Stephen Curry Ranks 82nd Among Highest Paid NBA Players

Stephen Curry Ranks 82nd Among Highest Paid NBA Players The Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry is not paid like one of the top players in the NBA. However, he has a great perspective on that status, and it comes from his father, Dell Curry, a former NBA player. Stephen Curry, the two-time reigning NBA MVP, is in the final year of a four-year, $44 million extension he signed with the Warriors in 2012. His salary this season â€" $12.1 million â€" ranks 82nd among all NBA players and fourth among his teammates. While the contract has been a steal for the Warriors, it was considered risky for Golden State at the time. Curry was a gifted shooter, but he had been plagued with ankle injuries and hadn’t yet developed into an MVP-caliber player. In a recent interview with Tim Kawakami of The Mercury News, Curry was asked how he dealt with playing with lesser players who made a lot more money. Curry said he kept things in perspective by leaning on some advice his father once gave him. “One thing my pops always told me is you never count another man’s money,” Curry told Kawakami. “It’s what you’ve got and how you take care of it. And if I’m complaining about $44 million over four years, then I’ve got other issues in my life.” Curry added that when he signed the deal, he knew he was taking less than other players but wasn’t going to regret the decision: “I remember sitting in a hotel, at the Ritz-Carlton in Phoenix, right before our opening-night game against the Suns, and sitting with Bob Myers and coach [Mark] Jackson and signing that contract. … My perspective was, ‘Man, I’ll be able to take care of my family with this. Blessed to be able to know I’ll be playing at least in the NBA for four years and see where it goes from there.’ But I literally told myself in that hotel room that day, knowing what the max was, I think at the time was probably, 56 or 58 [million], somewhere in there â€" I think Eric Gordon and guys like that were getting that money â€" I was, ‘You can’t think 20-20 hindsight, go back and worry about what other guys are making.'” While Curry is making $12.1 million at a time when Harrison Barnes, his former teammate, is making nearly twice that ($22.1 million) with the Dallas Mavericks, Curry’s situation could soon be rectified. If Curry re-signs with the Warriors this summer, as expected, he will be eligible for a five-year, $207.4 million contract, the largest in NBA history. His salary next season would jump to $35.7 million and reach about $48 million in the final season. If that happens, you can be certain that other players will be counting Curry’s money. This story originally appeared on Business Insider.