Stephen Curry was watching, not playing, when the question came. A CBS sideline reporter asked him about preparing for his 18th NBA season, and the 38-year-old paused before answering.

“That number doesn’t even sound right,” he told the broadcast from his seat at Chase Center, where the Valkyries were on their way to beating the Dallas Wings.

That was the self-aware half. What followed was the working professional.

“I’m excited. We’re going to take advantage of the rest of the offseason, but I think we have a, there’s a lot of health coming back,” Curry said. “For me, I’m blessed to play this game. I feel good taking advantage of the offseason, and when September rolls around, hopefully these ladies are going to be celebrating some crazy things at the end of their season and roll right into ours.”

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The measured tone reads differently once you set it against the Warriors’ summer. Golden State did not chase a co-star. It re-signed one.

A roster the Warriors chose to keep

Draymond Green, Kristaps Porzingis, Gary Payton II, Al Horford and De’Anthony Melton all returned on new deals, and the only rookie addition of note is Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg, taken 11th overall. The front office is still working the margins for bench help, with Georges Niang, Dalen Terry and Brandon Williams named as targets.

The health Curry mentioned is not rhetorical. Jimmy Butler tore his ACL in January and Moses Moody tore a patellar tendon in March, and both are recovering rather than reporting to training camp at full speed.

That is the roster Curry is being asked to carry into September. He is 38, he is under contract through the 2026-27 season, and the team around him is banking on continuity where it once bought stars.

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The number he keeps beating

Even in a losing year, Curry averaged 26.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 4.7 assists in 43 games last season, shooting 46.8% from the field and 39.3% from three. The Warriors went 37-45, lost in the play-in and posted a losing record for the first time since 2019-20.

None of that is what Curry is selling. He is selling availability.

“I’m blessed to play this game,” he repeated in the same conversation.

The Valkyries themselves are the backdrop he keeps returning to. Golden State’s WNBA team has become a fixture of his summer, and he was open about how the atmosphere at Chase Center has landed with him.

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“It’s definitely reminiscent for sure, which is kind of a great vibe from Oracle to Chase in we play, and then what Ballhalla has meant for the last 2 years,” Curry said of the Valkyries crowd.

Training camp opens next month. The Warriors have not spent the summer telling anyone the roster is different. Curry, by his own reckoning, has not spent it telling anyone he is either.

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