More on Stephen Curry Injury
Golden State Warriors star guard Stephen Curry suffered a tailbone contusion at the end of the third quarter of Wednesday night's 108-94 win against the Rockets in Houston and did not return. The injury occurred on the final play of the third quarter, after Curry missed an off-balance 3-pointer. His momentum took him off the floor and pushed him toward the risers by the Rockets' bench. He appeared to trip on the first level of risers and was unable to break his fall.
"He says he's going to be fine long term," Kerr said. "It's going to bother him, though, for definitely the next few days. No idea if he'll play in Memphis [on Friday], but he seems to be feeling like he'll be OK over the next week or so, but we'll see ... and please don't take that to mean that I'm saying he's going to be out for a week. He could be practicing [Thursday] for all I know, but we'll give you an update as soon as we have one."
Anthony Slater: Official injury tags for the Warriors tomorrow at Knicks Stephen Curry: Questionable, James Wiseman: Questionable. Kevon Looney: Questionable. All three appear to be trending toward a return.
Nick Friedell: Steph trying to knock down any conversation about his workload/tweaking his ankle early in Monday's game. He smiles before question even finishes. "I feel great. I feel great."
Kerith Burke: Today's injury report Steph Curry: questionable (L ankle soreness) Jordan Poole: questionable (L ankle sprain)
“When Steph was injured last year with his hand, we did something different,” Fraser said of the new approach. “The performance staff came up with a scientific way to get him in really good shape, using interval training. Then we applied the basketball drills.” Based on early returns, it was an experiment gone right. “Steph felt like he was in such good shape and so sharp after that method that we decided to do it this summer,” Fraser said. “And then, Brandon Payne was thrown into the mix to add his touch. So, I would say those three parties constitute the macro scale. We’re all focused on using interval training plus what he’s done in the past.”
“He’s a young 32,” Payne said with a chuckle. “He’s jumping really well, moving really well. He’s perpetually in great shape from a cardiovascular standpoint. He’s not showing any signs at all of any sort of aging. He’s moving well, he’s getting stronger. He’s as bouncy and energetic in workouts as he’s ever been.”
It remains to be seen if the second bubble will actually take place, but even if it does, it sure seems like you won't be seeing Steph Curry play in it. ESPN's Jackie MacMullan reported he wouldn't have played in Orlando had the Warriors qualified, and it begs the question as to why Chicago would be any different. "I was told unequivocally by people at Golden State," MacMullan said Thursday on the "Hoop Collective" podcast, "if Golden State came back (to play in Orlando) they weren't gonna let Steph Curry step foot on the floor." "The reason they were worried about Steph Curry," MacMullan added, "was because they didn't feel that he had played enough to come back."
Wes Goldberg: Steve Kerr on Steph Curry's status: "We expect him to play Thursday. He wanted to play tonight, but we wouldn’t let him just given he hadn’t done anything the last three days. This is a good day for him to get a good workout and get some rest."
Anthony Slater: Update: Steph Curry is out tonight against the Clippers. Second straight missed game with the basic flu.
Connor Letourneau: Steve Kerr on the nerve damage in Stephen Curry's left hand: "I think that's maybe being overblown. ... He's out there shooting like he's always shot. I don't think this is going to be an issue."
Shams Charania: Warriors make it official: Stephen Curry will return on Thursday against the Raptors.
Stephen Curry: About time!!! 😂
Kevin Danna, the Santa Cruz Warriors’ play-by-play announcer who attended the scrimmage, said of Curry (via NBC Bay Area), “He missed his first couple of shots as he was kind of getting his legs underneath him, but then he started going. And once he started hitting, he didn’t go back to missing much."
Logan Murdock: Stephen Curry is officially a Santa Cruz Warrior pic.twitter.com/IoV3msQ4xI
Anthony Slater: Steve Kerr on the decision to hold off Steph Curry’s return: “He was not thrilled, but Steph is always very rational and easy to speak with. He put up a little fight, but also understood why we wanted to take extra precaution.” pic.twitter.com/8L1Vp2nHzS
Anthony Slater: Sounds like a firm decision on Steph Curry’s status for Sunday should come tomorrow. Warriors practice at home before traveling to Phoenix. Kerr says he’ll have a meeting with Curry, Myers and Celebrini.
