Warriors guard Steph Curry should return to the court on Sunday night after missing 27 consecutive games with a knee injury. After practice on Saturday, the future Hall of Famer took a beat to speak with reporters and detail the physical and mental toll the injury took on him.
“I’m just happy to have a little clarity and a little window to get back out there and try to get to the level I was playing at and finish the year strong,” Curry told the room. “A lot of hours go into it, so it’s just a matter of reminding yourself you’re working toward getting back as much as you can.”
Curry, 38, first noticed pain and swelling in his right knee during a Jan. 24 workout. He played through it for a bit, but was sidelined officially after the Pistons game on Jan. 30. He was later diagnosed with a condition called “runner’s knee.”
“There’s nothing structurally wrong with my knee. So it’s not like I’m compromised out there,” he said of the problem, asked whether he’d have to deal with it for the rest of his career. “It is a new normal, though, if that makes sense.”
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The 12-time All-Star also said he never anticipated being out this long—he initially assumed it would be a week, or maybe 10 days—and that that uncertainty has been difficult to deal with, especially as the team has struggled. Without him, the Dubs won just 9 of 27 games and currently sit at the No. 10 spot in the West with a 36–41 record.
“The patience then was tough, just cause it’s one of those injuries you really just have to let rest,” Curry said. “There’s nothing you can kind of push through or be on the court while it’s healing. It’s just a different experience than most injuries that I’ve had that had a very defined timeline and a very defined [healing process].”
Considering the tough road ahead for Golden State—they’ll need to win two play-in games to move into the playoffs, where they’d face either the Thunder or the Spurs in the first round—some have wondered why Curry is still choosing to come back, rather than take it easy heading into the offseason. But for him, the calculus was pretty simple.
“I love playing basketball,” he said. “It’s what I get paid to do. … Our season’s been different than we expected, but the fact that there is something to still play for gives all of us a lot of confidence down the stretch to try and make something out of it, and I wanna be a part of it.”
Coach Steve Kerr also made clear that the Warriors never discussed shutting Steph down for the rest of the team’s run.
“He’s the greatest face of a franchise that I’ve ever seen,” the coach said. “We owe it to our fans to give them the opportunity to watch Steph Curry play basketball this year. And Steph doesn’t even think twice about that. That’s what he wants. That’s what we want. That’s what our fans want. So we’re going to do that.”
The Warriors will host the Rockets on Sunday night at 10 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.
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