Stephen Curry injury update: Warriors star rules out immediate return after All-Star break

Stephen Curry has been out since February 4 with partial tears in two ligaments in his leg. The following day, it was reported that Curry would be out for at least a few weeks. On February 9, the Warriors announced that Curry would be reevaluated after the All-Star break.

That gave a glimmer of hope that Curry could return after the break, which has been nearly three weeks since the injury, but that hope was dashed on Monday when Curry told reporters he would not be ready for Golden’s first game. State against the Lakers after the All-Star break.

“Everything is dictated around how it heals,” Curry said. “That’s different from the shoulder (injury) where it was pretty predictable where I would be able to get to a point where I could play and not injure it again or put myself in danger on the ground. This one is different because the ligaments can heal in different types of schedules. So there’s a window for each checkpoint. After the All-Star break, I’m hoping to get back on the court. So depending on how things go from there, you might start setting a specific date for to go back.”

Anthony Slater of The Athletic then clarified, “Would it be fair to assume you’d miss a good chunk of games after the All-Star break?”

“I don’t know how you define chunk,” Curry said, “but yeah, I won’t be playing the Lakers in the first game back.”

By the time the All-Star break comes around, Curry will have missed five games this injury spell. The Lakers game will be the sixth. The Warriors play a back-to-back against the Rockets after the Lakers. If he can’t go on the 23rd of February, and he knows that by now, it’s hard to think he’ll be ready to go on the 24th.

So that’s seven games. How many more after that is anyone’s guess, but you can see from Slater’s tweet that it looks like a “number of games” after the All-Star break. This is open to interpretation, but it doesn’t sound very good. The possibility that he may not respond well when he returns to the court to practice and eventually works 5-on-5 across the court will cast a worrying cloud over this situation until more definitive news comes out.

However long Curry is out, it’s not an insignificant matter. It’s not like the Warriors are in a good position in the postseason and can allow Curry to take his time. They entered the game on Monday as the West’s No. 9 seed, tied in the losing column with the Thunder’s No. 11. His postseason berth, whether in the play-in or as a top-six finisher, could very well come down to a game or two.