Kerith Burke: Brandon Payne, Steph Curry’s trainer, told our @NBCSAuthentic that Steph is still working through the nerve issue. Not all the way back to where he wants it to be, but improving. Doctors said it could take up to a year.
Nick Friedell: Kerr says he will sit down with Warriors training staff, Steph Curry and GM Bob Myers after practice tomorrow and make a game plan for Curry’s return. Warriors still hopeful Curry will return Sunday — but organization hasn’t made a final decision.
Kerith Burke: Steve Kerr casted some doubt on the March 1 return date for Steph Curry, saying that’s not official yet and his preference is Steph gets more scrimmages in. Last night Steve said March 1 is “the hope.” Hope is not certainty.
Is there concern it’ll never fully recover? “I’m getting used to what the new normal is,” Curry said. “It definitely feels different than the right (hand). But you try to get to the point when you’re playing basketball, you don’t think about it — whether it feels all the way same or not, it doesn’t really matter, as long as I’m not worried about the things I’m trying to do, the strength part of it and how it bounces back the next day after pushing it in contact stuff. “But to answer your question, it is going to feel different. Anybody who has had surgery knows it takes a long time to get back to true normal. Functionally speaking, where I’m not out there on the court thinking about it, that’s where I’m trying to get it to.”
Wes Goldberg: Steph Curry acknowledges he needs to adjust to lingering nerve damage in his left hand: “It definitely feels different. ... I’m trying to get to, when I’m out there in the court, I’m not thinking about it.”
Anthony Slater: Steph Curry on his return target: “It’s always been March 1st.” It’s a home game against the Wizards. Remains the target.
Nick Friedell: Steve Kerr says Steph Curry has been cleared for contact again. He went through a scrimmage today. Warriors are hopeful Curry will return in near future. No official target date set yet by organization.
Anthony Slater: Andrew Wiggins was on Steph Curry’s team today in Curry’s first scrimmage back. Wiggins: “He’s a game-changer. Once he steps on the floor, the game changes.”
Anthony Slater: Steve Kerr on the idea of holding out a healthy Steph Curry: “No. He’s perfectly healthy. If the point is he might get hurt, what’s the point of ever playing anybody? I guess the argument is we’re not making the playoffs. So, are we not trying to entertain our fans?”
Nick Friedell: Kerr on Steph wearing red non-contact jersey in practice. “We’re calling him Tom Brady today. ‘Don’t touch Steph.’” Kerr said Curry won’t be cleared for scrimmages this week. Kerr says organization still doesn’t have specific return date yet. Next update expected in two weeks.
Nick Friedell: Kerr on Steph wearing red non-contact jersey in practice. “We’re calling him Tom Brady today. ‘Don’t touch Steph.’” Kerr said Curry won’t be cleared for scrimmages this week. Kerr says organization still doesn’t have specific return date yet. Next update expected in two weeks.
As for Curry? The Warriors plan to reevaluate him in early March after fracturing his left wrist only four games into the season. Since then, Curry has spent the last three months healing. He has spent the past month completing various shooting workouts. “Steph is coming back. That’s not even a discussion internally,” Lacob said. “He’s ready to play so he should play. By the way, we’ll try to win every game. I’m not really about, ‘Let’s lose every game so we can get the best pick.’ You try to do that, you’re messing with the basketball gods. So we don’t believe in that.”
Diamond Leung: Giannis on Steph Curry: "Let me be honest with you. The players, we kind of enjoy that he's not playing — not enjoy that he's hurt. We want him to be healthy, but he just makes it way, way tougher for the rest of the league."
Anthony Slater: Steph Curry’s jumped into some 5-on-0 drills lately, ramping up his conditioning, still no contact pic.twitter.com/fyt8HpVSOX
Marc Stein: Stephen Curry says during the Warriors/Lakers national broadcast that "first week of March" is his target to return from the broken left hand suffered four games into the season
Anthony Slater: Steph Curry recovery update: Out another month, all 11 February games. Another re-evaluation in four weeks. Making steady progress. Team is "hopeful" for a March return. Curry clearly targeting the start of the month. He's been going through increased intensity shooting routines.
