In the modern NBA, it’s rare to see a superstar stay in one place long enough to see the city change around them. We live in an era of player empowerment, where stars like LeBron James, Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kawhi Leonard have famously requested trades or changed uniforms the moment a situation felt stagnant or a championship felt out of reach.
While that movement has reshaped the league’s power balance, a select few, think Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, and Magic Johnson, remained so deeply rooted in their franchises that leaving was never even a conversation. Today, that torch of loyalty is carried primarily by one man in the Bay Area.
Why Stephen Curry’s 17 Seasons Defined a Dynasty
While the rest of the league plays musical chairs, Stephen Curry has quietly built a fortress in San Francisco. Now in his 17th season with the Golden State Warriors, Curry, alongside his long-time defensive anchor Draymond Green (now in his 14th year), stands as the longest-tenured active player with a single franchise.
Their partnership has done more than just win four NBA championships; it has turned the Warriors into the second most valuable sports franchise on the planet.
Curry’s decision to stay hasn’t always been about chasing the easy path. He famously stuck through the “dark ages” of his first three years in the league and the 2019-20 season when the team managed a dismal 15 wins while he sat out with a broken hand.
In an age where most superstars would have surveyed the wreckage and asked for a ticket to a contender, Curry doubled down. He didn’t just change the game with his three-point gravity; he set a precedent for loyalty that mirrors Kobe Bryant’s 20-year run in Los Angeles.
For the generation of kids who grew up wanting to “be like Steph,” his most impressive stat might not be the shooting percentage, but the fact that he only ever wore one jersey.
From Giannis and Embiid to LeBron’s Unusual Laker Record
Behind the Warriors’ duo, the list of “one-team” superstars is shrinking but still features some heavy hitters. Giannis Antetokounmpo recently hit his 13th season in Milwaukee, and despite the constant drumbeat of trade rumors over the last two years, the “Greek Freak” has remained adamant about staying with the franchise he led to a title in 2021.
Not far behind are Joel Embiid in Philadelphia and the Mavericks’ veteran Dwight Powell. While Embiid has yet to clear the Conference Finals hurdle, his commitment to the “Process” suggests he wants to finish what he started in the City of Brotherly Love.
The most surprising entry in the “loyalty” conversation is actually LeBron James. Despite being the poster child for the movement era, LeBron is currently in his 8th season with the Lakers, officially making this the longest continuous stint he has spent with a single team. While he technically spent 11 total years in Cleveland, it was broken into two separate chapters.
Still, in a league where the next trade request is always just a tweet away, Curry’s 17-year run remains the gold standard for what it means to be a franchise icon.
