Most employees wouldn’t willingly hand their employers $20 million.

Stephen Curry just did.

At the end of September, the Golden State Warriors point guard signed a two-year contract with the franchise that will keep him on the court through at least the 2027-2028 season, ESPN reported. 

While his decision to stay with the team isn’t particularly surprising for many sports fans, the money he left on the table is.

Curry was eligible for a deal worth as much as $136.7 million, and his reasons for voluntarily electing to take a pay cut are far more relatable than you might assume.

Curry made a different kind of career calculation

According to ESPN, the Warriors had presented Curry with several contract options in recent weeks.

But ultimately the star chose stability and his preferred working environment — as well as a sizable pay cut — over waiting for the max or bargaining for other benefits.

“We’re in a very interesting situation,” Curry told ESPN before negotiations were finalized. “All the different salary cap conditions of whether I sign for a max or less or whatever it is, I want to be on a competitive team. I want to have an opportunity to have some flexibility because we haven’t had that in years past, the recent past. … This team should have flexibility to make necessary moves if things happen. Those are always just the considerations.”

“It’s just a very unique situation all the way around based on where we’ve been the last four years, where I’m at in my career, what our team looks like this year and the absolute desperation to win,” he continued. “[I’m] trying to balance all that.”

Curry’s salary cut leaves the Warriors an additional $10 million in salary cap space, ESPN reported. This gives the team somewhere between $38 and $55 million in all to build a competitive roster around him, according to estimates from the San Francisco Chronicle.

As it stands now, Curry will take home $55.7 million for the 2027-2028 season, and $60.2 million for the 2028-2029 season.

The new deal brings the player’s on-court earnings to $652 million, making him the first in the league to surpass the $600 million mark.

For Curry, the decision suggests that maximizing his paycheck isn’t the only consideration in a job, particularly when the difference between offers is relatively small compared with his overall earnings.

Instead, he’s placing value on the environment in which he’ll work and the opportunities available to him there.

Four-time NBA champion Steph Curry elected to take a $20 million pay cut to stay with the Golden State Warriors, prioritizing job security and opportunity for career growth over maximizing his paycheck,

San Francisco Chronicle/Hearst Newspapers / Getty Images

Curry’s trade-off isn’t as unusual as it looks

While Curry’s salary may be in a whole different bracket than that of many office workers, the factors influencing his decision aren’t necessarily unique to professional athletes.

Monster’s 2026 State of the Graduate report found that while salary still ranks number one for many recent graduates, job security (52%) and career growth (49%) are the next most important considerations.

Additionally, two-thirds (67%) of new college grads say they would trade higher pay for long-term stability.

Curry’s decision, then, may be unusual in scale, but the underlying trade-offs aren’t.

The numbers are obviously not comparable: a recent graduate weighing a first job and a superstar negotiating a nine-figure NBA contract are operating in very different worlds. 

But both illustrate a broader point about compensation: the biggest possible paycheck isn’t necessarily the only thing employees are weighing when it comes to choosing an employer.

For Curry, the decision meant giving up roughly $20 million in potential earnings in exchange for greater flexibility and a chance to help shape a competitive team around him.

For other workers, the trade-off may look very different. It could mean accepting a slightly lower salary for better job security, stronger career prospects, a better workplace culture or more flexibility.

The amounts may be worlds apart, but the calculation is surprisingly familiar: What else is this job offering me besides the paycheck?