Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry expressed sympathy for point guard Chris Paul after he suffered a hand injury during the team’s 113-109 win over the Detroit Pistons on Friday night.
Speaking to reporters after the game, Curry discussed Paul’s importance to the Warriors and his hope that he can heal up quickly:
“I don’t know how long he’ll be out, but I just feel for him personally because he does such an amazing job of taking care of his body, preparing himself day in, day out. Nobody sees the hours he puts in, especially at this stage of his career, to be available.
“A freak play like that to sideline him, it’s tough. We’ll worry about the stuff with the team as it comes, but for him personally I just hope he keeps his spirits up and can get through this as quick as possible.”
Paul left Friday’s game in the third quarter when he appeared to jam his hand into Pistons guard Jaden Ivey’s shoulder while going for a rebound. Per ESPN’s Kendra Andrews, the Warriors announced that he fractured his hand and is set to undergo surgery next week.
The 38-year-old Paul was dealt to the Warriors during the offseason when the Washington Wizards flipped him after acquiring him in a separate trade with the Phoenix Suns.
CP3 is a surefire first-ballot Hall of Famer with 12 All-Star nods, 11 All-NBA selections and nine NBA All-Defensive Team selections, but the one major accolade missing from his résumé is a championship.
Paul joined a Warriors team overflowing with championship DNA, as Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green each led Golden State to four titles in an eight-year span.
It hasn’t been an ideal fit for Paul thus far, though, as he has primarily come off the bench for the first time in his career, starting only 10 of the 31 games he has appeared in.
Paul is also averaging a career-low 9.0 points and 1.2 steals per game, while his 7.3 assists per game are his lowest since 2019-20, and his 3.7 rebounds per game are his fewest since 2012-13.
With Friday’s win, the Warriors are now 17-18 on the season, which puts them in 10th place in the Western Conference. That represents the final spot in the postseason play-in tournament, but they only lead the Los Angeles Lakers by a half-game.
While being without an accomplished veteran like Paul isn’t necessarily a positive, it could create more playing time for younger players amid rumors of frustration with head coach Steve Kerr’s allocation of minutes.
After the Warriors’ 120-117 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Thursday, Shams Charania and Anthony Slater of The Athletic reported that promising, young forward Jonathan Kuminga had “lost faith” in Kerr after he benched him for the final 18 minutes of the game.
Per Andrews, Kerr later admitted that he needed to play Kuminga more, saying: “I’ve got to get him out there for longer, but these are really difficult decisions. Because it’s not just as simple as how many minutes a guy plays. It’s who’s playing, what’s the combination, what’s happening in the game.”
Curry addressed the situation Friday night, saying:
“There’s a lot of narratives around our team and who’s supposed to play and our depth and the amount of guys you can argue should be in the rotation. It’s just hard, coach has a difficult job with that front.
“If you look at any team in the NBA, injuries when they pop up, you have to have that next-man-up mentality. That’s the challenge for us now, more combinations that we probably haven’t seen. We have to be able to take it in stride and execute and do what we need to do to stay and competitive and win games, but everybody’s gonna have an opportunity, so gotta stay ready.”
Paul is third on the team in minutes per game this season, so his absence creates a major hole that can be filled in collectively by the likes of Kuminga, Moses Moody, Brandin Podziemski and a host of others.
Also, Green is nearing a return from an indefinite suspension, and he figures to take on a bigger playmaking role until Paul returns.
There isn’t yet a clear timeline for Paul’s return to the lineup, but Andrews reported that he is expected to come back at some point this season.