Steve Kerr: Steph Curry Will Play After Hand Injury Recovery, Won't Be Shut Down
The Golden State Warriors are a league-worst 12-43 at the All-Star break, but that won't keep two-time MVP Stephen Curry from returning to the court.
Head coach Steve Kerr told reporters "it's never been a question" that Curry will return this season after he broke his left hand on Oct. 30:
The 31-year-old went down in a 121-110 loss against the Phoenix Suns and underwent surgery on Nov. 1. Curry then had a second surgery in early December to remove pins from the first procedure.
Curry has been traveling with the Warriors and participating in pregame warm-ups since January. Kerr recently told reporters that "a more thorough update" can be expected on March 1, and Curry participated in every aspect of Warriors practice except for the scrimmage on Tuesday.
Golden State began taking on a different look for the 2019-20 campaign when Klay Thompson tore his ACL in Game 6 of last season's NBA Finals against eventual champion Toronto. The 30-year-old has not played at all this season as a result.
Kevin Durant, who suffered a ruptured Achilles in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals and has been out ever since, then departed the Warriors for the Brooklyn Nets via a sign-and-trade last summer. Golden State received point guard D'Angelo Russell in the deal. Russell was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Andrew Wiggins prior to the Feb. 6 deadline.
Things are so uncharacteristically dire right now in the Bay that All-Star forward Draymond Green joked Wednesday that he wants a buyout:
Once Curry and Thompson return to full strength, though, the Warriors will likely be back to looking like the squads that claimed back-to-back championships in 2017 and '18.
Curry only played four games before breaking his hand. He averaged 20.3 points, 6.5 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 28 minutes for the new-look Warriors.
