With 'basketball mortality' in mind, Stephen Curry looks to the near future for another title chance

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The season over, Stephen Curry stopped before making his way out of Chase Center for a handshake and long embrace with Draymond Green.

These two longtime teammates are committed to making another championship run together, and now with Jimmy Butler by their side, knowing there might not be too many opportunities left.

Curry expressed sadness at how Golden State's season ended, with him on the bench unable to help because of a hamstring injury.

The Warriors were eliminated by the Minnesota Timberwolves in a 121-110 Game 5 loss Wednesday night in the Western Conference semifinals — Golden State's fourth straight game without Curry because of a strained left hamstring since he was hurt in the second quarter of Game 1 last week.

At 37 and with 16 NBA seasons to his name, Curry realizes NBA titles and postseason berths are no longer guaranteed and that there could only be a handful of chances remaining for him, Butler, Green and with Steve Kerr as coach.

“All we wanted was a chance, and to finish the year like we did, to sneak in the playoffs and win that first round, there’s a lot to be proud of for sure, considering where we were,” Curry said. “But definitely disappointed, and frankly just sad that I wasn’t out there able to play. We have hopefully a bright future in terms of coming back next year and trying again.”

Where the Warriors were only three months ago was searching for answers — until general manager Mike Dunleavy pulled off acquiring Butler at the trade deadline from Miami in a move that sent Andrew Wiggins to the Heat.

Butler led the way on both ends of the floor, even more so during Curry's recent absence.

“I’m completely content with who I am as a basketball player, the way that I play the game,” he said. “And to come here and know that I’m second to Steph, I think that’s a really good thing, actually, when you talk about one of the greatest players ever to play this game.”

Golden State wound up 29-15 since Butler's first game Feb. 8 at Chicago, 23-8 in the regular season, a play-in win against Memphis and 5-7 through two playoff series.

Butler blended into the system beautifully, and he's not convinced this core group has a two-year window to win it all.

“Yeah, and then if we win some, it could be longer than that because I still think that we have a lot of great basketball left ahead of us,” he said. “I don’t think this age thing is anything the way that everybody is taking care of their bodies, doing right. I think the potential is there.”

Everybody is eager to have a training camp together, even with changes expected during the summer and free agency period. Forward Jonathan Kuminga's future is one of the biggest pressing questions of the offseason as he is expected to become a restricted free agent in July.

“I haven't thought about anything yet,” said Kuminga, the team's seventh overall draft pick in 2021.

For now, Curry plans to take a basketball break and focus on family. He averaged 24.5 points, 6.0 assists and 4.4 rebounds playing 32-plus minutes per game.

If people are calling him the old guy these days, he's fine with that.

“One, it’s an ultimate compliment because it’s part of the level that you’re playing at. Like, 'Oh, he’s still doing it at this age,’” Curry said. "Two, it’s a reminder of your basketball mortality and appreciating every moment that you have. That’s why the way this ended was emotional as it was, not being able to play in those big games because you don’t know how many more opportunities you will have.

“But I think the difference on and off the court, like seeing my family and seeing my kids grow and opportunities off the court, it allows me to just have fun and appreciate this chapter of my life as much as possible, knowing that hopefully the next chapter is as great, but this one I’m trying to get every bit of fun and experience and squeeze as much juice out of this as possible.”

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Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) looks on near the bench during the second half of Game 5 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Wednesday, May 14, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry, right, and Buddy Hield react to a missed shot in the second half of Game 5 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series, Wednesday, May 14, 2025, in Minneapolis. (Scott Strazzante/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry speaks during a news conference at the NBA basketball team's facility in San Francisco, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry speaks during a news conference at the NBA basketball team's facility in San Francisco, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry listens during a news conference at the NBA basketball team's facility in San Francisco, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

The 2025 NFL season was dominated by first-round quarterbacks with old veterans like Matthew Stafford and a new generation featuring Drake Maye and Caleb Williams taking center stage.

The playoffs should be no different with a record-tying 12 of the 14 teams that qualified for the postseason set to use a first-round pick as their starting quarterback. The only year in the Super Bowl era with two or fewer non-first-round QBs starting a playoff game came in 2024 when Jalen Hurts and Russell Wilson did it.

The NFL set a record this season with 219 of the 272 games won by a quarterback who was drafted in round one, besting the mark of 204 set the previous year.

And the record isn't about a longer season or more teams as the 80.5% of games won by a first-round quarterback was easily the highest since the start of the common draft in 1967. The only other season with more than 70% of games won by a first-round QB came in 2024 when the rate was 75%.

The rate was less than half of games as recently as 2008 and down at 23% in 2001, when Tom Brady first became a starter in New England a year after being a sixth-round pick.

The only outlier will be the wild-card game on Sunday in Philadelphia when San Francisco’s former seventh-round pick Brock Purdy takes on former second-rounder Hurts and the Eagles.

