Steph Curry has battled a chronic calf injury for a long time now. The Golden State Warriors’ point guard has had the issue for few weeks, which has led to him missing several games.
During the Warriors’ blowout victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday, Curry seemed to re-aggravate the injury on a collision with Lakers center Roy Hibbert. After a timeout, Curry remained in the game but was later taken to the locker room and did not return. That decision probably had a lot to do with the blowout taking place, but it was a troubling sight nevertheless.
After the game, Curry mentioned an interesting tidbit about his injury:
Stephen Curry: Warriors trainers said it would take "four weeks" for leg to fully heal but he's "not going to sit four weeks."
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) January 6, 2016
Two takeaways from this:
First, four weeks seems like an incredibly long timeline. The injury, which has been re-aggravated multiple times, seems to be at least a little more serious than most initially thought.
Second, that is a very short-sighted outlook by Curry. The Warriors have been the best team in basketball all season. Even with home court advantage against the Spurs on the line, the health of the team’s best player is much more important. If this injury lingers into the postseason, it could be one hit away from ruining the Warriors’ season. That’s not to mention that nursing an injury can lead to overcompensation by other body parts that can result in more serious injuries.
Steph does not necessarily have to sit out the full four weeks if he does not want to. But he would be wise to rest the injury until there is at least a far fewer chance of hurting it again or hurting something else. The regular season wins do not matter, even if there is a high chance at setting the record. The championship does.