himself so financially effective -- to the Golden State franchise, to the Bay Area, to the league, to the global game of basketball -- that his monetary value defies limitations. He can’t be paid his worth.
Despite being a Day 1 priority for the ownership group led by Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, Chase Center likely would not exist without the stunning ascendance of the franchise with Curry as its centerpiece. Fame, glory and visualizing future dollars have a way of opening doors and boosting the power of persuasion.
“I don’t think that Chase Center would have been built (without Curry’s presence),” says Bob Dorfman, a longtime sports marketing analyst based in San Francisco. “And the team would certainly not have had the success it is having without building things around Steph.
“Look at the team value. They’re second in the league. In the last 10 years, that has skyrocketed. Yeah, he’s definitely worth twice what he’s making.”
Golden State Warriors
Find the latest Golden State Warriors news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Bay Area and California.
Doubling Curry’s contract to $96.2 million creeps toward his financial worth -- but still doesn’t come close.
Consider that Curry is the No. 1 reason the Warriors, purchased for $450 million in 2010 and valued at $750 million before winning the 2015 NBA Finals, are valued at $5.6 billion in the latest annual valuations list published by Forbes. Quick math tells us that’s slightly more than a 12-fold increase in 12 years.
“I can’t think of anybody else who has led that kind of transformation for a franchise,” Dorfman says. “They weren’t rags to riches; they had a pretty strong fan base. But nothing like where they are now.”
Consider, too, that Curry is the No. 1 reason the Warriors won four championships in eight years, which makes him the No. 1 reason it’s rare to walk 20 steps within 50 miles of the Bay Bridge without seeing someone wearing team gear.
Curry is the No. 1 reason the Warriors generally dominate the NBA’s local TV ratings; their viewership last season was more than twice that of the second-place Cavaliers. He is the No. 1 reason that in 2022-23 Golden State will, once again, lead the league in national TV appearances.
“I don’t know how you put a value on that,” Dorfman says, “but it’s definitely worth more than $48 million a year.
“And it’s even things like people coming to the games one or two hours early to see him warm up. They’re eating more food, drinking more beer. Or hanging out [in] Thrive City to get close to him.”
Curry has stimulated and cultivated the Bay Area sports landscape like no previous athlete – more than a lengthy list of Hall of Famers that include Willie Mays, Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Rickey Henderson, Rick Barry.
There is no doubt the presence and power of Barry Bonds provided the momentum that lifted the Giants out of Candlestick Park and into the jewel that is Oracle Park. But Barry’s image surely curbed his potential as a comprehensive game-changer.
“No single player that I can think of has made the impact here that Steph has,” says Dorfman, who has operated in the Bay Area since 1985. “You think about Barry Bonds, but he didn’t turn the Giants into winners. He just was a guy that was so good you wouldn’t go to the bathroom when he was at bat.”
“Football is different because it’s 11 guys on each side. Same with baseball. San Diego gets Juan Soto, but so what? They’re still not doing great. Basketball is that one sport where one player can really turn things around.”
By image, deed and popularity, Steph has turned indifferent basketball fans into screaming maniacs and compelled casual fans to spit out $400 dollars to a pair of upper-bowl seats at Chase Center.
RELATED: Who Baldwin Jr. wants to emulate to be 'multifaceted' for Dubs
Curry is a man of the people. An ambassador of the game who signs autographs in all 30 NBA venues, who shows up to unveil new basketball courts he funded, who makes time to visit with and donate to community groups in need.
A 9-year-old girl unable to find the basketball shoe and a college without a golf program will happily tell you their communication Steph led to his making their dream come true.
Can’t put a price on that no matter how massive the salary.