The Golden State Warriors are locked into the play-in tournament as the tenth seed in the Western Conference. They have gone 9-18 in the 27 games since Stephen Curry last played on January 30. The slide has been difficult to watch.
Sunday night at Chase Center against the Houston Rockets, that changes.
Before Curry even steps back on the floor, Gary Payton II made clear exactly what his return means to this locker room.
GP2 Drops Blunt Quote on Superman’s Return
GettySteph Curry and Gary Payton II celebrate a play in a Golden State Warriors game.
Payton did not need long to explain what having Curry back does for him personally.
“I get layups,” Payton said. “Wide open layups.”
He went further when asked what the Warriors can still accomplish this season with Curry back in the fold.
“Whatever we put our mind to,” Payton said. “Now that Superman’s back.”
The numbers give that quote real weight. Golden State has posted a 118.0 offensive rating with Curry on the floor this season. Without him, that number drops to 110.2. The difference is not subtle. Defenses collapse toward Curry the moment he crosses halfcourt, and the reads and lanes that open up for everyone else are immediate. Payton’s layups do not happen without that gravity.
Curry Opens Up on the Knee Injury
GettyStephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors.
The injury first surfaced January 24 during a workout in Minneapolis. Curry played through it for a few days before stepping away from the lineup entirely. What followed was more than two months of an unpredictable, frustrating rehabilitation process unlike anything he had experienced before.
The diagnosis was patellofemoral pain syndrome, commonly known as runner’s knee. There is nothing structurally wrong with the knee. But the nature of the injury made it impossible to push through or play while it was still healing, which made the timeline impossible to predict.
“I thought I was going to be out a week,” Curry said, per ESPN’s Anthony Slater. “Ten days max. But every time I got on the court or tried to push it in that first month, there was always a reaction. You just knew it wasn’t healing as fast as you thought.”
He described waking up each morning and immediately assessing how the knee felt. No defined timeline. No clear checkpoints. Just day-to-day uncertainty for over two months. He targeted a return after the All-Star break, then a March road trip, then experienced a setback in Atlanta when a return felt imminent.
“You’d start running and doing your normal workout,” Curry said. “Toward the end of however long the session was, you’d start to feel the pain creep back in and the next day it’d be awful. Played that song and dance so many times over the last two months.”
He has since advanced to full 5-on-5 scrimmaging and received medical clearance to play Sunday. He is listed as questionable but is expected to suit up barring any unexpected setbacks.
What Curry Said About His New Normal
At 38 years old with one year remaining on his contract and plans to keep playing beyond that, Curry was asked whether this knee issue is something he will need to manage going forward.
His answer was measured and honest.
“Yes and no,” Curry said. “There’s nothing structurally wrong with my knee. So it’s not like I’m compromised out there. It is a new normal, though, if that makes sense.”
He added that he plans to take full advantage of the offseason for a complete reset whenever the season ends, and that he has a clear enough understanding of what the new normal looks like to feel confident heading into Sunday.
Steve Kerr watched Curry scrimmage Thursday and offered his own assessment.
“He’s the greatest face of a franchise in any sport I’ve ever seen,” Kerr said. “We owe it to our fans to give them the opportunity to watch Steph Curry play basketball this year.”
What’s Still Possible for the Warriors
The mood inside the Warriors facility ahead of Sunday was noticeably different. The numbers tell part of the story. The quotes tell the rest.
Golden State will need to win two play-in games on the road against a mix of the Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Clippers, and Phoenix Suns just to reach the playoffs. From there, a first-round series against either the Oklahoma City Thunder or the San Antonio Spurs would await.
Curry was characteristically direct about what the immediate mission looks like.
“Hopefully win two play-in games,” Curry said. “Then we can have another conversation.”
Final Word for the Warriors
Two months of uncertainty. Twenty-seven games without him. A ten seed with five games left.
Curry is back Sunday. The play-in is the immediate mission. Everything beyond that gets figured out after.
Superman’s back. Now the fun begins.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Warriors’ GP2 Drops Memorable Quote on Steph Curry’s Return appeared first on Heavy Sports.