Warriors Are Making a Mistake Treating Steph Like Late-Career Kobe

Stephen Curry is entering the twilight of his NBA career, and many people are comparing what's happening to the Warriors to how Kobe Bryant finished his career with the Lakers.

In April 2013, Bryant suffered an Achilles injury that kept him out for most of the following season. The Lakers got swept in the 2013 playoffs before missing the postseason for the last three years of Bryant's career.

Some believe the Warriors' only course of action is to keep all their future first-round draft capital and build for their next contender. The premise is even though Curry is still a great player, trading for another great player wouldn't make the Warriors one of the title front-runners. According to said premise, that's the only time a team should trade high-value draft capital.

The Lakers are actually an example of what that strategy can look like when it works.

Those final Bryant seasons were brutal, but the resulting first-round draft picks (Julius Randle, D'Angelo Russell, Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball) were used to build a supporting case after LeBron James signed with the Lakers.

The Lakers ended up winning one title and making six playoff appearances in eight seasons with James.

But there are two reasons the Warriors' situation differs from the Lakers' circa 2013.

Steph Is Playing at a Higher Level Than Late-Career Kobe Was

The most infuriating part of the Warriors' situation is that Curry is still playing at a high enough level to justify giving up high-value draft capital to improve the roster.

Here are the stats Bryant put up over his last three seasons:

PPG	eFG%	Win Shares	VORP
18.9	41.1	-0.6	0.8

Here is Curry's stats from last season:

PPG	eFG%	Win Shares	VORP
26.6	58.7	4.1	2.5

Unlike Bryant, who was coming off a career-altering injury before the 2013-14 season, Curry is coming off a season in which he missed 39 games due in large part to runner's knee. That injury should have no major effect on his long-term performance.

If the Warriors front office thinks Curry is about to enter a three-year decline that's comparable to what Bryant experienced, then they would be justified keeping their first-round assets.

But I don't know why they'd think that. Curry might not to be able to play 70-plus game anymore, but as long as he gets back to playing 56-plus like he did from 2020-21 to 2024-25, he should be one of the 20 most valuable players in the sport.

The Warriors have a better chance competing for deep playoff runs now than they will in the 4-5 years after Curry retires.

The chances they draft a player as good as even the 38-year-old version of Curry over the next few years is very low.

The Warriors Won't Draw Free Agents Like the Lakers

When the Lakers decided to keep their draft picks and clear their long-term books toward the end of Bryant's career, they did so with the hope that they would land the next megastar in free agency.

It was a smart gamble. Many athletes want to live in Los Angeles, and the Lakers have one of the best brands in sports.

So when James signed with them, it didn't feel like a major stroke of luck.

Team governor Joe Lacob might think the Warriors are now on par with the Lakers. He might say that because the Dubs have won four titles since 2015 and have the most valuable franchise in the NBA, free agents should want to come to the Bay Area.

But the Warriors are not the Lakers.

The Bay Area doesn't have the national pull that Los Angeles does. And the Lakers have such a storied history with 17 NBA titles. Outside of the last 12 years, the Warriors have mostly been a laughingstock.

On top of that, NBA free agency is virtually dead these days. It's not wise for any franchise to expect a megastar to come.

These are among the reasons the Warriors shouldn't try to operate like the Lakers traditionally have.

Yet all this talk about clearing the books for 2027 has me thinking the Warriors are all-in on finding their next megastar in free agency.

While the Dubs chase a Nikola Jokic 2027 free-agency pipe dream, Curry will be neglected for another year in which he could deliver a deep playoff run with players available via trade.

Curry is still too good to be treated like Bryant was late in his Lakers career, and the Warriors would be making a mistake if they don't bolster the roster for the two-time MVP.

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