Golden State Warriors forward and podcaster Draymond Green chimed in on the conversation about shutting down Steph Curry for the remainder of the season so the Warriors can tank. On January 30, Curry suffered a right knee injury in a game against the red-hot Detroit Pistons; It did not appear to be serious, and as the All-Star break approached, the Warriors listed him day-to-day.
But Curry has been out for more than a month, as the Warriors said they are ready to reevaluate him soon. Now, the Warriors face a tough challenge without Curry and Jimmy Butler, who were sidelined midway through the season with ACL injuries. With the eighth-seeded Warriors having lost seven of their last 11 games, there is speculation that the season is over.
In an interview with Tim Kawakami tk showMike Dunleavy Jr. did not completely rule out Curry sitting out the remainder of the season, but said it would be surprising if that happened.
"It would be very, very surprising. But, you know, I'm not ruling anything out; I'm not a doctor, and things could go a certain way. So, I don't want the headline to be that Steph could be done for the year because I'm not ruling it out, but just because he's not playing right now, I just have to admit that I'm sure there's a chance, but we don't expect it."
Following the conversation, Green discussed the possibility of the Warriors making this decision on his eponymous podcast.
"I've seen a lot of people say, 'Hey man, they should just tank and not bring Steph back the rest of the year' and all this stuff. One thing I will tell you is this: Shutting Steph down for the rest of the year is not something that's just going to happen, except so he can play. I can also assure you, Joe Lacob is not going to tank. I saw Matt Ishbia say it, tanking is in my DNA. Never will. You get better and if we end up being bad and get a good draft pick, we get a good draft pick, but we're definitely not going to tank Joe Lacob."
Of note, senior NBA insider Brett Sigel of ClutchPoints reported that sources indicate Curry will receive around-the-clock treatment to put himself in position to compete in the playoffs. The Warriors are getting a break of sorts, with no games on Tuesday and Wednesday as they prepare for Thursday's game against Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets that will air nationally on Prime Video.
With the Warriors having interesting games against tough teams like the Thunder on Saturday, the Timberwolves on March 13 and the Knicks on March 15, a decision will certainly have to be made regarding Steph's immediate playing future in order to keep the Warriors at least in the play-in picture.
