Stephen Curry will be re-evaluated by the Warriors on April 11, a day after the regular season concludes. The news was first reported by Shayna Rubin of the Bay Area News Group and later confirmed by the team, which said he is making "good progress" and will resume "on-court activities" next week.
"We were hoping he could play one or two games at the end of the regular season, but that was kind of a longshot," Kerr said. "This is how it’s turned out. His rehab’s going fine."
Curry hasn’t played since March 16 after spraining ligaments in his left foot, the result of Marcus Smart rolling up on his ankle fighting for a loose ball. Including that night’s loss against the Boston Celtics, the Warriors have gone 1-7 in the eight games he’s missed while struggling to find team-wide rhythm on both ends.
Kerr said he's not worried about the state of Steph's conditioning.
"Because he's got a foundation of 70 games underneath him and seeing him in the past, I think he'll respond quickly," Kerr said. "This is not like starting the season where he doesn't have a training camp and a foundation beneath him. He's been in great shape all year, that doesn't just go away in a couple of weeks."
The biggest date the Warriors are concerned about is April 16, when the first round of the NBA playoffs begin. The Warriors are likely to finish anywhere from the No. 3 to No. 6 seed, so the play-in tournament will actually give Curry a few more days to rest his foot.
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This is isn't the first time Steph has had to overcome a late-season injury. He injured his knee after slipping on a wet spot in Houston in Game 4 of the 2016 Western Conference first round. Curry also sprained his MCL on March 23, 2018 when JaVale McGee fell into his knee.
"He's always returned really well," Kerr said. "I'm not too worried about him. All it takes is one made shot and he's back in rhythm. We'll see how it all goes over the next couple of weeks. Just following the advice of the training staff and we'll go from there."
In 64 games this season, Curry is averaging 25.5 points, 6.3 assists, 5.2 rebounds and 4.5 3-pointers made per game. He was named All-Star Game MVP after exploding for 50 points and remains the engine of the Warriors offense. Their chances to win a championship would be dim without him.
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