StephenCurry

Preseason question: Can Curry’s magic shine through the darkness? During their heyday with Curry, the Warriors personified basketball joy, which makes it bitterly ironic that Golden State’s upcoming season is shaping up to be such a bummer. Jimmy Butler is injured. Draymond Green has fallen off these rankings entirely. The indefinitely sidelined Kristaps Porzingis and 40-year-old Al Horford will make or break the team’s center rotation, while Brandin Podziemski and rookie Yaxel Lendeborg may well lead the non-Steph Warriors in scoring. Smiling through it all is Curry himself, who probably can’t believe this is his life (derogatory). Father Time came for Curry last season and landed a glancing blow—“runner’s knee” limited him to just 43 games—but when he played, he was his usual transformative self. Steph averaged 27 points in 31 minutes per game, a reflection of both his age-defying greatness and the enormous burden the depleted Warriors continue to place on him. This offseason, Curry signed a two-year extension for about $20 million less than his max value, presumably to grease the wheels for Golden State to pick up one more needle-mover. Until they do, this season will be a collision between the league’s most effervescent talent and one of its most depressing situations; something’s gotta give.