Stephen Curry Injury: What Is It, How Grave It Is Compared To Past Injuries

The Golden State Warriors have been on rocky ground for much of the 2022-23 NBA season, and they will now be without the services of 2022 Finals MVP Stephen Curry for quite some time.

During their December 14 matchup with the Indiana Pacers, Curry had been having himself a great game after racking up 38 points with 5-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc along with seven rebounds, seven assists, two steals, and a block while only having two turnovers.

Late in the third quarter, Curry tried to rip the ball from Pacers forward Jalen Smith as he dove into the paint.

Though his attempt was nearly successful, Curry immediately clutched his left arm and was ruled out for the rest of the game.

Curry is a remarkably tough competitor, but his reaction seemed to indicate that this was an extremely bad injury.

Head coach Steve Kerr noted after the game that Curry will have an MRI on his shoulder to determine the severity of the injury and The Athletic's Shams Charania later confirmed that he will not be needing surgery.

The Warriors' official Twitter page then confirmed that he had suffered a shoulder subluxation injury following his MRI.

In layman's terms, a subluxation injury simply means a partial dislocation and the current belief is that he will be out of action for around a month.

One good thing Curry has going for him is the fact that he does not need to go under the knife, meaning he will just have to undergo non-invasive medical treatment as he works his way back from another injury in his long, illustrious career.

Early on, Curry had a reputation among fans as a player made of glass as he had spent much of it on the sidelines due to ankle injuries, leading up to his 2011-12 disappointment in which he only appeared in 40 games due to right ankle and foot injuries.

Many were ready to write Curry off because of his issues, but the Warriors' decision to bring in Keke Lyles on board to help the blossoming star reach his full potential and it worked.

In his eyes, Curry was about as explosive as they come among NBA guards, but the problem that the superstar had was that he relied too heavily on his ankles and not his core.

"Shiftiness is an ankle strategy, but power comes from the hips. We wanted to teach Steph (Curry) how to load his hips to help unload his ankles," Lyles noted in a 2016 ESPN piece.

"Chef Curry" was dealt a bad hand early into his NBA career thanks to his ankle issues that eventually subsided, flared up again in 2017-18, and then seemingly ceased entirely.

He has also dealt with injuries to his left MCL in 2018, his left hand, which sidelined him for much of the 2019-20 season, a tailbone issue in early 2021, and a hip issue later that year.

Compared to his laundry list of injuries, it seems that a partially dislocated shoulder is just another day in the office for the five-time NBA Champion, and he will surely return even stronger.