Golden State Warriors superstar point guard Stephen Curry missed Sunday’s game at the Indiana Pacers, a game in which Klay Thompson stepped up and scored 39 points but the Warriors lost, and was careful to report the injury as one to his right foot — in fact, his heel — as opposed to his surgically repaired right ankle.
It happened in the game four nights ago on Friday against the San Antonio Spurs, per Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle:
Curry was injured during the third quarter of Friday’s win over San Antonio. After he missed a layup at the 7:57 mark, he landed on Boris Diaw’s foot and jogged away gingerly.
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Although he played the rest of the third quarter, Curry missed three of his next four shots and committed a turnover. He sat the first 8:39 of the fourth quarter and didn’t attempt a shot during a late 66-second stint.
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Curry said that the initial pain went away during Friday’s game but that his foot swelled during Saturday’s flight to Indianapolis. When he went through pregame warm-ups, he was “uncomfortable doing simple moves” and decided, “When you’re having to favor it, it doesn’t make any sense to play.”
Here’s video from CSN Bay Area on Curry testing the foot before the loss to the Pacers:
When a player sustains an injury, he talks with the trainer and the player has the right to report the injury to the media how he wants to.
Per Michael Lee of the Washington Post:
Stephen Curry understands the panic that ensues whenever his name is linked with a possible ankle injury. So, Curry wants to make it clear that he missed his first game of the season on Sunday in Indiana because of a problem with his right heel, not the dreaded a-word.
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“It’s kind of why I hate when I hear that word, I’ve had so much history with it,” Curry said. “It makes me feel better knowing it’s not that same situation.”
“Hate” might be a strong word, but make no doubt about it, Curry has been through the ringer with reporters about questions pertaining to his ankle. He’s even had to flip it around to humor to vent, as seen in the 2013 NBA Playoffs, when he sprained his left ankle:
Send me your best ankle "isms", metaphors, funnies. Leader in the clubhouse…. As the "ankle" turns
— Stephen Curry (@StephenCurry30) April 24, 2013
Incidentally, Marcus Thompson had a nice write-up at the time about that “ordeal”, filled with funny Photoshopped pictures of Curry playing Twister, “Two Sprainz”, and Curry’s own favorite, “No ankle left unturned”.
After practice the day after the Indiana game, Diamond Leung reported the injury as to the heel, not the ankle per se.
A reporter for CSN Washington posted this video of Curry shooting around after practice:
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And here’s Leung’s clip from shootaround this morning:
The heel is obviously not a serious issue. “It didn’t get worse from yesterday from all the practice I did so that was good,” Curry told reporters.
Here’s some video from CSN Bay Area upon arriving at the Verizon Center this morning for shootaround in Washington. He’s walking as if he does not have an injury:
As far as this evening’s game, Leung reports:
“I’m pretty confident I’ll be able to do that, but we won’t know until tonight,” Curry said after participating in shootaround.
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Curry said he would first consult with coaches and the training staff before deciding on risking further injury on a foot that he said didn’t get worse after practicing Monday.
While doing research for this post, I actually came across my own post on GoldenStateOfMind.com, a post-game interview after Curry’s much-ballyhooed win of Game 4 vs the San Antonio Spurs despite a pretty serious ankle sprain. At the time, “As The Ankle Turns” was one of the more popular jokes going around, even with Steph himself, as it related to his ankle “saga”.
It appears the latest mini-setback would not qualify as an episode in that long-departed soap opera.
“It makes me feel better knowing it’s not that same situation,” Curry said during the arrival to Verizon Center this morning, “Two years removed from all that stuff. I’ve played 78-plus games the last two years, so hopefully we’re past that.”
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