Stephen Curry is set to miss yet another chunk of time.
The four-time NBA champion is expected to miss multiple weeks, The Athletic reported Sunday, with what the Warriors said was “partial tears to his superior tibiofibular ligaments and interosseous membrane, as well as a contusion to his lower leg.” Curry, 34, underwent an MRI exam Saturday night after leaving the Warriors’ win over the Mavericks.
Curry hurt his left leg while defending a drive from McKinley Wright IV. It appeared that Wright’s right knee collided with Curry’s leg, which left the 3-point shooting record-holder limping. He was subsequently pulled from the contest with the Warriors ahead 98-78 with 2:01 left in the third quarter.
It also appeared that the initial tweak actually came approximately 48 hours earlier during a game against the Nuggets.
The Warriors in a statement on Sunday ruled Curry out for Monday’s game against the Thunder and said a recovery timeline “will be established in the coming days.”
The setback comes in a season that’s been spiraling out of control for the defending-champion Warriors, who are just 27-26 and seventh in a deep Western Conference entering Sunday. They’ve famously been bad on the road — just 7-20 — and are one of 10 teams in the West that are at least .500.
This is the latest in a recent history of setbacks for the Davidson alum.
Curry — who was named an All-Star starter last month — has been limited to 38 appearances of the Warriors’ 53 games and missed 11 games from Dec. 16 through Jan. 7 with a shoulder injury. Before last season’s championship run, Curry missed the final 12 regular season contests with a left foot injury. There was also the broken hand during the 2019-20 season, which sidelined Curry for four months before a forgotten return on March 5, 2020, days before COVID shut down the league. Curry played just five games that season.
Curry, who turns 35 in March, is 326 minutes away from hitting 30,000 regular-season minutes in his 14-year career, which doesn’t include an additional 4,999 playoff minutes.
Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area reports that the Warriors are hoping for Curry’s return to come after NBA All-Star break, which ends on Feb. 23.