Warriors' Steve Kerr: Report of Steph Curry's Injury Return Date Was News to Us

Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr pumped the brakes on Steph Curry's rumored March 1 return date, saying the two-time MVP needs more scrimmage time before he's comfortable putting him in a game.

"[It] was news to us. It's not official, nothing is official," Kerr told reporters Wednesday. "Steph will play when he's ready. That date has been something that's for sure on Steph's mind, that's when he wants to play, but he'll play when we all feel like he's ready to go. 

"I think he needs some more scrimmage time. We don't have much time to do that with all of our games, so we'll just see how it all plays out."

Curry has missed all but four games this season after suffering a broken hand in October. He underwent surgery that has kept him out the last four months, a time period in which the Warriors regressed to become the worst team in basketball.

Golden State's lost season has led some to wonder why Curry is coming back this season at all with little to gain. It could be argued the Warriors are better off in the long term if Curry remains out for draft pick purposes, though lottery reform has made that less of a strong argument.

Kerr dismissed any possibility that Curry would miss the remainder of the season last week. 

"He's perfectly healthy," Kerr told reporters last week. "He's in the prime of his career. If the point is because he might get hurt, then what's the point of ever playing anything? People can get hurt any day. I guess the argument would be, 'Well, we're not going to the playoffs.' So are we not trying to entertain our fans? We're selling tickets to all these people who love basketball, and Steph Curry is one of the most amazing, graceful, exciting basketball players on earth. And if he were healthy and we didn't present him to our fans and say, 'Here you go. Here's your gift for staying with us for this whole season,' what would that say about us? That we don't care about our fans?

"So to me it's never been a question. As soon as he's ready, he's coming back. Our fans deserve it. We need it as a team to springboard into next year, and it's the right thing to do."

The Warriors play the Washington Wizards on Sunday. If Curry isn't able to come back by then, they may hold him out for a March 5 matchup with the Toronto Raptors.