Stephen Curry may be the NBA’s two-time reigning MVP, but he’s certainly not compensated like the top-notch pro athlete that he is.
The 6’3” sharpshooter is once again proving his worth as a key player for the Golden State Warriors in this season’s NBA Finals. In fact, last night, the Warriors just set a record for the “longest playoff win streak in the history of the four major pro sports.”
In the last year of his $44 million four-year contract with the team, Curry’s salary is set to be $12.1 million—a number that most of us would be salivating over—but when you consider that people like his former teammate Harrison Barnes are raking in about double ($22.1 million), the star seems to have been shortchanged.
Curry’s salary actually comes in at 82nd in the NBA, not a ranking you’d expect from a man who’s been crowned #1 two years in a row.
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”~Philippians 4:13
But while others seem to be playing the comparison game, the only person who’s not paying attention to all the salary hype seems to be the man himself.
In an interview with The Mercury News, Curry was asked “how he dealt with playing with lesser players who made a lot more money.” Curry’s grounded perspective on the matter comes from some powerful advice his dad gave him.
“One thing my pops always told me is you never count another man’s money,” he said. “It’s what you’ve got and how you take care of it. And if I’m complaining about $44 million over four years, then I’ve got other issues in my life.”
Well SAID.
It seems Curry’s more concerned about stewarding what he has been given well, rather than sulking over what more he could/should be getting—a life lesson we could all learn from (though our sliding comparison scale may start somewhere like $44K rather than $44 million).
“Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income.” ~Ecclesiastes 5:10
Curry added that he knew upon signing his deal that he was accepting less than other players, but it’s still not a choice he regrets. The Golden State Warriors were taking a gamble on him back when he signed, as he had sustained multiple ankle injuries and had still not developed into the high-caliber player that he is today.
Taking that in stride, Curry elaborated on his contentment with his current salary in retelling a sobering hotel-room experience years ago:
“I remember sitting in a hotel, at the Ritz-Carlton in Phoenix, right before our opening-night game against the Suns, and sitting with Bob Myers and coach [Mark] Jackson and signing that contract…. My perspective was, ‘Man, I’ll be able to take care of my family with this. Blessed to be able to know I’ll be playing at least in the NBA for four years and see where it goes from there.’ But I literally told myself in that hotel room that day, knowing what the max was, I think at the time was probably 56 or 58 [million], somewhere in there—I think Eric Gordon and guys like that were getting that money—I was, ‘You can’t think 20-20 hindsight, go back and worry about what other guys are making.'”
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If Curry re-signs with the Golden State Warriors this summer for a five-year contract, he will be eligible for the largest offer in NBA history: a whopping $207.4 million.
Either way, Curry’s biggest concern is not keeping tabs on salaries or scoreboards. He’s just happy to be able to play a game he loves to bring glory to the One who every good thing really comes from.
“Obviously, there’s a lot of hoopla and fanfare that follows you wherever you go, but I know where my talent comes from,” said Curry in an earlier interview. “I know why I play the game, and it’s not to score 30 points a night, but it’s to use the stage I’m on. I’ve been put here for a specific purpose: to be a witness and to share my testimony as I go through it.”
