STEPHEN Curry reportedly is unlikely to return to the Golden State Warriors this season following surgery for a fractured bone in his left hand in a game last November 1.
The Warriors may be disputing the Bleacher Report but they could really shut him down for the season if there are no “competitive reasons” for him to play, meaning if the team’s poor performance lingers till February.
Curry, the Warriors’ longest-tenured Warrior and their oldest at age 31, sustained the injury during the team’s 121-110 home loss to the surprising Phoenix Suns last October 30.
The 6-foot-3, 185-pound guard was hurt in the third quarter of that game when he drove to the rim and collided with Suns’ New Zealand-born big man Aron Baynes (all 6-foot-10 and 260 pounds of him), who attempted to take a charge but ended up falling on top of Curry’s left hand.
Curry has averaged a team-best 20.3 points, 6.5 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals in four games and 28 minutes every time out in his 11th season with the Warriors.
Curry is the highest-salaried player in the NBA this season at more than $40 million in guaranteed money, becoming the first player to reach that barrier in league history.
Sidelined for at least three months because of the injury, meaning roughly 45 games are likely to be missed by Curry, Golden State could be out of West playoff contention as early as the NBA All-Star break in mid-February.
While they are not publicly talking about it (the NBA police is watching the unfolding developments), the Dubs may yet seriously think about “tanking” this early.
Curry’s co-Splash brother and backcourt mate Klay Thompson could be out until mid-February next year, if not the entire 2019-20 campaign, following June surgery to repair a torn ACL in his left knee and Draymond Green is dealing with a torn ligament in his left index finger (suffered in a November 1 home loss to the San Antonio Spurs at the newly-opened Chase Center in San Francisco, California).
Prominent summer free-agent acquisition D’Angelo Russell missed three games due to a sprained right ankle (also sustained vs. the Spurs) as Golden State grapples with serious injuries that it has avoided for the last five years. He returned to action last November 8 at Minnesota and scored a career-high 52 points in a 125-119 overtime loss to the Timberwolves.
With his huge contract, Russell, though, remains a potential trade bait by December 15 (December 16 Manila time), the starting date that summer free-agency signees are eligible to be traded under NBA rules.
The Warriors are off to a horrendous 2-8 start, including defeats in the first four of their five home assignments going into today’s game (Tuesday) against the Utah Jazz at the Chase Center.
How the mighty has fallen.
The Warriors have advanced to the NBA Finals for the past five years and produced three championships.
However, the team dropped a 4-2 decision to the Toronto Raptors in the 2019 NBA Finals last June with injuries to Thompson (a Game 6 casualty) and 2017 and 2018 Finals MVP Kevin Durant late during the series.
The Warriors’ unexpected descent started when Durant, who had earlier missed most of the 2019 postseason due to a strained calf, ruptured his right Achilles tendon in a Game 5 Finals victory. He subsequently left the team in free agency last summer and defected out East to join ex-Boston Celtics guard and close friend Kyrie Irving with the Brooklyn Nets in a sign-and-trade deal for Russell.
All good things must come to an end and no NBA team feels sorry for the Warriors’ current injury woes.