Stephen Curry's Sunday afternoon at Chase Center ended early and painfully. Midway through the Warriors' near-full-speed scrimmage during their annual open practice, Curry appeared to slip, flipped the ball away in obvious discomfort, and limped straight to the locker room, where he stayed for the rest of the session.
The team classified Curry's injury as a sprained right ankle, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, which reported that he appeared to slip and tweak his right leg. SI.com, meanwhile, reported that Curry appeared to tweak his right knee during the open practice.
Kerr did offer some reassurance afterward, telling reporters that Curry was fine after leaving the open practice at Chase Center early, as reported by The Athletic.
A Knee History the Warriors Have Been Managing Carefully
Sunday's scare lands squarely on a sore spot for the Warriors. Curry missed two months of the 2025-26 season because of bone bruising and patellofemoral pain syndrome in his right knee, per the Chronicle's reporting. The Athletic noted that a lingering right-knee injury limited the 38-year-old to just 43 games last season.
That history is exactly why the Warriors had taken a deliberately cautious approach to Curry's preseason buildup this fall, including scheduled off days for specific practices, the Chronicle reported. Through that careful ramp-up, Curry averaged 13.0 points in just 18.0 minutes per game this preseason — his fewest average minutes in any preseason of his career, according to the same outlet's report.
The slow build had already shown up elsewhere on the schedule. Before the Warriors' preseason game against the Lakers earlier in the month, Curry had not played in the second half of any of his previous three preseason appearances, per the East Bay Times.
Why the Stakes Are High for Golden State
Curry's durability has been a persistent concern well beyond this single preseason. He has played 65-plus games only twice across the past seven years, appearing in 74 games in 2023-24 and 70 games in 2024-25, the Chronicle reported in an earlier piece examining how Curry changed his preparation. The workload question carries extra weight this season given the Warriors' schedule, which includes 15 back-to-back sets, according to The Athletic.
SI.com suggested the Warriors could be even more susceptible to an extended losing streak if Curry misses time, underscoring how much the team's outlook hinges on his health. For now, though, the available reporting stops short of saying whether Curry will be ready for the Warriors' next outing or the regular-season opener.
