Early-season injuries continue to derail the Golden State Warriors. During Tuesday’s win against the Phoenix Suns, Jimmy Butler III left for the locker room early in the second quarter with lower-back soreness, an injury that could sideline him for several games. To make matters worse, Stephen Curry revealed he was dealing with a severe case of the flu after the game and will likely miss Wednesday’s contest against the Sacramento Kings.
Besides Curry (flu) and Butler (lower back), the Warriors are dealing with injuries to Al Horford (toe) and De’Anthony Melton (ACL sprain) in the early part of the season.
After Tuesday’s game, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr confirmed that Curry won’t suit up against the Kings. As for Butler, John Dickinson of 95.7 The Game San Francisco noted that Butler is also questionable to play against the Pacific Division rivals.
Warriors Injury Woes
“I don’t care what the doctors say,” Kerr said of Curry’s flu-like symptoms, via ESPN’s Anthony Slater. “We got to get him some rest. He’s not playing tomorrow.”
Kerr also addressed Butler’s injury. The 36-year-old veteran star was originally listed as questionable for the game against the Suns, but warmed up on the practice court 90 minutes before tipoff and was cleared to play. However, he appeared in just 14 minutes and missed four of his five shots before returning to the locker room.
“He felt like he could go,” Kerr said of Butler. “Then he tweaked it [his back] a little bit.”
Are the Warriors Too Old?
It’s somewhat concerning that the three oldest members of the Warriors roster — Curry, Butler and Horford — are dealing with various ailments early into the season.
In the lead-up to the 2025-26 campaign, many analysts believed that age would eventually be the Warriors’ detriment in their pursuit of a championship. Even Kerr admitted that he has to be extra-careful managing the minutes of Curry, Butler, Horford, Draymond Green and Horford — to keep them fresh for the playoffs.
“That’s always a factor with an older group,” Kerr said before the season.
“…The pace, the mileage these guys are putting on their bodies with the 3-point spacing. That’s why we have a whole performance team to track that and to help us monitor minutes. Guys are going to be needing to take games off. Older guys tend to get banged up a little bit more.
“So we have to be able to win games without some of our key guys this year. That’s already been something that we discussed as a team. I feel really confident with the young guys that we have, that they can step up and fill shoes when those shoes are empty.”
Another concern for the Warriors is Horford’s inability to play back-to-back games. The former NBA champion has already missed three of the Warriors’ eight games thus far, and is likely to sit out games for the rest of the season periodically.
The Warriors (5-3) could miss out on a top-4 playoff seeding due to the makeup of their old roster, especially considering the might of the Western Conference.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Warriors Bad News on Injuries Keep Coming After Curry Setback appeared first on Heavy Sports.