The basketball world is eagerly anticipating the return of Stephen Curry, and it appears that he may be closer to making his 2018 postseason debut than previously expected.
The Golden State Warriors are scheduled to begin their Western Conference semifinals series against the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday.
With that series just around the corner, head coach Steve Kerr is raising eyebrows with some comments he made regarding Curry’s status for this weekend.
Anthony Slater tweeted out that when Kerr was asked whether the team was ruling out Curry for this weekend, he said that Curry was day-to-day and he shied away from making any predictions.
It sounds like a typical thing for a coach to say about an injured player working towards a return, but it sharply contrasts with previous statements Kerr has made about Curry’s rehab.
Back in March, Kerr unequivocally said that Curry was not going to be playing in the first round of the playoffs. There was nothing coy about that proclamation, and not a hint of Kerr feeling the need to hedge his bets in any way.
His recent comment, however, suggests that there’s at least a decent chance that Curry is going to be cleared to play in game 1.
It will depend on his rehab going well the rest of this week, but it’s plausible that Curry will be back in time for the start of the semifinals.
There were moments in their series with the San Antonio Spurs where the Warriors could have definitely used Curry’s facilitating skills and the floor spacing he provides an offense.
The question has seemingly shifted from what round Curry is going to return to what specific game in the semifinals he’s going to return. It sounds as if it could very well be game 1 based on the hints Kerr exuded.
The next question is how Curry is going to look after returning from the injury. The answer to that will potentially have championship implications.