Two weekends ago, a 63-year-old woman from Hawaii, a 30-year-old woman from Japan, and a 59-year-old man from Thailand clung side-by-side at the lowest possible perch in the stands at BYU-Hawaii. They had only just met, but quickly fell into conversation born of sheer kinship.
They were all there to watch Stephen Curry, before the show was over. The man, Nick Batchelor, had timed a trip to visit his mother on O'ahu with a chance to watch Curry in the Warriors' preseason game against the Clippers.
Curry would play all of 13 minutes that Oct. 4 afternoon. His ticket cost $349. Was it worth it?
"Of course!" Batchelor grinned. "It's worth every penny. My wife's not going to be happy."
Curry is 38 now. Chances to see him are running out. The Warriors have him on a maintenance plan to preserve his knee for the stretch run. And head coach Steve Kerr issued a point-blank message Friday to anyone with plans to buy a ticket - hoping to see Curry - for the back-end of a Warriors back-to-back.
"I would just come out, tell the fans out there to be mindful when you're buying the tickets, of the schedule," Kerr said. "Take a look. Because we've got, not just Steph, but we've got multiple vets who we are going to try to manage. Because it's the only way we can do this."
There are roughly 5 million things that have to go right in 2026-27 for Golden State to have an actual shot at meaningful April basketball. Near the top of the list is scheduling maintenance for a slew of veterans.
Curry, for one, has told the Chronicle he's confident in his ability to play 65 to 70 games this season, based on an organizational plan to ramp up his workload slower than previous seasons. Kerr said Friday, too, that it's possible Curry begins the season playing less than his standard 32-to-34 minutes a night.
"You're trying to slowly build," Curry told the Chronicle Tuesday night.
Golden State, too, will be tested to find back-to-back rest days for the 36-year-old Draymond Green and 40-year-old Al Horford, given the weight on their shoulders in the continued indefinite absence of Kristaps Porzingis. This will not always be easy for competitive purposes. The Warriors have 15 back-to-back games on the schedule. Consider the back-end of a few: at Phoenix Dec. 28, vs. Detroit Jan. 7, at Boston Feb. 10, vs. Toronto March 25.
Kerr said the organization will begin trying to map out load management this weekend ahead of Wednesday's season opener in Los Angeles against the Lakers.
This, naturally, will put more stress on the Warriors' back of the roster, a concept Kerr has been stressing across the last few weeks. Golden State is currently without a combined $89.3 million in guaranteed money - over half of the baseline salary cap - in the indefinite absences of Moses Moody, Jimmy Butler and Porzingis. Porzingis on Wednesday revealed he's still not recovered from his health issues, as it's become a near certainty he'll miss the start of the Warriors' season.
"Kristaps and I have texted over the last couple weeks," Kerr said Thursday, noting Porzingis is now officially back in the building and around the team. "And the thing with this whole situation is, we're just not going to get into, like, a daily discussion on - ‘was he here today, was he practicing, was he doing this, was he doing that? '"
Golden State, instead, will be stuck cobbling together a rotation. Kerr confirmed Thursday that summer signees Brandon Williams, Georges Niang and Charles Bassey - whose deals are not fully guaranteed - have made the opening roster and will get minutes.
Williams has established himself as one of Golden State's most electric players and will play a massive role as the backup point guard. Niang, meanwhile, is more of a wild card, a one-time proven shooter who hasn't played an NBA regular-season game since April 2025 and has visibly slowed the Warriors' pace at times this preseason.
The 25-year-old Bassey has inspired internal hope and stood out against the Lakers' B-and-C-team in the second half in Las Vegas Tuesday, but often looked overmatched against Walker Kessler before the break.
"He's a good, talented young player who just needs a lot of reps and a lot of work," Kerr said Thursday on Bassey.
Most out-of-towners, though, are not necessarily buying Warriors tickets to see good young players who need a lot of reps and a lot of work (save, perhaps, for Yaxel Lendeborg). The Curry Show is back, and traveling, after last year's two-month hiatus. Some tour dates, though, will be struck from the schedule.
Be warned.
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There’s more to San Francisco with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25¢.This article originally published at Tickets to see Steph Curry? Steve Kerr warns Warriors fans to ‘be mindful' of back-to-backs.