Year 17 at 37: Curry's 2025-26 Season by the Numbers

The 2025-26 season was never going to be a clean narrative for Stephen Curry. He turned 38 in March, played only 43 of Golden State's 82 regular-season games, and watched the Warriors finish 37-45 and exit in the play-in. None of that changes the central fact: when he was on the floor, he still scored like someone a decade younger.

Games

43

Minutes

30.9

Points

26.6

Rebounds

3.6

Assists

4.7

3PM

4.4

FG%

46.8

3P%

39.3

FT%

92.3

TS%

63.7

PER

22.5

The age context

Basketball-Reference lists Curry at age 37 for the 2025-26 season. That matters because the list of players who have averaged 25 or more points at 37 or older is tiny. LeBron James owns the top spots (28.9 at 38, 25.7 at 39). Curry's 26.6 puts him in that same bracket, ahead of Kevin Durant's 26.0 on the Rockets this year.

Durant played 78 games. Curry played 43. The per-game number is the story; the games missed are the caveat.

For pure scoring at this stage of a career, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (23.4 at 38), Michael Jordan (22.9 at 38), and Karl Malone (22.4 at 38) are the historical comp group. Curry cleared all of them while taking 11.3 threes a night.

What he did before the knee

Curry was cooking through January. He dropped 41 on Milwaukee (Jan. 7), 40 on Atlanta (Jan. 11), and had four 40-point games total before the injury stack caught up with him. He also had a 49-point night against Indiana in November and a 43-point game against Denver in December. This wasn't a guy coasting on reputation.

On Jan. 30 against Detroit, right knee soreness that had lingered for about a week forced him out in the third quarter. He never returned that night. What looked like a minor issue became patellofemoral pain syndrome and a 27-game absence.

The two-month gap

Curry's last game before the shutdown was Jan. 30. He did not play again until April 5 against Houston, a span of more than two months. He was selected to his 12th All-Star Game but did not play in Indianapolis because of the knee.

Golden State went 13-26 in games he missed. They were 24-19 when he suited up. Jimmy Butler tore his ACL in January. Moses Moody went down with a patellar tendon injury. The roster around Curry was patchwork for long stretches, which makes the team record without him easier to explain but no less damaging.

Curry said there was nothing structurally wrong with the knee, but the recovery had a stop-start rhythm: feel good, push hard, pay for it the next day. He called it a "new normal" and said he planned a full reset in the offseason.

The numbers that held up

Even with the missed time, Curry's efficiency stayed elite. A 63.7 true shooting percentage. A 58.7 effective field goal percentage. Nearly 4.5 made threes per game on 11.3 attempts. Free throws at 92.3 percent. A +89 plus-minus in 43 games.

4.4 threes per game at 37 is not a typo. Volume shooting at this age is basically unheard of. Most players his age are shrinking their role. Curry was still launching.

He also posted 4.1 win shares in less than half a season. Project that across 70 games and you're looking at a top-15 value season, injury or not.

The sprint to the finish

Curry returned for the final eight regular-season games plus two play-in appearances. The rust showed in spots (11 points at Sacramento on April 10, 17 at Phoenix in the elimination game), but the Clippers play-in win was the vintage version: 35 points, 7-of-12 from three, 126-121 at Intuit Dome to keep the season alive one more night.

The Suns ended it two days later, 111-96 in Phoenix. Curry had 17 on 4-of-16 shooting. Golden State's year was over at 37-45, 10th in the West.

What it means for the market

Curry's 2025-26 line is a split screen. The scoring rate says first-ballot, still-elite offensive hub. The games missed say aging athlete managing a chronic knee issue on a team that couldn't survive without him.

For Hardwood Index readers, that's the tension: production this strong at 37 usually keeps a player's market elevated, but 39 missed games and a play-in exit introduce real durability questions going into 2026-27.

At 37, most guys are fighting to stay in the rotation. Curry was still averaging 26 and taking 11 threes a night. The knee cost him two months. It didn't cost him the ability to look like Steph Curry when he came back.

Bottom line

Curry's 2025-26 season will be remembered for the injury more than the stat line. Fair enough. But the stat line on its own is historic: 26.6 points per game at an age when almost nobody scores at that level, with efficiency that would make most 27-year-olds jealous.

The Warriors need him on the floor 65-plus times next year. Curry needs an offseason that actually fixes the knee pattern, not just manages it. If both happen, Year 18 could look a lot like the first half of Year 17. If not, we got a preview of what decline might look like, and it still dropped 35 in a play-in road win.

That's not a small thing. It's just a complicated one.