Stephen Curry Age 2026: 38, Signed to Play Until 41

Last updated: October 2, 2026  ·  By Nathan Cole

Stephen Curry is 38 years old in 2026. He was born on March 14, 1988, in Akron, Ohio, which makes him 38 now and 39 on March 14, 2027.

That number sits at the center of the most interesting story in basketball right now. Curry is entering his 18th NBA season — and on September 25, 2026, he agreed to a two-year, $116 million extension with the Golden State Warriors that runs through the 2028–29 season. He turns 41 in March 2029. Golden State is betting, publicly and expensively, that the greatest shooter in NBA history can outrun Father Time a little longer.

This profile traces Curry’s career year by year — his age at every milestone — explains the new contract, and answers the question everyone keeps asking: when does he actually stop?

How Old Is Stephen Curry?

Stephen Curry is 38 years old. He was born on March 14, 1988, in Akron, Ohio, and celebrated his 38th birthday on March 14, 2026. He turns 39 on March 14, 2027.

That puts him in rare company. Curry is one of the oldest starting point guards in the NBA, playing at an age when most guards at his size have already retired. The extension he signed in September 2026 suggests the Warriors believe his 38 is not like everyone else’s.

The Birth Certificate: March 14, 1988

There is no ambiguity about Curry’s birth date. NBA.com lists March 14, 1988, and Basketball-Reference confirms “Born: March 14, 1988 in Akron, Ohio.” His full name on official records is Wardell Stephen Curry II.

He was born at Summa Akron City Hospital while his father, Dell Curry, was playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers. The family moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, where Curry grew up. His zodiac sign is Pisces — a detail half the internet’s age pages lead with and almost none of them source properly.

Stephen Curry’s Age at Every Career Milestone

Run the birth date against his résumé and the arc is remarkable. He was a late bloomer by elite standards — drafted at 21, first All-Star nod at 25 — then packed two MVPs and a dynasty into his late twenties.

Signed Through 41: The 6 Million Extension

On September 25, 2026, Curry agreed to a two-year, $116 million extension with the Warriors. ESPN broke the story; the Associated Press confirmed it through a source with direct knowledge of the deal.

The structure matters. The deal includes a player option for 2028–29. Curry turns 41 on March 14, 2029 — squarely inside that season. If he plays it out, he completes a 20-year career, all with Golden State, and becomes one of a handful of point guards to play an NBA season past 40.

He also took less than he could have. Curry was eligible for roughly $136.7 million; accepting $116 million left about $20 million on the table and opened cap room for the Warriors to keep building around him. “I don’t want there to be (any) drama,” Curry said of the negotiations. The discount is a familiar move — he once played on a four-year, $44 million deal that became the most team-friendly contract in the league — but doing it at 38 carries more weight.

“Father Time Is Undefeated”: Curry on Getting Older

Curry does not pretend age is irrelevant. On The Stephen A. Smith Show on SiriusXM on September 25, 2026, Smith asked him directly about Father Time and the end of his career.

“Oh, I’m close to it,” Curry said. “Look, Father Time is undefeated. We know that. And there’s an idea of how far can I push this high level of play that I got, what expectations I have for myself. What it really means at this point is it just changes the way that I prepare and my mindfulness of everything that I do to put into my game. I do train differently than I used to.”

He said the same thing, more quietly, months earlier. In a 2026 interview with The Hollywood Reporter alongside his wife Ayesha, Curry talked about “basketball mortality”: “My body is different at 38 than it was even five years ago. I try to work smarter at everything I do. I still want to be the hardest-working guy in the room.”

How the Body Is Holding Up at 38

The 2025–26 season was the clearest warning sign. Curry played just 43 games, limited by a cascade of lower-body problems: a runner’s knee, bone bruising, and a left quadriceps contusion and strain. The Warriors finished 37–45 and were eliminated in the play-in tournament by the Phoenix Suns.

The encouraging part came at 2026 media day. Curry told reporters he was “feeling fantastic” after a summer program designed specifically to rebuild strength around the knee without overloading the joint. Coach Steve Kerr, back for a 13th season, has been blunt that the team “can’t play the same way” and needs to protect its 38-year-old engine — cutting turnovers and leaning on roster depth.

There is a pattern worth noting: the past two seasons were the first in Curry’s 17-year career in which he shot 40% or below from three in back-to-back years. The legs matter to the shot. Everything about the 2026–27 season hinges on whether the summer rehab worked.

38 and the Legends: Where Curry Stands Among the Old Greats

Point guards do not usually last this long at this level. Curry’s contract runs through his age-41 season — territory only a few floor generals have ever reached.

The comparison Curry’s fans reach for most is LeBron James — 40 in the 2025–26 season, turned 41 on December 30, 2025, still playing. LeBron is a 6-9 freight train; Curry is a 6-2 guard whose entire game depends on legs and quickness. Stockton and Nash are the more honest comps: smaller guards whose shooting and decision-making aged better than their athleticism. Curry’s shooting is the best the position has ever produced.

The Shot Doesn’t Age: 4,000 Threes and Counting

Here’s the strongest argument for Curry at 38 and beyond: his weapon doesn’t require jumping over anyone. In March 2025, at 37, Curry became the first player in NBA history to make 4,000 career three-pointers. He has led the league in three-pointers made per game ten times.

Shooters age gracefully. Ray Allen was a starter at 37; Kyle Korver was lethal off the bench at 38. Curry is a different species — the system runs through him — but the underlying truth holds: touch fades slower than speed. The dip below 40% from deep in back-to-back seasons is the stat to watch. If the knee holds, the shot comes back. If not, the math changes fast.

Four Rings by Age

Curry has won four NBA championships — in 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2022 — all with the Golden State Warriors. He was 27 when the first arrived and 34 when the fourth did, an eight-year span between titles that only a few dynasties have matched.

