Stephen Curry

Warriors Provide Formal Update On Stephen Curry

May 14th, 2025 at 11:22am CST by Luke Adams

Having already ruled out Stephen Curry for Game 5 of their second-round series vs. Minnesota, the Warriors put out a press release today providing an additional update on their star guard following a reevaluation of his injury (Twitter link).

Curry, who has been sidelined for the last three games (all Golden State losses) due to a left hamstring strain, is making “good progress” in his recovery, according to the Warriors. The club says he has been cleared to take part in light on-court workouts, including shooting drills.

The plan is for Curry to be reevaluated on Saturday, per the team. Game 6, which was previously identified as “the earliest potential window” for the 37-year-old to return, is scheduled for Sunday.

Of course, if the Warriors can’t figure out a way to win Game 5 without Curry in Minnesota on Tuesday, their season would be over, which would seriously reduce the short-term significance of that Saturday examination.

With Curry still unavailable tonight, the Warriors figure to continue leaning heavily on Jimmy Butler and Jonathan Kuminga as their go-to scorers. Kuminga, who was out of the rotation for most of the first round of the playoffs, has averaged 23.7 points per game on .595/.444/.773 shooting in the three games since Curry went down.

Warriors’ Stephen Curry Won’t Play In Game 5 On Wednesday

May 13th, 2025 at 5:50pm CST by Rory Maher

5:50pm: Curry has been declared out for Game 5, Anthony Slater of The Athletic tweets.

8:22am: The Warriors are facing a 3-1 deficit in their second-round series against Minnesota after dropping Game 4 on Monday night.

Star guard Stephen Curry, who sustained a Grade 1 left hamstring strain in Game 1 against the Wolves, told Marc J. Spears of Andscape that he does not expect to play in Wednesday’s Game 5 with Golden State on the brink of elimination (Twitter link).

“Even if I wanted to be Superman, I couldn’t,” Curry said.

As Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN writes, the two-time MVP was referring to a comment made by Draymond Green after Monday’s loss.

“No, we’re not going to Superman this thing,” Green said when asked if he expects Curry to try to push to come back, and if so, would Green be a part of that conversation. “If he’s in a place where he can play, I’m sure he will. Him and Rick (Celebrini, Warriors vice president of player health and performance) and everybody will figure that out. But we don’t need (Curry to try to be) Superman.

“Got to play the long game. If he can, we know he will. But there’s no pressure. We’ve got to figure out how to win whether he plays or not.”

Curry is set to be reevaluated on Wednesday after initially sustaining the injury on May 6. He suggested last week that he was unlikely to play in Game 5, with a subsequent report from ESPN’s Shams Charania stating that the Warriors viewed a possible Game 6 as “the earliest potential window” for Curry to resume playing.

Due to a scheduling quirk, Golden State would have three days off between Game 5 and Game 6, which is tentatively scheduled for Sunday. Of course, that best-case scenario would require the Warriors to win on Wednesday in Minnesota.

As for Game 4, the Warriors were largely undone by a poor third quarter which saw Minnesota break open the tight game and build a large lead following a 17-0 run. According to Youngmisuk, Green said Jimmy Butler was feeling under the weather on Monday after the star forward managed just 13 points on nine field goal attempts. Butler had 33 points on 26 shots in Game 3.

“We obviously need him shooting the ball,” Green said of Butler. “But their defense, they were collapsing on him today. So, we tried to pick up that slack. But I know he’s not feeling well; been pretty crappy all day. That also affects the energy, as well. No excuses made here.

“I think that’s on me. I’ve got to find a way to get him into more positions to score. I think tonight, I was just trying to get him the ball, and I don’t think I got him the ball in good spots, which then allowed the defense to load up on him. So, I’ve got to do a better job of getting him the ball in better spots to where it’s not as easy for the defense to key on him.”

