Dub Nation experienced a collective fright when Steph Curry exited the Warriors’ win over the Toronto Raptors on Thursday after suffering an injury in the third quarter.
Steph Curry went to the Warriors’ locker room after a hard fall.
“So that’s really good news,” Dr. Alamin told NBC Sports Bay Area regarding Curry’s MRI results. “He landed directly on his tailbone, and the worry is that he might have a more significant injury to his tailbone such as a fracture or a dislocation of one of the joints within it. The fact that he had a contusion, which is basically a little bit of bleeding between the back of the bony part of the tailbone and the skin overlying it. It’s a really good bit of news because it tells us it’s more of a soft-tissue injury than a bone injury.
Following Thursday’s game, Warriors coach Steve Kerr shared that Curry wanted to come back into the game after suffering the injury. Dr. Alamin shared why that is an encouraging development in Curry’s eventual return to action.
“That’s also a really good sign. I think the team did exactly the right thing though in getting an MRI scan to really be able to understand the significance of his injury,” Dr. Alamin said. “Obviously he’s a competitor and an incredible athlete, sometimes incredible athletes can do things that might not be great for them in the longer term. But with this knowledge they’ll be able to use how Steph is feeling to determine when he’s able to get back to the game.”
While Curry missed five games toward the end of the 2020-2021 NBA season after suffering a tailbone injury, it’s unlikely that history would play a role in his most recent ailment.
“The only situation we’d be worried about is a situation in which he broke his tailbone and then re-broke it, which clearly did not happen based on the information we have available,” Dr. Alamin explained. “So, I think his previous injury and this one are not going to be affecting each other in any signifcant way, which is really good news.
While it’s hard to place an exact timetable on Curry’s eventual return, Dr. Alamin exuded confidence in the Warriors’ ability to assess whenever the two-time NBA MVP will be ready to return to action.
“Well, it’s a little variable from one person to the next. But soft tissue injuries like this can take a week to six weeks to heal. And it just sort of depends on how he feels,” Dr. Alamin said. “Again, I have not seen the imaging studies directly, but how significant the contusion was. I think he’s going to have a pretty good sense as to when he’s able to get back in. I think the [Warriors] training staff and the coaches will be able to have a pretty good idea of when it’s safe to get him back based on how he’s feeling and how he’s moving aorund the court.”
As the Warriors gear up for a stretch run entering the NBA playoffs, Dr. Alamin believes Curry’s pelvic contusion isn’t a significant concern when it comes to re-injury or additional ailments directly caused by it.
“No I don’t think so. Although, clearly basketball players are susceptible to direct falls ont heir back, on their tailbone. These things happen in games,” Dr. Alamin said. “If it were to happen again, it might take longer to heal from a secondary episode if it was within, hard to say exactly, but two to six weeks of the original injury here that he has just had.”
