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Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors looks on against the Houston Rockets.
The Golden State Warriors enter the 2025-26 season as one of the oldest teams in the NBA. While three of their core pieces — Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler III and Draymond Green — are all aged 35 and above, even key role player Buddy Hield, 32, is nearing the end of his prime.
Furthermore, the Warriors are widely expected to add Al Horford, 39 and Gary Payton II, 32, to the roster before training camp, which would only add to their collective age.
Many analysts believe the aging Warriors would be unable to match up with considerably younger teams such as the Oklahoma City Thunder, the reigning NBA champions, the Houston Rockets, the Denver Nuggets, and the Minnesota Timberwolves. However, Curry has issued a warning to critics writing off his team.
“With age comes wisdom,” Curry told NBC Sports Bay Area’s Dalton Johnson on the perception that the Warriors are too old.
Steph Curry Warns Against Ageism
“Obviously we know we have to prepare ourselves,” he continued. “There’s no guarantees, again, that you can stay healthy. Every champion, at the end of the day, has everything go right. We’re trying to be in that conversation. Trying to be well prepared for another run.”
“We’ll take the ageism and all that stuff on the chin and keep it moving.”
Last season, the Warriors played a completely different brand of basketball before and after acquiring Butler at the trade deadline. In the latter half of the year, they went 23-8 with Butler and Curry in the lineup until the latter suffered a hamstring strain in the playoff series against the Houston Rockets. This season, though, the Warriors enter the season with clear vision on how they plan to approach the Xs and Os.
Warriors Can Hit the Ground Running
With Curry, Butler and Green all expected to be ready for training camp, the Warriors have the opportunity to create an identity early, unlike last year, when they were in a race against time to make the play-in tournament, let alone the playoffs.
“So many unpredictable things that happen during a year,” Curry stressed. “Can you get your identity and your style of play and your team committed to that? Last year, we were chasing a little towards the end of the year to try and get out of the play-in. Then from there, we gave it a great run in the playoffs, just didn’t work out.
“Just trying to be in a position where we’re somewhere in the top of the Western Conference throughout the vibe and not have to be on the gas pedal all the way down the stretch, and hopefully we’re all healthy come April.”
As of August 20, the Warriors had only nine players on the roster, but the front office’s lack of activity in the offseason does not concern Curry.
“There is obviously stuff that I know and talking about that isn’t necessarily public, and that’s the way it’s supposed to be,” he said. “The way our organization is run, me, Draymond, Jimmy [Butler] are trying to make sure we’re prepared individually and collectively to lead our team to where we’re supposed to go.
“All that stuff will take care of itself. It’s the front office’s job to bring the best team back. When September 29th – whatever it is – comes around and we’re suiting up for practice, we’ll be ready.”
Curry will enter the 17th season of his illustrious NBA career. Last season, he averaged 24.5 points, 6.0 assists and 4.4 rebounds from 70 games, earning himself a place in the All-NBA Second Team.
Sai Mohan covers the NBA for Heavy.com. Based in Portugal, Sai is a seasoned sports writer with nearly two decades of publishing experience, including bylines at Yardbarker, FanSided’s Hoops Habit, International Business Times, Hindustan Times and more. More about Sai Mohan
