The injury curse that has haunted the Golden State Warriors all season just delivered another devastating chapter.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Warriors officially announced that MRI results confirmed a torn patellar tendon in Moses Moody’s left knee. The 23-year-old wing will undergo surgery later this week, and his 2025-26 season is officially over.
According to medical experts at Massachusetts General Hospital and other sources, recovery from a patellar tendon tear typically requires at least six months, with some cases extending up to 12 months. That timeline all but guarantees Moody will miss the remainder of the regular season, the play-in tournament, and likely the start of next season as well.
The injury occurred in heartbreaking fashion. Late in Monday night’s 137-131 overtime road win over the Dallas Mavericks, Moody stole the ball from rookie Cooper Flagg and took off for what looked like a wide-open, game-sealing dunk. As he planted his left foot, his knee buckled violently with no defender near him. He collapsed under the basket and had to be carted off the floor. Moody underwent X-rays in Dallas and was seen walking on crutches with a bulky brace, but the full extent of the damage wasn’t known until the MRI in the Bay Area on Tuesday.
It was a cruel ending to what had been Moody’s best professional season. In the first year of his three-year, $37.5 million extension, the former lottery pick was averaging a career-high 11.9 points, 3.3 rebounds, and shooting a career-best 40.2% from three while starting 59 games. He had finally blossomed into a reliable two-way contributor with size, athleticism, and shooting touch — exactly the kind of wing the Warriors have desperately needed.
“It’s tough,” veteran Gary Payton II said after the game. “It’s his first game back [from a wrist sprain] and he’s done so much rehab… does what he needs to do to get back, and just to see a non-contact thing happen. It’s annoying to see. Especially to Moses. Moses does all the right things. It sucks to see Moses go down.”
The timing could hardly be worse. The Warriors (34-38) are clinging to the final play-in spot in a brutally competitive Western Conference. They are already without Stephen Curry (persistent runner’s knee), Jimmy Butler III (torn ACL, out for the season), and Al Horford (calf strain). Losing Moody — one of their few healthy, productive wings — further thins an already depleted roster just as they return home from a six-game road trip to face the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday.
Steve Kerr has said Curry could potentially return as soon as Friday if his knee responds well to scrimmages, but even that timeline feels uncertain. With Butler done for the year, the Warriors’ ceiling has dropped dramatically.
This latest injury is more than just a roster blow — it feels like another cruel reminder of how cursed this 2025-26 season has been for Golden State. Moody had worked tirelessly through rehab from his previous wrist injury, earned his starting role back, and was playing the best basketball of his young career. To watch a non-contact dunk attempt end his season in such brutal fashion is heartbreaking for everyone who has watched his development.
For a franchise that once built dynasties on health, depth, and championship chemistry, the current injury plague is testing even the most loyal fans. The Warriors are now staring at a brutal final stretch where every remaining game feels like a must-win just to sneak into the play-in.
Warriors fans, this one hurts. Moses Moody deserved a better ending to what was shaping up as his breakout year. The focus now shifts to getting him the best possible rehab and hoping the remaining healthy bodies — including a potential Curry return — can somehow keep this sinking ship afloat long enough to reach April.
The 2025-26 season has been anything but ordinary for Golden State. At this point, survival is the only goal.