Warriors Notes: Kuminga, Butler, Curry, Green

May 11th, 2025 at 8:58am CST by Arthur Hill

Jonathan Kuminga has been a forgotten man in the Warriors‘ rotation for the last few months, but he was at his best in Saturday’s Game 3 loss to Minnesota, writes Ron Kroichick of The San Francisco Chronicle (subscription required). Kuminga was given 36 minutes off the bench — the first time he’s topped 30 minutes since December — and delivered 30 points to help keep the game close. At plus-five, he was the only Golden State player who finished the game with a positive plus-minus rating.

“JK played one of the best games of his life,” coach Steve Kerr said. “He was fantastic. You can see how necessary he is in this matchup, especially without (Stephen Curry). … I’ve just been impressed with the way he’s handled things the last couple of weeks, the way he’s stayed ready and put in the work.”

As Kroichick points out, it’s been a difficult season for Kuminga since the calendar flipped to 2025. He suffered a severe right ankle sprain on January 4 that sidelined him for about two months. The Warriors traded for Jimmy Butler in early February, so Kuminga’s role was greatly diminished once he returned. Kerr kept him on the bench for a season finale that was crucial for seeding and for a play-in victory against Memphis. He saw limited action in the first-round series against Houston, and his confidence was clearly affected by his time out of the lineup.

There were no signs of that on Saturday, as he looked like the aggressive young star in the making from early in the season. He shot 11-of-18 from the field, hit three of his four three-point attempts and threw down a dunk over Anthony Edwards. He also grabbed six rebounds, handed out three assists and hounded Edwards on defense.

“I feel like the better the player (he’s guarding), the better defense he plays,” said veteran big man Kevon Looney, who Kroichick says has been teaming with Draymond Green to serve as mentors for Kuminga.

Kuminga’s inspired performance will give the Warriors plenty to consider as he enters restricted free agency this summer. Despite his reduced role and questions about his fit alongside Butler and Green, he’s only 22 on a team that needs to develop young talent. Teammates and coaches have said he’s handled the demotion well, according to Kroichick, and he’s continued to compete hard in scrimmages involving the team’s reserves.

There’s more on the Warriors:

With Curry sidelined by a Grade 1 left hamstring strain, Golden State is leaning more heavily on Butler than at any time since the trade, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic. He played 43 minutes on Saturday, even though he aggravated a glute injury he suffered in the opening round, posting 33 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Butler also made the case that he and Kuminga can be a successful combination. “Like I tell everybody, me and him can thrive together,” Butler said. “I know how to space the floor. I can tell him, ‘Hey, when I have the ball, you go here and you do this.’ We talk. We listen to one another. I know that he’s going to be a huge part of us winning on Monday.”
Curry went through a strenuous pregame workout that included medium-speed shooting and a stationary bike, Slater adds. A source tells Slater that Curry never attempted to reach full speed or cut, which are steps he’ll have to achieve before being cleared to play. A report Saturday night indicated that Curry’s best chance to return will be next Sunday’s Game 6 if the Warriors can extend the series that long.
Timberwolves president Tim Connelly reached out to Green after a Game 2 incident in Minnesota that resulted in the ejection of a fan, tweets Marc J. Spears of Andscape.

Warriors Hope Stephen Curry Can Return For Game 6

May 10th, 2025 at 8:22pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Warriors are hoping to extend their series with Minnesota to at least six games to give Stephen Curry the best chance to return, Shams Charania of ESPN said on tonight’s NBA Countdown (Twitter video link).

Curry, who suffered a Grade 1 left hamstring strain in the series opener, is scheduled to be reevaluated on Wednesday. He was projected to miss at least a week when the injury occurred May 6.

Sources tell Charania that the Warriors view Game 6 as “the earliest potential window” for Curry to resume playing. Games 3 and 4 are tonight and Monday in San Francisco before the series returns to Minnesota for Game 5 on Wednesday. A scheduling quirk gives the teams a three-day break prior to Game 6 next Sunday back in the Bay Area.

Charania reports that Curry is receiving “a ton of treatment” on his hamstring as he tries to work his way back into playing shape. He adds that there’s still plenty of work left to do to get Curry through the progression of “movement, contact, running, sprinting.”

