Stephen Curry excited about Warriors' future despite playoff exit
Stephen Curry said Thursday he is excited about the Golden State Warriors' ability to challenge for more championships in the future despite a disappointing early exit from the NBA playoffs.
The Warriors bowed out of the postseason on Wednesday after the Minnesota Timberwolves romped to a 121-110 victory to complete an emphatic 4-1 win in their best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series.
Curry spent the final four games of the series as a frustrated spectator after suffering a hamstring injury in the Warriors' Game 1 win last week.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday as the Warriors held their final media availability of the season, the 37-year-old superstar insisted that the team's veteran lineup, whose core players are all well into their 30s, can approach next season with optimism.
Curry said the last two months of the regular season, with the team transformed by the arrival of Jimmy Butler in a trade from the Miami Heat as well as a win over the No. 2 seed Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs, had convinced him that Golden State could reach the pinnacle again.
"You look at the sample size the last two months and even the Houston series when we had our mind focused on a goal, we had enough to accomplish it and get to a point where we were playing pretty high-level basketball," Curry said. "Does that mean we can win a championship? We hope so. That's really all you want is a fighter's chance.
"You look at the league right now. I know there's a lot of youth taking over, but we were one of the last eight teams that realistically had a shot, and if you can run that back, make some tweaks that can help our overall roster ... I feel like we had enough that we showed we could be that team."
Curry is hoping the summer will provide some much-needed recovery time following a grueling 12-month period that saw him spend last year's offseason preparing for and playing in the Paris Olympics.
"I don't have any Olympics, and it's going to be just about rebuilding — one, getting rest, getting away from the game a little bit, and then rebuilding everything for another great run," Curry said.
"I'm going to take full advantage of the offseason knowing I've been playing a lot of basketball for the last year, and a lot left in the tank to prepare for, so I'm excited about it."
Curry indicated that he expected Butler, Draymond Green and head coach Steve Kerr all to be similarly motivated.
"Me, Draymond, Steve, Jimmy — our contracts are all two years, and we want this ride to last as long as possible," Curry said.
"That's all I'm really focused on right now. I'm excited about it because there's clarity, although there are a lot of decisions that need to be made over the summer."
Curry said the prospect of renewing his partnership with Butler was a particular cause for excitement, describing Butler's integration into the team as "seamless."
"Me and him complemented each other so well," Curry said of Butler. "He gave us so much belief that we could beat anybody any given night and make a legitimate run at climbing up the standings and even having some playoff experience to look forward to.
"I think it was a success, and now you have to build off of that with a full season hopefully in front of us. I'm excited about it."
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