When Steph Curry injured his hamstring for the Golden State Warriors in the 2nd round of the playoffs last season, it was the end of the road for them. A team that looked like a threat to make a title run immediately struggled to score points without its leading scorer. They promptly lost four games and bowed out to the Minnesota Timberwolves, as they moved on to face the OKC Thunder in the Western Conference Finals.
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It was a disappointing end of the year for the Warriors. Curry couldn’t make it back onto the court for 4 out of the 5 games. Some questioned his unwillingness to play through the injury. But he wanted to be extra cautious about it, given his age and desire to play for longer in his career.
When Curry was asked about the end of the season recently, he talked about how his offseason organically changed because of the injury.
“Other than making sure I healed properly and the recovery is there. My process over the summer, you know, has evolved over the years. But it’s just still motivation to know I can still get to a peak performance and level of play that I expect. And knowing what work has to go into it to get there,” Curry told NBC Sports Bay Area.
Not only that, but the four-time NBA champ also said that he’s been enjoying the change to his offseason. But he still wishes the season could’ve ended differently. “It’s fun. It’s a long offseason. You’d rather have a deeper run into the playoffs and be healthy all the way through. Hopefully, we can make that happen this year,” Curry added.
The Warriors made one of the biggest trades at last year’s trade deadline, acquiring Jimmy Butler. Before making the move, the team was 25-27. Then, after the trade, they finished the season 23-8.
That hot end to the season carried over to the playoffs, too. Curry and Butler led the Warriors to a play-in win over the Memphis Grizzlies to capture the 7th seed. Then they upset the 2nd-seeded Houston Rockets in seven games.
Curry’s injury ended up being the definition of untimely. He was scorching hot and leading the Warriors on what looked like a deep playoff run. But once he got hurt, Butler couldn’t make up for the offense.
Furthermore, Curry was pretty smart to sit out. After all, look at what happened to Tyrese Haliburton when he was playing through a similar injury. Who knows how badly Curry could’ve gotten hurt if he had played through the hamstring ailment?
Now, months later, the chef is back in his kitchen, though. He’s been spotted working out on the court, as well as off of it. Most notably, he was seen running up hills with seemingly no regard for his hamstring injury.
“From the sand dunes a couple of years ago to the hills, like, got to find new challenges,” he said.
All in all, rehabbing the injury has gone well for Curry this offseason, and he should be ready to go by October. It may have taken some adjustments to his offseason routine, but the former unanimous MVP sounds in good spirits. Let’s hope that he can stay healthy for the entirety of the 2025/26 season and see if Curry has one more Finals run left in him before retirement.