Charania also points out that this is the first muscle strain that the 37-year-old Curry has experienced in his NBA career, which adds to the caution surrounding his rehab work.

Curry was limited to 13 minutes in Game 1, but he scored 13 points and was 3-of-6 on three-pointers as Golden State picked up a 99-88 road victory. The offense struggled without him in Game 2, producing just 15 points in the first quarter on the way to a 117-93 defeat.

Coach Steve Kerr leaned heavily on Curry in the final two games of the first-round series against Houston, playing him 42 minutes in Game 6 and 46 minutes in Game 7, which was two days before the Minnesota series began. Curry discussed the difficulty of trying to create open shots against the Rockets, calling them “one of the toughest defenses I think I’ve ever faced” (Twitter video link from 95.7 The Game).

And-Ones: Wright, Rookie Extensions, All-Interview Team, More

May 10th, 2025 at 3:55pm CST by Luke Adams

Former Colorado guard McKinley Wright IV, who appeared in 32 NBA regular season games for Minnesota and Dallas from 2021-23, has been named the Most Valuable Player for the ABA League (formerly known as the Adriatic League) in Europe.

Wright has spent the last two seasons playing for KK Buducnost and led the Montenegrin team to a 26-4 record and a No. 1 seed in ABA competition this season. The 26-year-old, known as a solid perimeter defender, averaged team bests of 12.8 points and 4.9 assists in 22.5 minutes per game, with an excellent shooting line of .545/.370/.848.

Wright now has the honor of sharing a career accomplishment with future Hall of Famer Nikola Jokic, who was named the MVP of the ABA League in 2014/15, his age-20 season, when he played for Mega Basket in Serbia.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report considers the likelihood of a new deal for each of the 22 players eligible for rookie scale extensions this offseason. Pincus forecasts maximum-salary extensions for Magic forward Paolo Banchero and Thunder teammates Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren, while predicting that Pistons big man Jalen Duren (four years, $112MM) will get the fourth-most lucrative deal among that group, ahead of Hawks guard Dyson Daniels and Nuggets guard Christian Braun (four years, $94MM each).
The Professional Basketball Writers Association officially named its first and second “All-Interview” teams for the 2024/25 season this week, recognizing the players who are “consistently thoughtful, insightful and engaging with the media.” As the PBWA details in a press release, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Donovan Mitchell, and Draymond Green made the first team, with Tyrese Haliburton, Mike Conley, Bam Adebayo, Josh Hart, and Damian Lillard making up the second team.
Amid reports that Shaquille O’Neal will be part of a new ownership group taking control of Napoli Basket, the Italian team issued a statement shooting down those rumors and referring to them as unfounded.
2025 has been the year of the NBA playoff comeback so far. Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press and Jeff Zillgitt and Lorenzo Reyes of USA Today take a closer look at how teams keep coming back from deficits of 20 or more points this spring.

Pacific Notes: Kings, Warriors, Green, Spencer, Harden

May 8th, 2025 at 5:46pm CST by Earnest Marshall

The Kings are in the process of revamping their front office and coaching staff, having already added B.J. Armstrong as an assistant general manager and Mike Woodson as the lead assistant on their coaching staff.

A Wednesday report indicated that Sixers assistant Bobby Jackson will return to Sacramento (where he played and coached for multiple years), but Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee hears a deal has yet to be finalized. It is a strong possibility, per Anderson, that it does in fact happen, but the Kings haven’t asked Philadelphia for permission to speak to him and there have been no formal discussions yet.

Additionally, vice president of player personnel Phil Jabour, vice president of player development Paul Johnson and vice president of basketball engagement Alvin Gentry will all remain with Sacramento moving forward, according to Anderson.

