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I am not a doctor. If I were a doctor, I would not be spending my precious free time watching basketball on a Monday night.
Those two sentences apply to essentially 99% of people watching the game and tweeting, or watching the game anywhere.
We are not doctors. And yet, midway through the game after Stephen Curry had been upended by a Trevor Ariza pump-fake sending his head crashing into the hardwood, there we were doctoring.
Midway through the never-ending stream of opinions about whether Curry should have stayed in the locker room, was simply off his rhythm, not worth considering the deficit, comparing it to the Harrison Barnes incident from two years ago, and everything else in between, I had to admit something: I had no idea how I felt about the entire situation. I yelped out and almost flew off my bed as if I, myself, could cushion his fall.
The Golden State Warriors medical staff, owners, coaches, and just about everyone in the situation that had a say were under scrutiny. And then they allowed Curry to step back into the game, from sprints in the tunnel, to airballing his first ball wide left. They knew not only how bad it would look on them, but also the risk as to how bad it would look for this team.
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After the game, Steve Kerr told the media that they administered a concussion test at halftime and early in the second half. Curry passed both. So often, we want to be right, we want these occasions where the flaws in organizations we root for or admire to be incorrect. It wasn't just Warriors fans, it was even the objective observers, more interested, of course, in hoping Stephen Curry would play in Game 5, and the NBA Finals.
Neither are incorrect. We are obligated to feel the way we do, jumping to conclusions, bringing up the past and praying to ourselves that history won't repeat itself. Yet as the game dragged on, Curry went back to his normal habits, sinking step-back jumpers, twisting and flying through the lane before dishing to open shooters in the corner.
Suddenly, Curry was fine again.
By the time the game ended, Curry's fall wasn't forgotten but much of the concerns were alleviated because shots went in, the behind-the-back passes were back, and the imaginary cobwebs were ostensibly gone.
Warriors GM Bob Myers is definitive that Curry did not have a concussion: "If he did, he wouldn't have played. That's pretty hard line"
— Ethan Strauss (@SherwoodStrauss) May 26, 2015
And again, I don't mind reactions spanning from outrage and Twitter Doctoring to those respecting the people in position to make that call, you know, to make the call. It's a hard line for anyone to walk. I didn't feel either way. The Warriors have had their mishaps in the past with injuries, as recent as last season with Andre Iguodala. I am certainly guilty of this but many times, the wanting to bash someone or something in order to firmly align your feelings into reality shrouds reality.
But there is Stephen Curry, sitting at the podium, describing how blessed he is to be fine after that fall, and how his previous two concussions actually felt worse. I don't blame those that annihilated the training staff, Steve Kerr, and Bob Myers when Curry went out and airballed the shot. But I kept in mind that, no matter how much they needed that win and no matter how good Curry said he felt, there is almost zero chance doctors, Kerr, and the General Manager of the team would allow their best player, and the MVP, to play through a game with a concussion in a series they led 3-0.
Overreact, shout, push back against those overreactions, get Alpha and devoid yourself of the conversations in making fun of it, do whatever you need to do. I'm just glad Stephen Curry can move around and play basketball not just an hour after the fall, but at all. If you don't think that's overreacting on my part, all you have to do is watch Sonya Curry's head-in-hands, tear-stricken reaction to the scene. A scene that seemed too unfair and cruel to happen to Curry. Luckily for him, it was.
For more on the game, check out our Game 4 storystream.