When Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant teamed up a decade ago, their union created perhaps the most lethal scoring duo in NBA history and threatened to serve as the foundation of a dynasty that might have rivaled Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls. Now, as they prepare to meet for the first time this season on Wednesday, both players are 38 and still producing at elite levels, longer than almost anyone expected.
Curry and Durant were both former MVPs and scoring champions in their primes at 28 years old when they began their first title chase together in 2016-17. The Golden State Warriors raced out to a 20-3 start that fall and dominated so thoroughly that critics quickly deemed the pairing “unfair.”
Two developments have defined the years since those early days. The partnership ended far sooner than anyone anticipated, and both stars have sustained their play much longer than anyone predicted. The breakup is the more familiar story. After two championships and a torn Achilles, the nomadic Durant left the Bay Area to start fresh with the Brooklyn Nets. Curry, meanwhile, has become one of the NBA’s all-time single-franchise icons.
The longevity story has been overshadowed by LeBron James’ record-setting career. As James has rewritten the record books and kept playing into his 40s, Curry and Durant have thrived late in their careers in ways few superstars have before them.
With the Warriors and Durant’s Houston Rockets set to face off Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. ET, it is worth appreciating their remarkable staying power a full decade after they started tearing up the league as teammates.
Curry is rivaling his unanimous MVP season, 10 years later
Curry enters Wednesday averaging 30.6 points per game and shooting 45.6% on 3-pointers, a prime example of the adage that shooting helps you age well. The two-time MVP is making more 3s per game and shooting a higher percentage this season than he did during the 2016-17 campaign, his first alongside Durant.
Only one player in NBA history has matched Curry’s current 3-point volume (4.7 per game) and efficiency (45%) over an entire season. That player was Curry himself during his unanimous 2015-16 MVP season.
Curry’s status as the best shooter ever is only part of the story. His physical fitness, ballhandling, poise and comfort in Golden State’s offense have all helped him keep producing with remarkable consistency.
“Work ethic and good genes,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said earlier this week. “[Curry] has been blessed with a body that has held up. But he’s also earned that through his strength training, his conditioning, [and] his fitness level is just off the charts. It’s so remarkable at 38 to watch him still do what he does.”
Perhaps the most important change to Curry’s shot profile is how few of his 3-pointers he now creates himself. In his 2016 MVP season, 55% of his 3s were assisted by teammates. That figure has climbed steadily over the past five years to a career-high 74% this season. Curry has traded many of his most grandiose shots, such as off-the-dribble 3s and transition bombs, for catch-and-shoot attempts. He still works hard before the catch to free himself from attentive defenses.
Curry’s hot shooting and the Warriors’ ability to support him have allowed him to bend the typical age curve in a fashion never seen before. Though his player efficiency rating (PER) has tended to outperform his peers by a narrow margin for much of his 30s, his start this season has put him in a class by himself. His 33.9 PER to date easily surpasses the age-38 figures for James (23.9), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (22.7), Tim Duncan (22.6) and Michael Jordan (20.7).
Regression is likely, perhaps significant regression, as the season unfolds, so Curry’s performance should not be taken for granted. Next-generation stars Luka Doncic and Victor Wembanyama have earned most of the early MVP buzz. Curry still deserves a place in that conversation because of his electric start and the Warriors’ winning record despite serious injury issues.
Curry’s value to the Warriors extends well beyond his on-court production, but the franchise could not ask for a better return on the two-year, $116 million extension it granted him in September. That deal will carry him through his age-40 season. Golden State has every reason to believe he could surpass Stockton as the most productive guard to play past that milestone.
Durant’s steady scoring and how high he could climb
By the most basic measures, Durant’s career has been less charmed than Curry’s since their split. While Curry became a Bay Area legend and led the Warriors to the 2022 championship, Durant bounced from the Nets to the Phoenix Suns and now to the Rockets. Since tearing his Achilles during the 2019 Finals in his last game with the Warriors, the 16-time All-Star forward has not returned to the conference finals.
Durant’s 30s have still been remarkable. He has arguably produced the most successful comeback from an Achilles tear in NBA history, and he continues to rank among the league’s most productive forwards for his age as he approaches 40.
“I was just hoping to get to 10 years,” Durant said earlier this season. “You just hear the statistics of how short your life is as an NBA player. I took heed to all that information early on, and I just wanted to approach every day like it was my last. … After 10 years, I just wanted to keep it going as long as I can.”
Last season, Durant earned All-NBA second-team honors by averaging 26 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists for the Rockets. Like Curry, he has relied on scoring craftsmanship to sustain his late-career success, and he nearly achieved a 50/40/90 shooting season in 2025-26. His 21.1 PER last season ranked third all time among forwards at age 37, trailing only James (26.2) and Karl Malone (24.7).
Durant’s arc compares favorably with James and Malone and clearly outpaces Dirk Nowitzki, the gold standard for late-career productivity among forwards alongside them. That relatively gradual decline suggests Durant has several more years of high-level basketball ahead.
Houston has sharply reduced his role to start this season in hopes of creating a more balanced offense. Even so, Durant is averaging 21.0 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists, and he remains on track to pass Kobe Bryant for fourth on the NBA’s all-time scoring list later this season.
Durant is also 5,559 points shy of passing Abdul-Jabbar to become the NBA’s No. 2 all-time scorer, behind James. To close that gap, he would need to average 20 points per game and play about 280 more games. That is difficult but not impossible. At his current scoring pace with reasonably good health, Durant would be poised to pass Abdul-Jabbar during his age-42 season. For context, James is currently in his age-42 season with the Philadelphia 76ers. Even if Durant falls short of Abdul-Jabbar, he should be closing in on Malone for third place by the time his current contract expires after the 2027-28 season.
When the Warriors visit the Rockets on Wednesday, the game will serve as a de facto 10-year anniversary of their 2016 partnership. Curry’s Warriors are still chasing another deep playoff run, and Durant’s Rockets have assembled enough young talent around him to chase their own. The end is getting closer for these former teammates, but it is not yet in sight.