We have more from the Pacific Division:

Buddy Hield maintained his hot shooting streak in Game 1 of the Western Conference semis and the Warriors as a whole kept their three-point shooting intact after Stephen Curry went down to claim a win over the Timberwolves. Kevin Pelton of ESPN says that shouldn’t be the expectation for the series moving forward with Curry out due to injury. Pelton opines that the Warriors can still craft an offensive edge built around Jimmy Butler, but cautions that the team will have to be careful not to run Butler into the ground and adds that other role players will need to step up.
Without Curry, the Warriors will turn to Draymond Green on and off the court, ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk writes. “He’s our leader,” coach Steve Kerr said. “And when he’s right, like he was [in Game 7 of the first round], he’s an incredible player to watch. The defense, just kind of owning the court on that side of things and then just being patient and not turning it over and being in the right spots offensively. I think the guys understood after Game 6 we were scattered, we were out of sorts.“
Pat Spencer is one of the Warriors‘ bench pieces who stepped up in Game 1 and will be relied on moving forward, Marcus Thompson II and Shakeia Taylor of The Athletic write. “Pat is a damn good basketball player,” Green said. “And I know he don’t look like it. He don’t just jump off the page at you when you see him in a basketball jersey. I don’t think the No. 61 helps him. But he is one of the toughest guys on this team, and that includes myself.” Spencer is a former lacrosse star who worked his way up through the G League and onto the Warriors’ standard roster. He provided a spark of energy for Golden State in Game 1.
The Clippers outwardly supported James Harden after he followed an impressive regular season with an inconsistent playoff run, including a seven-point Game 7 performance, Law Murray of The Athletic notes. “We really asked James to do a lot,” president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank said. “And at his age, to deliver what he did … 79 games. And he does that time and time and time again. We have a deep appreciation for that sort of availability and to be able to deliver and do what he did.” The Clippers fell to the Nuggets in a first-round Game 7 in which Harden attempted only eight field goals.

Stephen Curry Discusses ‘Tricky’ Hamstring Strain

May 8th, 2025 at 3:23pm CST by Rory Maher

Warriors star Stephen Curry sustained a Grade 1 left hamstring strain on Tuesday in the second quarter of Golden State’s Game 1 victory over Minnesota. Speaking to reporters — including Anthony Slater of The Athletic and Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN — at Thursday’s shootaround, Curry called the situation a “gut punch.”

“Fight through the last two months of the season, a hard first round that you get through a Game 7,” Curry said. “The way that we were playing and I was playing individually, that first half (of Game 1), I was starting to feel really, really good about where we were at, and then you kind of get a gut punch like that. So it was really emotional at first.”

Curry has already been ruled out for the next three games of the series due to the injury. If necessary, Game 5 will take place next Wednesday. While the 37-year-old said he doesn’t have a specific return date, he suggested next Wednesday might too optimistic at this point. Both Slater and Youngmisuk point out that there would be three full days off before a potential Game 6.

“This is new, and from all that I’m learning about how quickly you can get back, there has to be a healing process,” Curry said. “You can’t accelerate it more than what it’s telling you. So it’ll be one of those, after a week, really reevaluating every day to understand when it’s safe just to even think about playing, let alone how much can you push it.”

According to Youngmisuk, Curry was asked if he will have to fight an urge to return early if his team finds itself in a hole without him.

“There will eventually be conversations like that,” Curry said. “I’m not even anywhere close to that right now, so I’m not rushing it because there has to be a natural healing process that happens and the body will tell you even if you’re able to do normal basketball movements, pain-free and all that stuff.

“And I know how tricky hamstrings can be where they can fool you and think that it’s healed even if you don’t feel anything. And so that gray area is a little, will be confusing I’m sure, but I’ll do everything in my power to get back as soon as possible.”

While he was obviously extremely disappointed to have suffered a hamstring injury for the first time this late in his career with an opportunity to win another title, he said he was grateful the strain wasn’t more severe. Curry also said Golden State gained confidence after taking Game 1 and believes the team can do well without the 11-time All-Star.

“There is a great vibe in our locker room in terms of them trying to hold the fort down,” Curry said. “We have a lot of confidence that we can still win the series, and guys step up no matter how it looks. And it’s obviously a situation where you want to think positively and optimistically that we can win games and buy me some time to get back and stretch, hopefully have another series after this and be able to be in a position where I can get back out there safely where I’m not putting too much risk on the body if it’s not ready.”

