Steph Curry could only watch on from the sidelines as the Golden State Warriors were eliminated in five games in the Western Conference Semifinals by the Minnesota Timberwolves. Curry suffered a hamstring strain in the second quarter of the Warriors’ Game 1 win and would end up playing no further part in the series.
The Warriors battled hard without their superstar guard, but ultimately didn’t have the firepower to keep pace with the Timberwolves. Their season is now over, and so are Curry’s hopes of breaking a tie with LeBron James in NBA championships this year.
James and Curry are widely regarded as the greatest players of their era, and both have won four titles in the NBA.
Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry defends against Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James at Chase Center.Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
Curry is going to have to wait another year to pass James in championships, but there is one other area where he has surpassed him in 2025. Forbes released their list of the world’s 10 highest-paid athletes of 2025, and Curry finds himself ahead of James on it.
Cristiano Ronaldo sits at the top of the list, having earned $275 million this year. Curry comes in behind him at $156 million and is $22.8 million clear of James, the first active NBA player to become a billionaire, who is down at sixth with $133.8 million in earnings.
Tyson Fury ($146 million), Dak Prescott ($137 million) and Lionel Messi ($135 million) are the three others above James on the list.
Curry and James weren’t the only NBA players to make it in, with Kevin Durant’s $101.4 million in earnings seeing him occupy the 10th spot.