Golden State Warriors fans can finally exhale.
Stephen Curry missed his fifth straight game Wednesday night in a 126-113 loss to the San Antonio Spurs, but the news coming out of the locker room afterward was the brightest the team has delivered in weeks. Head coach Steve Kerr confirmed that the two-time MVP is “trending in a good direction” and is on track to return for the first game after the All-Star break — Wednesday, Feb. 19 against the Boston Celtics at Chase Center.
“I talked to Steph earlier, and he said he was feeling better,” Kerr told reporters. “So he’s trending in a good direction, but it’ll be just day-to-day when he comes back.”
That single sentence is music to every Dub Nation ear that has been anxiously counting the days since Curry limped off the court on January 30 against the Detroit Pistons.
The injury saga actually began a few days earlier. During a workout in Minnesota before the back-to-back against the Timberwolves, something in Curry’s left knee “flared up” — a new, unfamiliar pain on top of the usual quad soreness he had been managing. He sat out the second game of that series, returned against Utah on January 28, then felt the knee swell and stiffen dramatically. By the time he exited the Pistons game midway through the third quarter, it was clear this was more than a minor tweak.
Curry himself admitted he may have underestimated the issue the first time around.
“It’s a matter of learning as I go what works rehab-wise,” he said recently. “Because it’s still painful. You have to try to get rid of all the inflammation and pain… if I come back too early, it could flare up.”
At 37 (turning 38 in March), Curry is no longer the indestructible 28-year-old who once played through almost anything. Sports medicine expert Dr. Nirav Pandya put it perfectly on X: this is textbook patellofemoral syndrome in an older athlete. Rest, inflammation control, and targeted rehab on the structures around the knee are the proven recipe — exactly what the Warriors are doing now.
Curry has already been ruled out of Sunday’s All-Star Game in San Francisco (Brandon Ingram was named his replacement), but that decision was made with the bigger picture in mind: get healthy, stay healthy, and be ready for the stretch run.
For a Warriors team that has been treading water without its heartbeat, the message is simple and reassuring: the wait is almost over. The two-time MVP is progressing, the swelling is calming down, and the calendar is finally on Golden State’s side.
So take a deep breath, Dub Nation. Your chef is in the kitchen, knives are sharpening, and the first course after the All-Star break is going to be served against the Celtics on February 19.
The kitchen is almost ready. And Steph Curry is coming back.