Stephen Curry Out At Least One Week With Grade 1 Hamstring Strain

May 7th, 2025 at 12:46pm CST by Luke Adams

12:46 pm: The Warriors have confirmed Charania’s report, announcing in a press release that Curry has a Grade 1 hamstring strain and will be reevaluated in one week (Twitter link). That timeline suggests he’ll miss at least the next three games (Thursday, Saturday, and Monday).

11:59 am: Stephen Curry has been diagnosed with a Grade 1 left hamstring strain, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link), who reports that the Warriors star will be ruled out for Game 2 of the team’s second-round playoff series vs. Minnesota.

Curry injured his hamstring in the second quarter of Game 1 on Tuesday and was forced to miss the rest of the contest.

As Charania observes, although Curry has a long history of knee and ankle issues, he has never strained a hamstring before. That means this will be the first time he goes through the rehab process for this specific injury, creating some uncertainty about how long his recovery will take.

The good news is that a Grade 1 strain is considered mild. The bad news is that it still typically sidelines a player for at least one week, and Charania confirms (via Twitter) that Golden State is preparing for Curry to miss at least the next seven days.

Based on data compiled by Jeff Stotts of In Street Clothes (Twitter link), the average time lost for a confirmed Grade 1 strain is approximately 10 days. While Curry will certainly attempt to beat that recovery timeline and miss as few games as possible, the Warriors will have to be wary about the risk of re-injury if he comes back too soon.

Game 5 of the series will be played on Wednesday, May 14, which is one week from tonight and eight days after Curry sustained his injury. The two teams would then have three full days off before Game 6 (if necessary) on May 18.

As we detailed earlier today, guards Gary Payton II (16:40) and Pat Spencer (10:33) played big second-half minutes in Game 1 with Curry unavailable. The Warriors also leaned more heavily on sharpshooter Buddy Hield, whose 21:48 of playing time in the second half was a team-high.

Warriors Notes: Curry, Reserves, Butler, Hield, 2020 Draft

May 7th, 2025 at 8:01am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Warriors‘ 99-88 Game 1 victory over the Timberwolves on Tuesday came at a big cost. Stephen Curry suffered a left hamstring strain in the second quarter and missed the second half.

“He’s obviously crushed,” coach Steve Kerr said, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. “But the guys picked him up and played a great game, and obviously we’re all concerned about Steph but it’s part of the game.”

Kerr doubts Curry, who will undergo an MRI today, can play in Game 2. Curry limped out of the arena and didn’t speak to the media.

“We don’t know yet,” Kerr said. “But with a hamstring, it’s hard to imagine that he would play Thursday.”

Forward Draymond Green is optimistic the team can hold its own until Curry returns, especially with another proven playoff performer in Jimmy Butler.

“Jimmy’s capable of carrying a team. He carried a team to the Finals twice. So we won’t panic,” Green said. “We will figure out what that means. We have the best coaching staff in the NBA. We know they’ll put us in a good spot and let us know what our offense looks like without Steph if we have to go on without him. We got full confidence in the guys that are on this team that we can make plays, can make shots.”

We have more on the Warriors:

Bench contributions from Pat Spencer, Gary Payton II and Kevon Looney helped the Warriors to overcome Curry’s absence, Anthony Slater of The Athletic writes. Thrust into backup point guard duties, Spencer had two steals, two rebounds and a pair of key baskets. Payton, sidelined in Game 7 of the first round by an illness, played a bench-high 26 minutes and supplied four assists, five rebounds and eight points. Looney secured two late offensive rebounds.
Butler and Buddy Hield dragged the Warriors to the finish line offensively. Butler finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists and two steals, while Hield scored all but two of his 24 points after halftime. “I’m Batman today,” Hield quipped. “I saved the day.” Hield is in the first year of a four-year, $37.8MM contract.
The Timberwolves and Warriors had the top two picks in the 2020 draft — Minnesota got a star in Anthony Edwards, Golden State swung and missed with James Wiseman. Slater offers details on the developments leading up to that draft, reporting that the Warriors had conversations about trading out, trading back and even the trading up for Minnesota’s selection before ultimately deciding to retain the No. 2 pick.

