Age is an issue for the Golden State Warriors — or is it? The Warriors still believe that they can contend for an NBA championship despite having three of their best players being at least 35 years old. Stephen Curry, their best player, is 37 and will be 38 by the time the 2025-26 NBA season ends. His age has started to affect him as he has dealt with various injuries over the past few seasons.
The second-best player, Jimmy Butler, is 35. But he’ll turn 36 before the season starts. With how he played last season, Bleacher Report’s Grant Hughes predicts that Bulter will have an underwhelming campaign, given his declining athleticism,.
“If you watched him closely last year, you also noticed undeniable signs of physical decline. He’d routinely get near the bucket and pump fake several times in search of a foul because he didn’t trust his vertical lift. Defensively, he surrendered blow-by drives a little more often than was comfortable,” Hughes wrote.
Lastly, Draymond Green is 35 and will be 36 in March. He isn’t the same player as his athleticism has started to decline.
In an interview, Curry was asked by Michael Eaves from “ABC7 News Bay Area” if the Golden State Warriors can contend for a championship.
“We’re gonna find out, I think we can,” Curry answered.
“Obviously, we have to stay healthy, get through the regular season on a high level. But I like the identity that we have, [the] foundation of knowing how to play together towards the end of last season.
"We're gonna find out. I think we can. I like the identity that we have… Obviously, we have to stay healthy… That's the beautiful challenge of this game."
Steph Curry on whether 3 guys over the age of 35 can contend for a championship
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— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 28, 2025
“I know we get that asked a lot because of the age and it’s something that we haven’t really seen before,” he continued. “That’s the beautiful challenge of this game.”
Curry wants to continue contending for his fifth championship. The Golden State Warriors have taken action in an effort to provide their franchise hero with adequate support. They acquired Butler in a trade last season.
However, they haven’t taken any noteworthy action to provide the four-time champion with any more support this summer. Kevon Looney, one of the most effective role players, was also lost by the Warriors. Golden State is stuck with the Jonathan Kuminga situation, which has remained unsolved as of this writing.
NBA insider Kevin O’Connor even questioned the Warriors’ willingness to go “all in” for their star player.
“On one hand, are you actually going all in? Or not in the situation? Cause it took you a while to go get Jimmy Butler,” O’Connor said.
“You didn’t give up a lot to get him. Butler has a lot of flaws at this stage of his career, too. And then you’re playing this game with Jonathan Kuminga? A guy you don’t actually want?”
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