Those teams have shown there is an alternate path to success as Hurts and Purdy have represented the NFC in the last three Super Bowls. But unless the winner of that game also wins the divisional round, this season will join the 2010 season as the only ones in the Super Bowl era with all four starting QBs in the conference title game being first-rounders.

This postseason will feature four quarterbacks picked first overall with Stafford and Carolina's Bryce Young facing off in the 13th playoff matchup of No. 1 pick quarterbacks in the Super Bowl era. Williams and Jacksonville's Trevor Lawrence are the other two top picks.

There were five others picked in the top 10, including 2024 No. 3 pick Maye and 2018 No. 7 pick Josh Allen of Buffalo. Houston's C.J. Stroud went second in 2023, while Sam Darnold was picked third by the Jets in 2018 and Justin Herbert went sixth to the Chargers in 2020.

Three others went later in the first with Denver's Bo Nix going 12th in 2024 and two QBs picked by Green Bay: Aaron Rodgers at No. 24 in 2005 and Jordan Love at No. 26 in 2020.

Then there's Hurts at No. 53 in 2020 and Purdy, who was Mr. Irrelevant as the 262nd and final pick of the 2022 draft.

Myles Garrett set the single-season sack record with 23, while several other league leaders also had some noteworthy performances.

Stafford led the NFL with 46 touchdown passes and 4,707 yards passing, while throwing only eight interceptions for the Los Angeles Rams. Stafford joined Brady in his record-setting 2007 season as the only players to lead the league in TD passes and yards while throwing eight or fewer interceptions.

Maye, who is second in AP NFL MVP odds at BetMGM to Stafford, became the seventh player to throw for at least 4,000 yards and 30 TDs in a season before turning 24 and the first to do it with fewer than 10 interceptions.

Maye also led the NFL by completing 72% of his passes and with a 113.5 passer rating. The only player to exceed both those marks in the same season was Drew Brees in 2018 and '19.

Buffalo's James Cook edged out Baltimore's Derrick Henry for the rushing title with 1,621 yards to Henry's 1,595. Henry had his record-setting fourth season with at least 1,500 yards rushing and 15 TD runs, including back-to-back campaigns in his 30s. No other player has done that even once after turning 30.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba set a Seattle record and led the NFL with 1,793 yards receiving.

Arizona's Trey McBride finished with 126 catches, the most ever for a tight end and three shy of Puka Nacua's league-leading total this season.

Houston's Ka’imi Fairbairn tied the record set by David Akers for San Francisco in 2011 when he made 44 field goals.

The tweaks to the kickoff rule this season had the desired effect when it came to the rate of returns.

Moving the touchback spot from the 30 to the 35 led to significantly more returns as kicking teams opted against touchbacks. In all, 74.5% of kickoffs were returned this season, more than doubling the rate of 32.8% in 2024 in the first year of the so-called “dynamic kickoff.” It was the highest rate of returns since 2010 when it was at 80.1%.

The NFL changed the rules for kickoffs following a record-low 21.8% return rate in 2023, hoping to increase returns while limiting injuries.

While there were only six return touchdowns this season, there were 87 returns of at least 40 yards for the most in any season since 2010 with 114.

The average starting field position after kicks was 30.8 yards from the end zone, a slight increase from 2024 and more than 5 yards better than 2023. That helped contribute to the highest-scoring season in the NFL since 2020, when teams averaged 23 points per game, up from 21.8 in the last year before the rule change.

The Detroit Lions went from NFC North champions last season to the basement this season.

They still finished with a better record than any team in the NFC South.

Those two divisions provided quite a dichotomy this season with all four teams in the North finishing with winning records and all four teams in the South having losing marks. Carolina won the division with an 8-9 record, becoming the fifth team to make the postseason with a losing record in a non-strike shortened season in NFL history.

Two of those four previous teams won their postseason opener with Carolina (7-8-1) beating Arizona (11-5) in 2014 and Seattle (7-9) topping New Orleans (11-5) in 2010.

The Lions went 9-8 but missed the playoffs as the NFC North joined the 2023 AFC North as the only divisions in the Super Bowl era with every team finishing with a winning mark.

Detroit was the second last-place team to finish with a better record than a first-place team with Washington (8-8-1) doing it in 2022 when Tampa Bay (8-9) won the NFC South.

The Bears won the NFC North with an 11-6 mark despite losing four of six division games. The only other teams since the merger to have a losing record in division games and still finish first were the 2010 Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco in 1971.

Inside the Numbers dives into NFL statistics, streaks and trends each week. For more Inside the Numbers, head here.

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Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett (95) celebrates with defensive end Adin Huntington (98) after sacking Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow to set an NFL record for sacks in the regular season during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (18) throws a pass during the second half of an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye celebrates after a touchdown scored by running back TreVeyon Henderson during the second half of an NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford (9) looks to pass during the first half of an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Jessie Alcheh)