The 2022 title is the one that defines his thirties. Written off after two injury-wrecked seasons, Curry dragged a rebuilt roster to a championship and finally collected the Finals MVP that had eluded him. Four years later, the Warriors are trying to squeeze one more run out of him before the clock runs out.

6-Foot-2 in a League of Giants

Curry is listed at 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds — small for a modern NBA guard, and the reason almost everyone underestimated him. Coming out of Charlotte Christian School, he weighed about 160 pounds. His dream school, Virginia Tech — where his father Dell had been a star — would only offer him a walk-on spot.

Davidson College, a small school in North Carolina, wanted him badly. Curry signed with the Wildcats in 2006, at 18, and spent three years proving the doubters wrong. His listed height has been debated for years (some outlets print 6-3), but Basketball-Reference’s 6-2 measurement is the authoritative figure.

Early Life: A Skinny Kid From Charlotte

Wardell Stephen Curry II grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina, the eldest of three children of former NBA guard Dell Curry and Sonya Curry. Dell spent most of his 16-year NBA career with the Charlotte Hornets, and Steph spent his childhood shooting on NBA courts during warmups alongside his younger brother Seth, who also reached the league. His sister Sydel played college volleyball at Elon.

The Davidson years made him. In March 2008, a 20-year-old Curry carried the 10th-seeded Wildcats to the NCAA Elite Eight, dropping 40 points on Gonzaga and 33 on Wisconsin in consecutive tournament games. Overnight, the skinny kid from a small school was the most famous player in college basketball.

Draft Night at 21: The 7th Pick Nobody Saw Coming

On June 25, 2009 — three months after his 21st birthday — Curry was selected 7th overall by the Golden State Warriors. Six teams passed on him, including Minnesota, which took two other point guards ahead of him. That detail has aged into one of the great draft what-ifs.

His early NBA years were nearly derailed by ankles. At 23, in the lockout-shortened 2011–12 season, Curry played just 26 games and needed surgery. The injuries scared the market so badly that in 2012 he signed a four-year, $44 million extension — a deal that became the biggest bargain in basketball when he turned into an MVP two years later.

Peak Years: MVP at 27, Unanimous at 28

Curry’s age-27 season (2014–15) was the breakout: league MVP, championship, AP Athlete of the Year. His age-28 season (2015–16) was something else entirely — 30.1 points per game, 402 three-pointers (shattering his own record of 286), a 50-40-90 shooting season, and the first unanimous MVP vote in NBA history. The Warriors won 73 games, breaking the 1995–96 Bulls’ record of 72.

The 73-win season ended in the Finals loss to Cleveland, but the peak is what everything since has been measured against. Curry was 28, playing the best basketball anyone his size had ever played.

Family Life at 38: Ayesha and Four Kids

Curry married Ayesha Curry (née Alexander) on July 30, 2011 — he was 23, two years into his NBA career. The couple met as teenagers in a church youth group in Charlotte and reconnected years later in Los Angeles.

They have four children: Riley (born July 19, 2012), Ryan (born July 10, 2015), Canon (born July 2, 2018), and Caius (born May 11, 2024). Ayesha is a bestselling cookbook author and the founder of the Sweet July lifestyle brand. Curry has joked that at home he’s just dad — the kids, as he puts it, don’t care much how many times the ball goes through the basket.

The Business of Being 38: Curry Brand Goes Independent

Curry’s most significant business move came off the court. In November 2025, he ended his 12-year partnership with Under Armour — and kept sole ownership of Curry Brand, the standalone label Under Armour had launched for him in 2020. His 2023 extension had included an equity grant reported at about $75 million; Under Armour’s shares were down roughly 50% when he walked away.

In June 2026, Curry Brand signed a 10-year partnership with the Chinese sportswear company Li-Ning. Financial terms were not disclosed, though industry coverage valued the arrangement in the hundreds of millions. Forbes’ 2026 highest-paid athletes list credited Curry with $124.7 million in annual earnings. He also owns Unanimous Media, the production company that executive-produced the Oscar-winning short A Queen of Basketball.

Is Stephen Curry Retiring?

No — and the contract proves it. The September 2026 extension runs through the 2028–29 season, and Curry has repeated his longstanding commitment to finish his career with the Warriors. General manager Mike Dunleavy said in August 2026 he was optimistic a deal would get done; it was, within weeks.

Curry’s own framing is honest rather than romantic. On the Smith show he acknowledged he’s “close to it” — the end — and that his preparation has fundamentally changed. But he also said, on that same appearance: “We still believe that we can be that team.” Retirement talk will follow him every season from here. For now, the answer is a $116 million deal and a training plan built for 38.

Sources & Reporting

Facts in this profile reflect reporting through September 2026. Key sources: Basketball-Reference (birth date March 14, 1988, Akron; height 6-2/185 lbs; 2009 draft, 7th overall; $473.2M career earnings; $59.6M 2026 salary figure, noted where it conflicts with AP); NBA.com (birth-date verification); ESPN (first reported the $116M extension); Associated Press (confirmed the two-year, $116M deal with 2028–29 player option, $62.6M 2026–27 salary, $136.7M max eligibility, 43-game injury season); NBC Sports (the “Father Time is undefeated” quotes from The Stephen A. Smith Show, September 25, 2026); The Hollywood Reporter (the “basketball mortality” interview); Lindy’s Sports (media-day “feeling fantastic” knee report, Hoops Rumors cap-space analysis); Men’s Journal (the ~$20M discount breakdown); Sports Illustrated (birth of Caius Chai Curry, May 2024); ProFootballNetwork (marriage date July 30, 2011; children’s birth dates); Flashscore (injury list: runner’s knee, bone bruising, left quad contusion/strain; 37-45 record).

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