The reasons to be concerned about Steph Curry’s shortening career window are only growing. Curry (and Draymond Green) had a rare but embarrassing stat line playing against the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday. The Warriors suffered a blowout 144-93, and Curry had very little contribution to that 93. It’s made many pause and evaluate if Curry’s condition is worse than he shows.
Monte Poole certainly thinks so.
The veteran media insider on all things Dubs didn’t hold back, giving his assessment of Steph Curry. “Steph has had some issues with both knees…He doesn’t even acknowledge his injuries. I have no doubt he’s playing through something…The eye test is telling me this isn’t the Steph who’s fully healthy,” Poole said on 95.7 The Game.
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Before Thursday, the Warriors had beat the Grizzlies 123-118 in their previous matchup. Memphis had multiple names on the injury report. The Dubs only had Moses Moody. But something was off with the star players of the Bay Area.
Curry made just two free throws all night, finishing with two points on 0-of-7 shooting, including 0-of-6 from three-point range. Draymond Green had it worse, finishing with zero points and shooting 0-of-4.
“Steph has had some issues with both knees…He doesn’t even acknowledge his injuries. I have no doubt he’s playing through something…The eye test is telling me this isn’t the Steph who’s fully healthy.”
– @MontePooleNBCS on @WillardAndDibs.
🎧 https://t.co/qo9QsviJvv pic.twitter.com/CsBMJIVzEG
— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) December 20, 2024
“First time for everything, right?” Curry said after the game. “I never thought that would be a situation or a result of the game.”
We never thought so either!
Despite the Dubs and Curry on pace for a scoring record – as Poole pointed out in a previous post – the 4x champ is averaging career lows in the last few games. After starting the season 12-3 and making NBA analysts take note, they declined the way Charles Barkley predicted; losing nine of their last 11 games as of Thursday to fall to 14-12 and 10th place in the Western Conference. This may be evidence that Poole is right. However, there’s a lot more to be concerned about Steph Curry’s status.
Steph Curry hit a new low
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Before the Grizzlies, the Warriors played against the Mavericks once more since they beat Klay Thompson on his return to the Bay Area. However, ahead of the game, Steph Curry was listed as questionable with a right cervical facet inflammation. He was also reportedly dealing with tendinitis at that time. He’s got vision correction for keratoconus too, but the results of his eye exam aren’t public.
There might have been some physical issues at play in his single-digit outing against Memphis. In the 16 years he’s been on the court, Curry has never had a game where he’s played more than 12 minutes and had no field goals. His last career low was in 2018 when he played only two minutes against the Spurs. For the first time in six years, Curry has not made a single shot, and even less from the 3-point line.
Apart from that 51-point score gap, there were a lot more dramatic moments in this game. Green was assessed for a flagrant foul for tripping Zach Edey. And he later commented on the scuffle on his podcast too. This has spurred some trade rumors that we’d probably have to wait on Poole to confirm. But overall the team is moving on.
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Meanwhile, Curry is averaging 23 points, 5.2 rebounds, 6.7 assists, and 1.3 steals, shooting 45.2 percent from the field, 42.1 percent from the 3-point line and 92.3 percent shooting from the free-throw line this season. Not to mention, persistent knee problems too.
If the Warriors make changes, it will probably be around Curry, but he’s not going anywhere.
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Is Steph Curry's era of dominance over, or can he bounce back from this slump?
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