When Stephen Curry fell against the Phoenix Suns and Aron Baynes landed on his hand, Baynes accidentally broke the appendage and whatever small hope the Warriors had for a successful season.
The sadness of Stephen Curry and the no-hope Warriors
We were never going to get the supernova Curry year everyone wanted.
The Warriors won’t find too many sympathizers for what is to be a struggle of a year, since there’s always a joy to be found in the fall of the dominant power, especially from teams and fans of teams who the Warriors were blowing out just a season ago. However, there is something sad about the Curry injury.
Coming into the season, with limited depth and the losses of Kevin Durant (to free agency) and Klay Thompson (to injury), there was a suggestion that this would be the Curry supernova year. It wouldn’t be a year for him to prove himself, since he had nothing to prove to anyone. He wouldn’t be expected to carry the Warriors very far, not in their dilapidated state.
Instead, this was supposed to be the season for Curry to showcase the full extent of his powers. With no real expectations, he could do everything he’s chosen not to the last few seasons, when he had the responsibility of accommodating other superstars.
When Durant left the Thunder, Russell Westbrook pushed himself to the limit. The Rockets’ offense has always been designed to make sure James Harden can display the totality of his offensive genius. Curry was supposed to do both in his own particular way. But then his hand was broken and that fantasy seems as far away as it has ever been.
Steve Kerr tried to push back against the idea of Curry playing somewhat like Harden at the end of October, by suggesting the Warriors weren’t built for that type of individual dominance:
”I don’t know that it’s that simple. We can turn him into James Harden and give him the ball on every play, but that’s really hard to do. You have to build a team for that.”
Kerr also made a valid point, that beyond the team structure, Curry might not have the body and durability for the stresses such a high-usage year would pile on him:
”That kind of basketball wears you out, too. Especially for a guy who’s 180 pounds like Steph is. I don’t think it makes a ton of sense from Steph’s standpoint.”
The hand injury was a freak accident and now he’s expected to be out three months. The really telling incident of why the fantasy of Curry going supernova was always going to remain a fantasy was him twisting his ankle a few minutes before breaking his hand. That’s less of a freak occurrence and a problem he has tried to mitigate for a long time now.
If there’s any reminder of how delicate his career is, it’s the panic that sets in for his fans and his team whenever he clutches his ankle — which garners flashbacks of him writhing on the floor in pain and missing extended amounts of time in the first few years of his career.
The tradeoff for Curry having a supernova year then wouldn’t be worth the possibility of him suffering another serious ankle injury, or an injury worse than the current broken hand. Asking him to put his body on the line even more and to wear himself down in the same fashion Harden does every night, would put him in more jeopardy for those problems. At the age of 31, it would be silly to sacrifice his body in what is practically a wasted year, for nothing more than the pure satisfaction of showing what he is capable of.
The whole situation is unfortunate for the Warriors, but it is also saddening for fans of Curry — a group that transcends Warriors fandom. The desire for Curry to have a high-usage season stems from the fact he is one of the most entertaining players in the league, not just the best shooter. When he’s running the show for the Warriors, he’s also one of the best playmakers in the league. Even during the Durant era for the Warriors, when Golden State were tossing aside any and every opponent, many people were clamoring for Curry to have the ball more — not only is giving him the ball effective, but he makes the team and the games in general more fun.
Fans of Curry probably won’t get to see him as that league destroying force they want. When he twisted his ankle and then broke his hand, the slim chance of that happening was snuffed out. He’s too important to risk. The mission now is preserving him for the next few years for whatever rebuild the Warriors will attempt.
There’s an endearing thing Curry does when things are going wrong in a game. He tends to laugh and smile at the absurdity of the situation. He did it while sitting on the bench as the Thunder were blowing out the Warriors, and after Draymond Green helped him off the floor against the Suns. He laughed, smiled, and shook his head before crouching while holding his broken hand. Sometimes laughing is the only reaction suitable for such a miserable and unexpected reality, when life seems to be piling misery on top of misery.
When Curry got up shaking his head and holding his limp hand, I had a similar reaction of laughter and disbelief. I knew the injury not only meant he would be out for some time, but that the Warriors were going to be extra careful with him going forward. Supernova Curry was supposed to be one of the best things about this season. It’s understandable that we won’t get to witness it, but it is still a frustrating loss for basketball this season.
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