MRI confirms sprained ankle for Stephen Curry: Will miss at least two weeks

With 71.1 seconds left in a game in which the Warriors had come back from a 20-point deficit, Stephen Curry tried to steal the ball — closing out on Pelican’s player E’twaun Moore — and rolled his right ankle in a manner that made every single Warriors fan in the word cringe, cry, and hope that things would be alright. It was a gruesome reminder that life is fragile, impermanent, and oftentimes vicious.

Warriors’ TV announcer Jim Barnett summed it up perfectly. I mean, we’ve been here before with Curry’s ankles, and it suuuuuuuuuucked.

Barnett: “Get the ball to Curry. Get the ball to — Stephen Curry is hurt. He’s got a, he’s coming out of the game! [hard pause] Ah man! Is that an ankle? Oh, I don’t like that. I don’t like that right ankle, if that’s what it is.”

Fitz: “He hurt it closing out on E’twaun Moore right there.”

[Video replays shows severity of impact]

Barnett: “Oh me! I’ve seen that before, but it’s been years.”

[Silence as Curry goes to the locker room]

As dangerous and as deflating as the injury looked in real time, we now have a bit more of an answer from the Warriors’ PR and medical staff:

So, the good news:

Curry’s ankle is structurally sound. He won’t be — say — missing the rest of the regular season or something.

The bad news:

“He will be re-evaluated in two weeks.”

That’s the minimum amount of time Curry will miss. Sure, he could heal up quick and find himself back on-court just in time for the epic Christmas tilt vs. the Cavaliers. But, more likely, the Warriors’ superstar will miss at least that much time, if not significantly more.

The Warriors have had their share of ups and downs this year. Championship fatigue is a real thing. They have not played to their ceiling, and at times have looked confused in the onslaught of the NBA night-in-night-out battle royale.

Do you really see Bob Myers and Steve Kerr throwing Curry back out onto the court in a nationally televised game? When all medical recommendations point towards purely a re-evaluation in two weeks, as opposed to a full recovery in that same time period? I hate to say it, but this thing could linger on throughout the rest of the this (already horrible, no good) year and into the next as well.

Fingers crossed it doesn’t turn into a chronic problem that plagues him the rest of the season. But, again, I’d imagine that’s the exact scenario Myers & co. would try and avoid by holding him out longer than necessary.

My guess? We don’t see Curry until January 8th vs. the Nuggets (first home game of 2018) at the earliest.