NBA Rumors: Stephen Curry Unlikely To Play For Michael Jordan’s Team, Wants To Finish Career With Warriors

Two years ago, Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry opened up the possibility of playing for his hometown team, the Charlotte Hornets. His father, Dell Curry, spent 10 years of his NBA career playing for the Hornets, and North Carolina was where Stephen Curry rose to prominence as a basketball player. Curry — like most who grew up watching the dominant Chicago Bulls run of the 1990s — would surely be thrilled to play for a team currently owned by one of the greatest NBA players of all-times, Michael Jordan.

However, things have changed for Curry after the 30-year-old point guard secured a five-year, $201 million contract and won back-to-back NBA championship titles in Golden State. In a recent appearance on The Bill Simmons Podcast, Stephen Curry said that the only reason he would potential go to North Carolina is to visit his family or if the Warriors play against the Hornets in an away game.

If he has the power to control his NBA future, Curry has made it clear that he intends to finish his career playing for the Warriors.

“I love the Bay Area, man,” said Curry, who is entering his 10th season with the Warriors after they drafted him seventh in 2009 according to Yahoo Sports. “The only reason I go home now is if my sister’s getting married or to go play the Hornets for that one game, so I haven’t really been back much. I haven’t put my mind there.”

Stephen Curry hosts basketball camp exclusively for young women https://t.co/WMFTNZe0MF

— Warriors Wire (@TheWarriorsWire) August 16, 2018

Stephen Curry’s statements will surely break the hearts of many Hornets fans. Since the team was created in 1988, their greatest achievement in recent times was reaching the Eastern Conference semifinals. Heading into the 2018-19 NBA season, ESPN predicts that the Hornets will miss the NBA Playoffs for the third consecutive year, finishing as the No. 9 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 35-47 win-loss record last season.

It is easy to understand why Curry is not interested in leaving the Warriors to play for his hometown team. Unlike the Hornets, the Warriors are currently an odds-on favorite to fully dominate the deep Western Conference and win the 2018-19 NBA championship title. The Warriors have recently succeeded in building their own dynasty after sweeping LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals of 2018.

As long as the Warriors keep their core of Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Kevin Durant — Golden State will remain as the team to beat. However, even though Curry is under contract with the Warriors until the 2021-22 NBA season, Durant and Thompson will become unrestricted free agents next off-season, joined by Green in the summer of 2020.

Losing one of their core players will undeniably make the Warriors vulnerable, and could dramatically change the NBA landscape.