Aaron Gordon may be done with the playoffs, but what he said after Game 7 is still echoing—and not just in Denver.
Following the Denver Nuggets’ blowout loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday, Gordon opened up about playing through a Grade 2 hamstring strain—then shifted the conversation to something bigger.
The topic? The way playoff games are scheduled—and how it’s impacting players across the league.
“You saw it around the league: Steph with a hamstring, JT, Dame… There are guys all around the league suffering fatigue-based injuries because the games are just so closely stacked together,” Gordon said. “It would just be nice for one or two more rest days throughout the postseason.”
(Via @ohnohedidnt24 on X)
Gordon wasn’t the only one battling pain. Stephen Curry was sidelined four games with a hamstring strain of his own, derailing what had looked like a promising start to the Golden State Warriors’ playoff run.
The Cost of a Condensed Calendar
Across the bracket, postseason injuries have become recurring plot twists. Jayson Tatum and Damian Lillard also went down with muscle issues, cutting short what could’ve been deeper runs for the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks.
For Gordon, it’s a pattern worth breaking.
“Health is a lot, you know. I would really, really appreciate it if there were a couple of days in between games in the playoffs… I think the product of the game would be a lot better,” he said. “Probably less blowouts.”
(Via @ohnohedidnt24 on X)
His frustration is understandable. The Thunder had swept Memphis in the first round and entered the semis with a week of rest. Denver? They needed seven to get past the Los Angeles Clippers, then turned around with just two days off.
Curry’s Absence Loomed Large
When Stephen Curry went down with a hamstring strain, the Warriors were up 1–0 and in full control of their second-round series. Four games later, they were out—without their leader, without momentum, and without answers.
It wasn’t just a blow to Golden State. It was a gut-punch to the league.
Fans and analysts alike questioned whether Curry’s injury—and others like it—were simply bad luck or signs of a deeper problem. With condensed schedules, tight turnarounds, and high-stakes physicality, this era of postseason basketball has at times felt more like survival than dominance.
Curry’s absence turned a potential title run into a “what-if.” And that’s exactly the kind of scenario Gordon wants the league to prevent.
Curry’s Injury Fuels the Message
What Gordon suggested wasn’t radical. Two rest days between games. Not just travel days, not just media obligations—real rest. That extra time, he argues, could mean the difference between “most talented” and “most available.”
And you can bet Dub Nation agrees. Curry’s absence flipped the Warriors’ series on its head. Gordon’s injury may have done the same in Denver.
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