Jay King: Steve Kerr said Steph Curry will “almost for sure” play again this season. Said he and Klay Thompson will play when they’re ready and the Warriors will try to win every game that they can.
The question is not if Stephen Curry is coming back this season, but when. And, from what I’ve been told, you might want to clear your schedule for March 1. The Warriors host the Washington Wizards that night. That’s not set in stone, of course. More like a target date. But expect a return by the face of the franchise before next season.
Curry already looks ready to play in his post-practice sessions. Judging by his shooting, his broken left hand looks healed. He is no longer wearing the brace. But he hasn’t played since Oct. 30. Saturday was his 40th game missed since the injury. By the All-Star break, Curry will have missed 51 games — the most he’s missed in a season since he missed 40 games in the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season when he severely sprained his right ankle.
Curry may not have lost his shooting touch since missing the past 35 games while rehabbing his surgically repaired fractured left hand. Still, that does not mean his return is pending. “There is a long way to go for him to heal and be ready to play in a game,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “He just started really getting onto the court shooting and moving around. He has a ways to go, but it’s good to see him out there."
As for Curry doing so after missing the past 35 games? That is a different story. “It’s like riding a bike. He’s going to be able to shoot when he’s 85,” Kerr said. “Nothing really surprises me with Steph. The guy is so skilled that to be honest, even not picking up a ball for two months, I expect him to make every shot.”
What has Steph been doing on his off time? I talked to Steph briefly at a game recently and he told me he’s bored, ha. While he’s out of his basketball routine, he’s had more time for family, charity events, and business interests. He said he’s been trying to read more books. He finished Andre Iguodala’s book “Sixth Man.” He’s also been in touch with Davidson about what he’d need to do to finish his degree.
Kerith Burke: Word from the Warriors is Steph will be reevaluted on Feb 1 and Klay will be reevaluted at the All Star Break regarding their injuries and potential playing dates this season.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr sat down with Yahoo's Chris Haynes just before Christmas and was asked about Curry's status. "His injury is not nearly as serious as Klay's because we're dealing with a hand and not a knee," Kerr said on the "Posted Up" podcast. "We'll re-evaluate Steph sometime in February, but I think there's an excellent chance he comes back sometime in March -- late in the season. "Our fans deserve to see him play, he's dying to play, our young players want to play with him. So if we can get him back at the end of the season, it would be great."
Anthony Slater: As reporters were leaving Warriors practice: Steph Curry emerged for a shooting workout with Steve Nash and Bruce Fraser. He was using his left hand. First time we’ve seen it in use since he broke it.
Anthony Slater: Steph Curry out doing post practice drills with teammates, using that surgically repaired left hand pic.twitter.com/3Svdejnbix
Wes Goldberg: Steph Curry is getting a shooting workout in with assistant coach Bruce Fraser is the practice facility before tonight's game against the Bucks. Using his surgically repaired left hand.
Logan Murdock: Steve Kerr says Stephen Curry has been doing “basketball movements” on the floor (cardio, slides, etc). Kerr says he’ll be around the team more and more but hasn’t picked up a ball.
Logan Murdock: Stephen Curry is in the building tonight at Chase without a cast. Had a second surgery recently in LA.
Shams Charania: Warriors’ Stephen Curry has undergone a second surgery on his broken left hand to remove pins from first procedure, league sources tell @The Athletic @Stadium. Curry is still on track to be re-evaluated in February.
There was pain, very real pain, which Curry chose not to acknowledge upon first examination. “When I get hurt,” he told NBC Sports Bay Area on Friday as his teammates lost to the Miami Heat, “I’m always in denial.” Phase Two in the wake of injury was humor. Curry chose laughing over wincing. “Nobody was really telling me anything as we were going through the process to diagnose the injury,” he recalled. “And I was joking around, trying to distract myself because it was hurting.”
