Stephen A. Smith believes Steph Curry's title window still is open for Warriors

Stephen A. Smith believes Steph Curry's title window still is open for Warriors originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Stephen A. Smith is not ready to close Steph Curry’s championship window.

On Friday’s episode of ESPN’s “First Take,” Smith made his case for the Warriors a day after they won their sixth straight game, improving to 6-3 after an 0-3 start. Curry is averaging 29.9 points in seven games, and on Thursday he passed Oscar Robertson for 17th on the NBA’s career scoring list.

Smith began with Curry himself.

“In life there are transcendent figures. Steph Curry would apply when it comes to that,” Smith said. He used one of his favorite phrases, calling Curry “the greatest shooter God has ever created,” and said that at nearly 39, Curry is “doing stuff we haven’t seen pretty much anybody his age do outside of LeBron and a couple of others.”

Smith’s argument for the window rests on the 2022 NBA Finals, when the Warriors beat the Boston Celtics.

“I did not think the Warriors were a better team than the Boston Celtics. I did not look at Steph Curry and say, you know what, he can definitively take out both Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. But that’s what he did,” Smith added, crediting Curry’s shooting, his movement without the ball and his conditioning.

The conditioning is the part Smith kept returning to. He said Curry and LeBron James separate themselves by how they prepare.

“It’s a difference between getting ready and staying ready. Those brothers stay ready, they don’t use the season to get ready, they come into the season ready because they are taking care of themselves in the offseason,” Smith said.

Smith was careful not to overstate it. He did not call the Warriors favorites.

“I’m not trying to tell you that they should be favorites, but I can’t dismiss Golden State, not as long as Steph Curry is looking the way that he’s looking,” Smith said.

“The championship window, I say, is still open.” @stephenasmith weighs in on how much time Stephen Curry has left to chase another ring 👀 pic.twitter.com/LDR4n1VGqZ

— First Take (@FirstTake) November 6, 2026

The Warriors still have plenty to prove. ESPN’s experts projected them to finish 35-47 and land in the play-in, with Jimmy Butler,Moses Moody and Kristaps Porziņģis currently not playing. But Golden State has not lost since the 0-3 start, and Smith is pointing to the player at the center of it.

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