Ahead of his expected return from a knee condition that has sidelined him since January 30, Warriors star Stephen Curry held a press conference on Saturday to address questions about his lengthy recovery process, writes Anthony Slater of ESPN. Curry is listed as questionable for Sunday’s home game against Houston, but Slater states that he’s expected to play, barring any setbacks.
Curry, who has been suffering from patellofemoral pain syndrome (runner’s knee) in his right knee, said “yes and no” when asked if it’s something he’ll have to manage for the rest of his career.
“There’s nothing structurally wrong with my knee,” Curry explained. “So it’s not like I’m compromised out there. It is a new normal, though, if that makes sense.”
Curry first began experiencing pain and swelling in the knee during a January 24 workout and tried to play through it before opting for rest. He was expecting to return to the lineup quickly, but said it turned out to be “unpredictable.”
“I thought I was going to be out a week,” Curry said. “Ten days max. [But] every time I got on the court or tried to push it in that first month, there was always a reaction. You just knew it wasn’t healing as fast as you thought.”
He believed resting the knee would enable him to return after the All-Star break, but there wasn’t enough improvement by mid-February. He also targeted an Eastern road trip in March, according to Slater, but suffered a setback two weeks ago in Atlanta when he felt he was on the verge of returning.
“You’d start running and doing your normal [rehab] workout,” Curry said. “[Then] toward the end of however long the session was, you’d start to feel the pain creep back in and the next day it’d be awful. Played that song and dance so many times over the last two months.”
Although progress was slow, he made a breakthrough over the past week when he was cleared to participate in five-on-five scrimmages. If all goes well over the next 24 hours, he’ll be back on the court Sunday night, giving him about a week to prepare for the play-in tournament, with Golden State virtually locked into the 10th seed.
Curry said he never gave serious consideration to sitting out for the rest of the season, and coach Steve Kerr told reporters that the team never approached him with that suggestion.
“He’s the greatest face of a franchise that I’ve ever seen,” Kerr 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.”
New Normal? Hmmmmmm
It’s hard to believe Curry is 38 yrs old already…I’m sure he’s not exaggerating when he says a balky knee is his new normal. (unless you mean its not necessarily a new thing for him lol)
Yeah I was just thinking hmmmmm that sounds like a middle aged mentality(my knees hurt as we speak) lol
Exactly same here lol…my left knee will be fine and then all of a sudden it feels like jello for no reason. Then go back to being fine. Maybe that’s ‘runner knee’ I’m not sure.
See, the “new normal” SHOULD be “Curry not ever playing off-ball ever again and instead returning to the traditional PG role, with Podz taking that off-ball role”.
Yes he is 38. He can not play 82 games and is not expected too. If he is playing 82 they’re a bottom. 5 team. Your body cannot withstand the wear and tear of a ’82 to game season as the man of your team passed 35 36 years old and be a true contender
When you get old things break down easier and more often than before.
Which is why returning Steph to a normal on-ball PG role is imperative to help extend his career. Podz can play off-ball – getting the ball out of Podz hands will only help the team.
Yes and no?
There is no structural damage. He has to change the way he works out in the off season.
Thanks, lmfao.
The greatest face of the franchise that Kerr has EVER seen? Your job is safe Steve lol put your jaw back on.
Curry is the biggest name in Warriors franchise history.
And Jordan is what exactly?
I really hope the Warriors do not commit to anyone on the current roster beyond next season. They are too old and Curry’s decline will only accelerate.
The rebuild needs to get underway.
I know Curry is old relatively speaking, but I’d say taking more than two months to come back from knee swelling and pain goes a bit beyond a new normal unless there is something actually wrong with his knee. Also would not bode well for next season and beyond.
In any event, I hope he encounters no further setbacks and can put on another show before the Warriors bow out.
It seems like he kept trying to return before it was ready. He finally figured out to rest it completely, and voila here we are.
I just cannot wait to see Steph/KP/Al/Dray/Gui together. I think that 5 can beat a lot of contenders, including OKC.
That makes sense. There’s no exact roadmap to aging. All you can do is learn and adjust.
The obvious “new normal” move is to have Curry play a CP3-style PG role, much he like played under Mark Jackson. Move Podz off-ball, get the ball out of his hands and make Podz run marathons instead of the aging Steph.