Stephen Curry is set to miss at least the Warriors’ upcoming three NBA matches against the Wolves after suffering a Grade 1 left hamstring during Tuesday night’s Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinal series. Stanford Medicine’s Marc Safran, M.D. explained why he should be careful.
During a recent interview with NBC Sports Bay Area, the medical professional revealed the possibility of the Golden State icon reinjuring his hamstring, which happens to be the player’s first muscle strain of his entire 16 years in the league.
“The issue with hamstrings, particularly, is that they have a very high likelihood of recurring,” the doctor said. “So the fact that this was the first one is a good sign. Hopefully, it won’t recur. But when somebody’s had a previous hamstring, the biggest concern is that it can keep recurring and continue bothering them through their career.”
Tuesday happened to be the Warriors’ sixth contest in 11 days after winning the first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets in seven games. “The problem is we’re not really good at being able to know when the right time is that somebody can come back and have no risk of recurrence.
“So that’s really the major issue. A lot of times, players will feel pretty good, they’ll go through the tests, they’ll have good motion, they’ll have good strength, and they’ll go back out but still re-injure the hamstring. That makes it a little bit of a tricky issue,” Dr. Safran shared.
The medic then added: “That’s why the hamstring, which is such an important muscle anyway, has such a high recurrence rate. Time and rehab and strengthening are the keys, but when you’re in the midst of the playoffs, you’re lacking that first part, the time portion.”
As the WNBA Golden State Valkyries are set to use Chase Center for their season opener on Friday, May 16, the NBA franchise will earn a couple of more rest days from their playoff schedule. This means that Curry still might get the chance to return for this series against Minnesota.