Which is not to say Curry isn’t eager to return to the court -- or that he has taken a break from the game he loves. He still goes into Chase Center for rehab sessions and cardio work. He sits on the bench during games. “It’s just hardest on your competitive spirit,” Curry said. “When you get around basketball and get around the locker room with the guys, that’s the part I miss the most. And I love to play. “Three months is -- and I’d only played three-and-a-half games -- just weird. It’s unfamiliar territory. I’m enjoying the downtime, because it was unheard of, in my experience, in the middle of a season. It’s just weird.”
Anthony Slater: Steph Curry says he expects to return this season, some time in early spring.
Connor Letourneau: Stephen Curry said he has to undergo a second procedure in early December to remove some pins, etc. Said he hopes to be on the road come Jan. 1 to be around the team.
Logan Murdock: Stephen Curry is expected to speak to the media pregame at 6:45.
Curry's personal trainer Brandon Payne went on NBC Sports NBA Insider Tom Haberstroh's "The Habershow Podcast" and discussed a number of things, from why Steph doesn't like running a lot of high pick-and-rolls to the timetable for Curry's return. Since the injury is to Curry's hand and not an area where injuries are more common (i.e. ankle, knee), Payne is unsure when Curry will be able to return to the court. "I know he wants to," Payne told Haberstroh of Curry returning this season. "It's all going to depend on how this rehab process plays out. It's three months to reevaluation and then at that point, we'll have a better idea of the timeline and what he can and can't do. Those first few weeks are going to be critical in just how the movement comes back in the wrist and how the hand responds to the activity."
Kerith Burke: Steve Kerr said he has “no idea” where the report Steph Curry wont play this season came from. He said he talked to Bob Myers and Rick Celebrini and “nothing has changed.” Reiterated the plan is to reevaluate Steph after three months and play him when he’s ready.
Wes Goldberg: Steve Kerr said he was "confused" by an earlier report indicating that Steph Curry wouldn't play again this season. Added he didn't know who the "source" was in the story. "I'm a pretty good source."
A Bleacher Report story suggesting that Warriors guard Stephen Curry is unlikely to return this season from a broken bone in his left hand is inaccurate, according to multiple team sources. “That’s complete hogwash,” one source told The Chronicle. “Like we’ve said, he’s going to get re-evaluated in three months, and we’ll go from there. There’s no reason to believe right now that he can’t play this season.”
In the Bleacher Report story, reporter Ric Bucher wrote that Curry's “fracture was worse than originally thought.” Multiple team sources have denied that claim, saying the fracture wasn’t any worse than anticipated.
Injured Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry "absolutely" still plans to make himself available to play for USA Basketball during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, his father, Dell Curry, told ESPN's The Undefeated.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics begin on July 24, 2020. "Absolutely. That was definitely a goal coming into this year. He wants to play in the Olympics," Dell Curry told ESPN's The Undefeated on Friday night. "This is a little setback, but hopefully it's a goal he can strive for through his rehab."
"Anytime you have a major surgery like that, even with a hand, he's doing the best he can," said Dell Curry, now a television color commentator for the Charlotte Hornets. "It was a tough, tough injury, but he's doing the best he can. Three to four months, not sure when he is going to come back. Has to take his time and come back with it. … He's been through injuries before with the ankle. He understands the rehab that it takes to get through it. He knows about injuries and what goes through that. He's got to be patient and make sure he is fully healthy before he comes back."
Connor Letourneau: Steve Kerr on Stephen Curry being out at least the next three months: "That's just what it is. It's not really about anything other than just preparing the team to play tonight and for the foreseeable future."
Wes Goldberg: Steve Kerr on Curry's injury, along with all the others: "It’s been kind of a crazy run. Especially if you lump it back together with the last couple games of last season."
Shams Charania: Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry will be re-evaluated in three months after surgery on his broken left hand, team says.
Anthony Slater: Steph Curry via Instagram
Golden State is expecting no further update Thursday, but it hopes to know Friday whether Curry will require surgery and how much time he might miss. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr won’t have media availability until more is known about Curry’s injury. The typical recovery for a broken hand is five to eight weeks, but it can take longer if the person requires surgery. Per a source, the Warriors are bracing for Curry to miss at least a month.