Rockets Notes: Green, Thompson, Eason, Smith, Offseason

May 5th, 2025 at 1:36pm CST by Rory Maher

The Rockets‘ season ended on Sunday night when they lost a deciding Game 7 at home against the battle-tested Warriors. As Jonathan M. Alexander of The Houston Chronicle writes, aside from a 38-point outburst in Game 2, shooting guard Jalen Green struggled mightily in his first playoff series, scoring between seven and 12 points in the other six games and shooting 37.5% or below in each of those contests.

Green, who led Houston in scoring (21.0 points per game on .423/.354/.813 shooting) during the regular season, averaged just 13.3 PPG during the postseason, with shooting splits (.372/.295/.667) well below his season-long rates. The 23-year-old finished with eight points on 3-of-8 shooting in Game 7.

“Besides the (second) home game, s–t,” Green said when asked to assess his performance in the series. “Straight s–t. I got to be better. First playoffs is no excuse. Yeah, I’ve got to be better.”

According to Alexander, Warriors defensive stalwart Draymond Green said slowing down Jalen Green was a primary focus for Golden State.

“We did a good job on him to start the series and I think that rattled his confidence a little bit,” said Draymond Green. “This isn’t something he’s been apart of before. He’s good young player. He’ll learn from his mistakes, but you’ve got to give the guys credit who were guarding him. … Anybody who was on him, he was a focal point. We know what they are capable of when he’s scoring and so we really wanted to take him out of this series.”

Houston signed Jalen Green to a three-year, $105MM rookie scale extension last fall. That deal, which also includes a 10% trade kicker, will begin in 2025/26. Given the way the offense — and Green — struggled, Alexander anticipates “non-stop” questions this offseason about how Houston can improve on that end of the court, as well as Green’s future with the team.

Here’s more on the Rockets:

While the end result certainly wasn’t what he wanted, second-year swingman Amen Thompson continued his strong play to conclude the series after struggling in the first few games, per Greg Rajan of The Houston Chronicle. Thompson, who chipped in nine rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block, led the team in scoring (24 points) and was the only Rocket to shoot over 50% from the field (9-of-16) in Game 7.
As Rajan writes, Thompson attended Stephen Curry‘s basketball camp growing up in California, and the four-time champion was effusive in his praise of the 22-year-old. “I talked to him right after the game,” Curry said. “I kind of saw him develop in front of everyone’s eyes. I know people (who) watched the Rockets play night in and night out over the last year have seen the potential and raw athleticism, the hunger and he’s a dawg. He showed all seven games and he’s going to be a problem, for sure. He’s going to try to develop his game, especially offensively, but defensively, he’s a freak athlete and I think he loves the challenge and loves to be in the fight. He was tough all series and kind of crazy that the old man got it done.”
Adding shooting should be a top priority for the Rockets this summer, according to Kelly Iko of The Athletic. With several promising young players and a surplus of draft assets, the Rockets will be one of the main teams to follow on the trade market, and they will be “closely” evaluating all their options on that front, Iko reports. Citing team sources, Iko also says Houston is “hopeful” about its chances of having long-term relationships with Tari Eason and Jabari Smith, who are both eligible for rookie scale extensions this summer.
Greg Rajan and Matt Young of The Houston Chronicle pass along what the Rockets had to say after their season ended, while Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle focuses on what the team learned during the ’24/25 campaign.
Bobby Marks of ESPN and Mark Deeks of HoopsHype recently previewed Houston’s offseason. Determining what to do with Fred VanVleet‘s team option, possible extensions for Eason and Smith, and re-signing backup center Steven Adams are among the decisions the front office will face this summer.
In case you missed it, VanVleet and the Rockets have mutual interest in continuing their relationship, though what his contract will look like remains a question mark.

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