NEW YORK — Golden State Warriors star guard Steph Curry still hopes to return this season as he recovers from a runner’s knee injury that has kept him out for six weeks.
Curry, who turned 38 on Saturday, knows some fans would prefer he sit out and fully recover for next season. But Curry isn’t ready to give up on the season entirely.
“That’s not who we are,” Curry told The Athletic after the Warriors’ 110-107 loss to the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night. “If we have stuff to play for, we play. So, I’m working to get back.”
Curry has been out since leaving a loss to the Detroit Pistons on Jan. 30 and has just recently gotten back on the court for individual workouts. The organization hopes Curry can catch a few regular-season games and get into a rhythm before the Play-In Tournament, which the Warriors have been on track to participate in for several weeks now.
Curry, who flew with the team to New York City on Saturday and is expected to remain for the majority of its six-game trip, was in good spirits late Sunday night as he calmly ate popcorn at his locker after watching his depleted team compete hard in the loss. When asked what he would say to fans who suggest he rest and return next season because he’s too important, Curry was quick in his response.
“I agree with that statement,” he said. “Before next year. I know we’re depleted, but the idea of my injury is just getting information by the day of, ‘Can I play safely? Be myself out there and not put myself in danger short term or long term?’ And then, we still have stuff to play for. We’d love to see guys in a playoff series and take a swing. Hopefully, see this team that’s currently constructed healthy for a stretch to learn as much as we can and compete. That’s who we are.”
Before the game, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Curry continues to “trend in the right direction,” but the team has been hesitant to put any kind of timeline on his return because it doesn’t know how the knee will continue to respond to treatment. Kerr said it was good to have Curry back around for this trip and that, like many other NBA fans, he misses watching Curry play.
“Of course,” Kerr said. “I’m the luckiest coach in the league to coach him and to watch him play. Just an incredible athlete. The grace, the ability, the charisma; he’s just one of one. This is the longest stretch I can remember being without him since — I think it was 2020, when he missed basically the whole season. So, we miss him. We miss watching him.”
The reality for Curry and the Warriors is they just don’t know how many postseason runs they have left — which is why Curry is trying to work his way back, hopefully in time to help push his team out of the Play-In Tournament and into a first-round series, where the feeling is that anything can happen.
Throughout their championship runs over the last decade-plus, the Warriors have prided themselves on not tanking and on trying to play to the standard the organization has created with Curry as the leader. It’s a standard that Curry and longtime teammate Draymond Green take a lot of pride in. It’s the standard Curry is holding himself to in his return. It’s also why he doesn’t hesitate when asked if he still believes there’s a chance this season.
“That I’ll play?” Curry said. “For sure.”