Gary Payton II, a starter for the Golden State Warriors in the first games against the Memphis Grizzlies, will be sidelined for the next three to five weeks with a fractured elbow, according to reports from Chris Haynes from Yahoo Sports and Adrian Wojnarowski from ESPN.
Golden State Warriors guard Gary Payton II will be sidelined 3-to-5 weeks with an elbow fracture, league sources tell @YahooSports, @NBAonTNT.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) May 5, 2022
The injury will likely keep him out for the remainder of the playoffs but there is a chance he could be back if the Warriors reach the NBA Finals in early June.
During the second game of the series against the Grizzlies, Payton had an open layup to score and Dillon Brooks try to block the attempt but instead hit him in the head, during the fall Payton injured his elbow. Brooks was ejected from the game with a flagrant 2 and Payton was done for the night.
“I don’t know if it was intentional, but it was dirty,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after the game. “There is a code. This code that players follow where you never put a guy’s season or career in jeopardy by taking somebody out in midair and clubbing him across the head, ultimately fracturing Gary’s elbow … He broke the code.”
Currently, the series is tied at one game for each team and Game 3 at Chase Center will be played on Saturday, May 7.
