Stephen Curry is still doing Stephen Curry things - dazzling handles, impossible threes, and moments that make you question the laws of physics. But as we near the halfway point of the season, there’s a growing reality that even the great ones aren’t immune to time. For the Golden State Warriors, that truth is starting to show up in subtle but meaningful ways.
Curry remains the heartbeat of everything the Warriors do. Offensively, the system still revolves around his movement, his gravity, and his ability to bend defenses to his will.
But the load he’s carrying this season? It’s massive.
And it’s starting to show.
We’re not talking about a decline in skill - far from it. Curry’s still elite.
His jumper remains one of the most feared weapons in the game, and his presence alone forces teams to stretch their defensive schemes to the breaking point. But what’s becoming more noticeable is the fatigue.
The kind that creeps in late in games, when legs feel a little heavier and shots that used to be automatic start falling just short.
That’s the concern. Not that Curry can’t still be great - he clearly can - but that the margin for error is shrinking.
On nights when the supporting cast doesn’t show up, or when the Warriors fall behind early, Steph is still the one tasked with digging them out. And that’s a tough ask, night after night, for a player now deep into his 30s.
Golden State hasn’t made it easy on him, either. The roster around Curry has struggled to offer consistent relief.
There’s no second star reliably taking pressure off him, no clear offensive engine to lean on when Steph needs a breather. So when the game tightens up, the ball finds its way back into his hands - every time.
And defenses know it.
That kind of dependency is hard to sustain over an 82-game season. It’s not just about minutes anymore; it’s about usage, wear and tear, and the cumulative effect of being the focal point every single night. And while Curry’s conditioning and preparation are second to none, even he has limits.
This is where the Warriors find themselves at a crossroads. They’re still trying to compete, still trying to squeeze every last drop out of this championship window. But without the infrastructure to support Curry - without enough offensive creation or defensive stability around him - they’re asking him to do too much, too often.
Championship teams with aging stars usually find ways to lighten the load. They surround those stars with enough talent to let them pick their spots.
Golden State hasn’t done that. And unless something changes, they risk burning out the very player who gives them their best shot at staying relevant in the playoff picture.
So yes, Steph is still Steph. But the signs are there - the wear, the fatigue, the burden.
If the Warriors want to keep this era alive, they’ll need to do more than just hope he can keep carrying them. They’ll need to find real answers.
Because the most important adjustment left this season isn’t a lineup tweak or a trade - it’s figuring out how to protect what’s left of Curry’s prime.