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How Steph envisions his final years with the Warriors and in the NBA

Steph Curry doesn’t ask for much, but does have one request for the Warriors for when his illustrious NBA career eventually does come to a close.

The 36-year-old spoke with The San Francisco Standard’s Tim Kawakami on the latest episode of “The TK Show” podcast, where he was asked how he wants to feel when it eventually becomes time to end his NBA career.

“Competitive,” Curry told Kawakami. “I’ve seen different scenarios, like everybody talks about Kobe [Bryant] and his last years, [but] from my vantage point, I’m comparing it to guys who only played for one franchise: Dirk [Nowitzki], Tim [Duncan], Kobe in our era, and you think about you don’t want to be in a situation the Lakers were in those last years. I know he came off the Achilles injury, but they were a lottery team, it was more just how many points can Kobe score down the stretch of his career. I don’t want to be in that scenario.”

Curry and the Warriors, from top to bottom, understand that they no longer are the historic dominating force they once were throughout the team’s dynastic run over the last decade, where championships not only were the goal, but the expectation year in and year out.

That’s not to say Curry and the Warriors aren’t hungry for another title run, rather that the team’s floor each season no longer is championship or bust.

“Again, my whole thing is you’ve got to be realistic,” Curry explained. “There’s probably not a move or a scenario where you’re going to walk into a season or a playoff series as the perennial favorite, there’s a lot of talent around the league. But to be competitive where you have a chance, that’s what we want to see, I’m sure that’s what our fans want to see. Playing meaningful games, no matter how it ends, I think that’s what we deserve, and I hope that is the reality I get to live in this last part of my career.”

How many more years will Curry play, and how good can the Warriors be throughout the remainder of his career? All that remains to be seen.

However, as long as Curry remains on the floor, it’s safe to say the Warriors, at the very least, will be competitive.

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