After suffering a hamstring injury in the first half of Game 1, Steph Curry missed Game 2 of the Golden State Warriors’ Western Conference Semifinals against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He will likely miss at least the next two games before even getting reevaluated.
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In Steph’s absence, the Warriors weren’t even particularly close to the Timberwolves in the game. After a 13-0 Wolves run to start the game, the final score read 117-93 in Minnesota’s favor. The Warriors could not score last night.
Without Curry’s gravity freeing up Buddy Hield for pin downs or opening up the paint for Jimmy Butler, long stretches of ineptitude played out. After the loss, Charles Barkley spoke about how much Curry would theoretically be worth to this team if there were no maximums on contract value. To Barkley, the Warriors’ star and former MVP was seemingly the only thing keeping the offense afloat.
The Warriors did not have a single player score 20 points or more. “I tell you, Steph needs a raise… Their offense looked ridiculous. There were probably 20 times where the shot clock got three to five seconds, and they were still out passing around the three-point line,” Barkley pointed out.
“A point guard, let’s use the football analogy, a wide receiver can’t get the ball to himself… they were just running around going one on one,” he added.
Steph makes as much money as is currently allowed in the CBA with two more years left on his contract. He makes an average of over $ 55 million. That would make him the 12th highest-paid player in the NBA by average annual value, placing him behind players like Jaylen Brown and Bam Adebayo.
However, it’s hard to overstate the guard’s value. Barkley was right in his assertion that the Warriors could not do anything without him. “He’s on a max, but they need to get him on a max-er,” joked Chuck.
The entirety of this Warriors team has been built around Curry and his undeniable ability to put others in good situations. While Golden State could stomach missing Butler, replacing him with Jonathan Kuminga and Hield, this car cannot run without the engine that is Steph.
Unfortunately, that seems like it will continue. If Golden State can’t figure out how to play without their franchise centerpiece of 16 years, they will find themselves sent home before he can even return.
