DALLAS — Shortly after midnight, in a wide hallway at American Airlines Center, Golden State Warriors forward Moses Moody used crutches to move slowly from the X-ray room to his team’s locker room. His left knee was in a thick brace.
About a half-hour later, Moody sat in a wheelchair as a grim-faced Rick Celebrini, the team’s vice president of player health and performance, pushed him down the same hallway in the other direction. Towels covered the brace on Moody’s knee. They were headed to the buses taking the Warriors to the airport, for a late-night flight home after a long road trip.
The journey ended on a horrible note, despite Golden State’s 137-131 overtime victory over Dallas. Moody returned from a wrist injury Monday night, after missing 10 games, and played superbly — until everything changed in an instant.
Moody’s knee buckled on what was about to become a breakaway dunk or layup with slightly more than one minute left in OT. He went down hard, his knee bent unnaturally. The crowd fell silent.
Head coach Steve Kerr knew the injury was significant the moment it happened. Kerr immediately put his hands to his face in anguish.
“I just saw his leg buckle, and saw him go down in a heap in pain,” Kerr said later. “We don’t know what it is, but it sure looked bad.”
Moody will have an MRI exam Tuesday in San Francisco. The Warriors will announce the extent of the injury then, but the postgame tone suggested nobody associated with the team expects good news.
Moody left the court on a stretcher while his stunned, crestfallen teammates watched. Draymond Green hugged Moody as officials took him away on the stretcher. Moody acknowledged the crowd’s ovation and gave a thumbs-up to several spectators on his way out.
Asked about the mood in the locker room, guard Brandin Podziemski said simply, “Same as what happened with Jimmy (Butler). There weren’t really words. You just hate to see it, especially to the good people in life.”
Butler suffered a torn ACL on Jan. 19, had surgery in early February and is not expected to play again until at least February 2027.
Warriors players were disconsolate after Monday night’s game. Several of them went to the X-ray room to check on Moody. Stephen Curry and De’Anthony Melton lingered outside the room, waiting for Moody to emerge.
Green was too upset to speak at a postgame news conference. On his way out of the arena, he said softly, “I just feel for Mo, man.”
Moody had blossomed into a reliable starter in his fifth NBA season. He was averaging 12.1 points, punctuated by his team-high 23 on Monday. He also had become one of Golden State’s most effective perimeter defenders, regularly applying on-ball pressure.
Fresh evidence: Moody had three steals against the Mavericks, including one at midcourt preceding the fateful breakaway.
The circumstances of Moody’s injury were not lost on his teammates. He worked diligently to return from his wrist injury, and immediately helped push the Warriors toward a much-needed victory.
And then the storyline — and potentially Moody’s future for the next year or more — suddenly changed.
“It’s tough,” Gary Payton II said. “It’s his first game back and he does so much rehab and everything, takes care of his body, does what he needs to do to get back. And then to see a non-contact thing happen … it’s annoying to see, especially to Moses.
“He does all the right things, he’s a pro. It sucks to see Moses go down. He’s in our prayers, I know he’ll bounce back.”
Players in the game summoned for help after Moody hit the floor. Celebrini and other Warriors officials rushed onto the court, quickly draping a towel over Moody’s knee. Emergency personnel soon followed.
Kerr noticed the looks on the faces of Dallas players — they were upset, too.
“Everybody on the floor was just horrified,” Kerr said. “Players care about players. They know how fragile this business is, how short their careers are and how injuries can happen and can be catastrophic.”
Moody, 23, has widespread respect among his teammates, not only for his work ethic but also for his low-key demeanor. Put another way: He’s low drama and low maintenance.
“He’s a quiet soul but a wise soul, way beyond his years in terms of his wisdom,” Podziemski said. “He does everything asked of him and doesn’t complain.”
Or, as Kerr said, “Mo is such a great human being, a great teammate, a wonderful guy to coach. He just puts in the work every day.”
As for the game, Moody led eight Warriors players in double figures. Kristaps Porzingis added 22 points and Podziemski had 20. The Warriors (34-38) finished with two wins on their six-game trip.
They returned home in a downcast mood, but it had nothing to do with wins and losses.