Stephen Curry Reveals 'New Normal' Ahead of Warriors Return After Knee Injury Rehab

Stephen Curry acknowledged that his lingering right knee injury—or at the very least, more unpredictable and lengthy injury timelines—might be something he has to manage going forward in his career.

"Yes and no," he told reporters ahead of his return to the court on Sunday after missing 27 games. "There's nothing structurally wrong with my knee. So it's not like I'm compromised out there. It is a new normal, though, if that makes sense."

Curry said his recovery timeline from this latest injury was far lengthier than anticipated.

"I thought I was going to be out a week," he told reporters. "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. ... Every day I wake up, first thing I think is how this (knee) is going to feel. That's been a struggle throughout the whole process. Even now. As good as I feel now, I hope it stays that way. It's just a matter of getting out there and seeing."

When healthy, the 38-year-old has been his usual self, averaging 27.2 points and 4.8 assists in 39 games while shooting 39.1 percent from three. The Warriors have outscored opponents by 2.3 points per 100 possessions when he plays, per NBA.com, but have a minus-1.8 net rating without him on the court.

With the Warriors (36-41) already clinching a berth in the Play-In Tournament, there was some question whether he'd return during the regular season, or even shut himself down for the season. But Curry said that was never a consideration.

"He's the greatest face of a franchise that I've ever seen," head coach Steve Kerr told reporters. "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."