According to various reports, Gary Payton II has a chance at returning to the Warriors if they make it to the NBA Finals.
Shams Charania of The Athletic and Chris B. Haynes of Yahoo Sports reported Wednesday night that GP2 is expected to miss at least three weeks after suffering ligament damage along with his fractured elbow in Tuesday’s Game 2 matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Payton suffered his injury after falling hard as the result of a Flagrant 2 foul by Dillon Brooks, which has been called "dirty" by Warriors coach Steve Kerr and commentators like Stephen A. Smith alike. Brooks swiped at Payton’s head while he was going up for a layup before he crashed to the floor hard on his left arm.
The fact that Payton even has an outside chance to return this season is some good news for the Warriors. A fractured shooting elbow sounds scary, but it seems like the Warriors are hopeful he won’t have any long-term damage if they’re not ruling out a return.
Payton also posted a message on his Instagram story Wednesday for Dub Nation.
Gary Payton II/Instagram
The NBA Finals are scheduled to start on June 2, but Golden State’s path to get there undoubtedly gets harder with Payton’s absence. The lockdown defender played his way into the starting five for the first two games of the Grizzlies series, due his ability to slow down Ja Morant on the perimeter. Without Payton, who was injured just three minutes into Game 2, Ja dropped 47 points in a 106-101 Grizzlies victory.
Aside from his defense, Payton also continued to be efficient with his shooting, as he posted a 72.7 field goal percentage in six playoff games. The Warriors won’t be the same without his timely 3-pointers, wise cuts, high IQ plays and nonstop energy.
