Curry says elbow uncomfortable, but 'no worries'
OAKLAND, Calif. — Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry said Friday that he’s fine two days after landing on his right elbow in the second quarter of the team’s win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals.
The play occurred when Curry dove into the stands in pursuit of a loose ball, resulting in a bump on his elbow that he characterized as “a tennis ball.”
On Friday at the Warriors practice facility, Curry said of his latest injury, “Oh, it’s fine. Swelling went down, so no worries.” Curry was sporting a shooting sleeve on the elbow, describing its purpose as “just compression to make sure I can get shots up and not have any swelling.”
“It’s sore, just because of the impact, but the spot it’s at doesn’t affect the range of motion, so I can shoot and dribble and do all I need to do,” he said. “It’s uncomfortable, but it’s not necessarily painful.”
Many observers noted the lack of assistance Curry received when careening into the home crowd. When asked about the sequence, Curry said, “I saw it once. Not a lot of help. That’s all I’ll say.” He then joked, “I wanted to do a crowd-surfing kind of deal. They weren’t ready.”
One fan was captured on the TNT broadcast taking a picture of Curry when he was on the ground. When asked about it, Curry said, “I need that picture. That’d be something to remember. I’m kind of disappointed he took that moment to document it, if you will.”
Of whether the incident will make Curry reconsider diving into the crowd, he said, “It was kind of dangerous, but I don’t know how you can play hard, do what you do in those situations, 50-50 balls or whatever with any doubt in your mind.”
Game 3 isn’t until Sunday, and Curry said he hopes the time off will help him heal up. He has missed six playoff games so far, initially with an ankle sprain and later with a knee sprain, both suffered in the first round series against the Houston Rockets.
“I’m doing all right, nothing to really worry about,” Curry said. “It’s nice to have three days in between to get your body right.”
Of the immense swelling seen in Wednesday’s game, Curry explained, “That’s severe, the way it looked during the game. These are, from what I hear, very common injuries. You land on something, hard surface, or get bumped — elbow, hip, knee — they tend to kind of swell up. They don’t cause any problems mechanically or what not. I can still use my arm, do what I need to do. It just looks ugly and is a little uncomfortable. That’s it.”
