The Warriors have reason to be confident entering the 2025-26 NBA season, preparing for a full year with Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green on the court.
Some pundits, though, wonder whether the good vibes from one season ago will last 82 games.
In an article published Monday, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps ranked every NBA team’s “big three,” placing Curry, Butler and Green in “Tier 6: Old stars with big questions.” While Bontemps acknowledged Golden State’s 22-5 record with both Curry and Butler available last season, he cited age as a factor in his uncertainty over their potential success in 2025-26.
“There’s little doubt this team has a very high ceiling — if healthy,” Bontemps wrote. “But given their core is all 35 or older, the ‘if healthy’ question is going to follow this group around all season long.”
Bontemps clarifies in the article’s opening that his rankings also take the future value of each team’s core into account, which could explain why a trio of future Hall of Famers placed below other groups of unproven but rising stars.
It is no secret that the Warriors enter this upcoming NBA season reliant on veteran star power to win, in a league with seemingly endless young talent. Curry (37), Butler (36) and Green (35) are each a year older, and the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder—whose core of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams ranked first in Bontemps’ piece—proved how far a youthful, athletic core can take a team.
If indeed Golden State’s big three can remain on the court, however, there’s no reason to doubt their championship potential. Curry remains as electric as ever, Green is coming off a third-place finish in Defensive Player of the Year voting, and Butler showed he still can propel a team to a higher level after the Warriors acquired him in February.
It will be up to that trio to prove that, in the NBA, age isn’t anything but a number.
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