Warriors' Injury History Continues in Present

In one way or another, injuries have touched all parts of the Warriors during the Steve Kerr era.

From the absences of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love during the 2014-15 championship run to Kahwi Leonard’s injury at the feet of Zaza Pachulia, ailments have worked out to Golden State’s advantage, but the team has also had its own fair share of injuries at untimely junctures.

And in a season when it seems like not a lot has gone right for the Warriors, the injury bug has bitten the team again.

An MRI on Sunday revealed center James Wiseman – Golden State’s selection at No. 2 overall in the 2020 NBA Draft – tore his meniscus in Saturday’s home victory against the Houston Rockets, likely sidelining the rookie for the rest of the season. Wiseman sustained the injury after a rejected dunk attempt at the hands of K.J. Martin in the second quarter.

This is nothing new, however, as it can be easy to forget the Warriors’ own pattern of injuries amidst their championship success.

In the 2016 playoffs, Stephen Curry sprained his MCL after slipping on sweat left on the hardwood by Houston’s Donatas Motiejunas, sidelining him for a round and impacting him through Golden State’s NBA Finals defeat. In 2017 – before Pachulia injured Leonard – his clumsiness also gave Kevin Durant a sprained MCL towards the end of the regular season before Durant would later miss games in the first round of the postseason with a calf injury.

But 2019 might take the cake as the season with the most stinging injuries of all, with shockwaves after the infamous end to the campaign still being felt. DeMarcus Cousins returned early in the season from a torn Achilles and then tore his quad in the playoffs before getting on the floor in the 2019 NBA Finals. Durant hurt his right calf in the second round of the playoffs, returned in Game 5 of the Finals in Toronto before a torn Achilles spelled the end of his Warrior career as he would leave in free agency the same Summer.

Despite Durant’s injury, Golden State still had a fighting chance in those Finals. After trailing 3-1 in the series, Klay Thompson – who had already missed Game 3 of the Finals with a hamstring injury – and Curry were on the verge of pushing the series to a Game 7. Thompson would then tear his ACL on a dunk attempt in Game 6, missing the entire 2019-20 season before an Achilles tear shelved the guard for this season as well. Finally, Let us not forget about Curry’s wrist fracture which resulted in the former MVP missing almost the entire 2019-2020 season.

All of these injuries minus Curry’s were below the waist and altered the trajectory of the team and the players’ careers, and they can be attributed to a certain lack of luck. However, the peaking intensity of these injuries coincided with a change in Golden State’s training staff, potentially giving the powers that be something to watch after losing yet another player.

Following their second ring in as many years in 2018, the Warriors lost head performance therapist Chelsea Lane to the Atlanta Hawks organization and elevated Rick Celebrini to the position of Director of Sports Medicine and Performance.

And while it is tough to pin the blame on any one person, especially given my complete absence of knowledge about anything and everything sports medicine, another injury to an important piece of the franchise’s future should leave Golden State looking for what has recently gone wrong, and what it can do to send as few players as possible to the sideline.