The Golden State Warriors got some good news recently, depending on who you ask at least. Star point guard Stephen Curry is set to return to action on Sunday against the Houston Rockets after missing over two months with a knee issue.
While it will be awesome to see one of the greatest players the game has ever seen back out on the floor, Curry revealed a sad new normal that both he and the Warriors are going to have to deal with.
Speaking to Anthony Slater of ESPN, Curry was asked if this knee issue will impact the rest of his career. The 2x MVP's answer is an unfortunate one:
“Yes and no. There's nothing structurally wrong with my knee. So it's not like I'm compromised out there. It is a new normal, though,” Curry said.
Stephen Curry injury may linger for Warriors
That’s certainly a troubling answer coming from the 38-year-old. While it's great news that there's nothing structurally wrong with his knee, the fact that Curry only expected to be out for a week or two at most, only for his “runner’s knee” issue to drag on for months suggests that this may not be an issue that fully goes away.
That is why that “new normal” comment is scary. Is this just something Curry and the Warriors are going to have to deal with? Maybe the knee flares up and he’s out for a week or two and maybe some nights it’s totally fine and he barely notices it?
For those Warriors fans who believe the team should have shut Curry down, this does give them something to point to as evidence of the inherent risk of putting him back out there.
Yet freak injuries happen all the time and the Warriors can't just put Curry in bubble wrap and pretend like he’s never going to get hurt. The guy has dealt with injuries his entire career, and it should come as no shock that they are affecting him as he gets older.
Maybe one could argue that shutting him down and letting him rest the entire offseason would make the knee issue go away, but Curry has said that was never really on the table.
On the one hand it’s awesome to see a star player come back in an otherwise pretty meaningless season when so many would have been shut down without a second thought. Just look at what the Milwaukee Bucks are doing with Giannis Antetokounmpo right now.
But at the same time it’s scary to think that Curry might risk greater injury by going back out there. That’s just the new normal that Warriors fans will have to get used to in the twilight of Curry’s incredible career.