Steve Kerr Addresses Stephen Curry's 'Rare' Contract Paycut, Emphasizes Cap Space Flexibility

Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr spoke with ESPN's Anthony Slater on Friday from Oahu, Hawaii, where the team is holding its training camp on the BYU-Hawaii campus.

During the talk, Kerr was asked about Curry's new two-year, $116 million deal, which is more than $20 million less than the maximum he was eligible to sign. Slater referenced pay cuts that Hall of Famer, ex-San Antonio Spurs star and Kerr's former teammate, Tim Duncan, late in his career.

"Yeah, Timmy did that a couple of different times late in his career," Kerr began. "Manu Ginobili did it. It's something that is very rare, but if it happens, it usually happens with a person like Steph or Tim Duncan and someone who is with one organization their entire career, where it's just a relationship that allows for it. So it didn't surprise anyone. Steph is obviously still making a ton of money, but he's very unselfish and understands that this pickup will allow us next summer to sign better players, more players."

Curry has played all 17 of his NBA seasons with the Warriors. He's won four NBA championships and two NBA MVP awards while making 11 All-NBA teams.

The 12-time All-Star and two-time scoring champion has averaged 24.8 points, 6.3 assists and 4.7 rebounds over his career.

He'll be a first-ballot Hall of Famer someday and can at least make a case for being the best point guard in league history, and he's considered one of the best (if not the best) shooters in NBA history.

Curry's accomplished basically all that one can at this stage of his career, and he's earned nearly half a billion dollars on his contracts, per Spotrac. Of course, chasing championships never gets old, so it makes sense that Curry took a pay cut to give Golden State more cap flexibility.

As Kerr noted, Curry is still being paid handsomely, though $20 million isn't exactly a small amount to turn down.

This year's Warriors team has the talent to compete and make the playoffs with Curry back. The key is staying healthy and hopefully an earlier-than-expected return from Jimmy Butler (torn ACL). Butler says he is ahead of schedule, but a return timeline is unclear.

Golden State is also without Kristaps Porziņģis, who is out indefinitely with an undisclosed health issue.

Still, Draymond Green, Al Horford, rookie Yaxel Lendeborg and Brandin Podziemski should help. They'll get their first test on Oct. 21 at the Los Angeles Lakers.