During the Golden State Warriors’ open practice on Sunday afternoon, Stephen Curry hobbled off the floor and into the locker room, which sparked some uncertainty for his status in Golden State’s season opener Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Although the scene itself suggested Curry might’ve injured the same knee that kept him out for
roughly a third of the 2025-26 season, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr clarified Curry tweaked his ankle and is “fine.”
Kerr said Curry practiced Monday morning and is expected to play Wednesday against the Lakers.
While Curry is not the MVP supernova of a decade ago, he remains a surefire All-NBA-caliber player. Last season, he averaged 26.6 points, 4.7 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 1.1 steals while shooting 39.3% beyond the arc and 58.4% on 2-pointers, the latter of which was the third-highest mark of his career. He’s still the league’s preeminent shooter whose vast long-range talents, movement, quick decision-making and motor constantly stress defenses like nobody else around the league can.
Assuming he plays, his presence will certainly test a revamped Lakers defense, with the likes of Quentin Grimes, Matisse Thybulle and Ziaire Williams all presumably getting chances to try and slow Curry down.
It’ll be interesting to see how the Lakers dole out all their defensive assignments Wednesday night. The Warriors are not a big team but the forward tandem of Draymond Green and Yaxel Lendeborg will still be beefier than whoever Los Angeles starts alongside Grimes. I imagine Al Horford starts at center but the Lakers may prefer to keep Walker Kessler inside as much as possible and let him roam off of Green, though that comes with risks, given Curry and Green’s two-man connection.
Nonetheless, the Warriors should have their own challenges figuring out how to adequately slow both Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves, so the entire chess match between Kerr and JJ Redick could be quite fascinating throughout Wednesday’s matchup. And the NBA is always more fun when Curry is healthy doing his preposterous Curry things, so it’s nice to hear he should be available, even if it makes the Lakers’ lives harder.
You can follow Jackson on Twitter at @jackfrank_jjf.
