A Little Reason in all the Madness

Stephen Curry got injured yesterday against the Spurs. This injury was his third ankle injury this year, and has caused fans to speculate whether they should trade Curry, and whether Curry is doomed to have bad ankles for the rest of his career. Let's stop right there. Stephen Curry should not be traded, and his ankle injury does not mean that he is doomed to have bad ankles for the rest of his career. Let's run down some of the reasons as to why Stephen Curry should not be traded, and why this ankle injury does not mean he will be "injury-prone."

Stephen Curry is still a good player

Lost a little in the injury is that Stephen Curry had a pretty good game. He scored ridiculously efficiently and destroyed the Spurs defense. You don't see many players shoot that well from the field, especially when a lot of them were threes. If the Warriors traded him away, it would be difficult to replace his shooting touch. The Warriors lost this game partly because without Curry, Ellis had to carry the entire offensive load.

You don't trade someone after he has consecutive injuries to the same area

Opposing league offices aren't stupid. They will look at Curry's injury history, and see that he has injured the same ankle several times. The injury has already lowered his trade value, and it would be dumb to trade a player when his trade value is low. The Warriors will not get good value back if they decide to trade Curry.

Modern medicine is pretty good

This injury would have been a bigger problem if this was the 1960s. Sports medicine was not as advanced back then, and players could get injuries misdiagnosed or mistreated. However, this is not the 1960s. This is the 2000s, where players have personal trainers and every team has their own group of medical personnel. You can be sure the Warriors will consult several foot specialists and do the best possible thing for Curry's ankle. For example, Grant Hill came back after everyone thought his career was over.

These ankle injuries might be a trend; they also might not be a trend

Kevin Martin, for example, was labeled as "injury prone" after consecutive ankle injuries and a wrist injury. The Kings later traded him for Carl Landry. Of course, after that Kevin Martin went on to play 80 out of 82 games and became a scoring machine. Carl Landry went on to become a bench player who was later traded to Marcus Thornton. Part of it was because of good medical treatment, but Kevin Martin also wasn't as "injury-prone" as people thought.

In summary, it is important not to come to sudden conclusions about Curry's ankle. No, it does not look good, because he has injured the ankle several times. But Curry still has a chance to come back from it, and, more importantly, his trade value is low because of consecutive injuries to the same ankle. The Warriors should stand pat and trust their medical team.