© Kyle Terada | 2019 Jun 5
Stephen Curry had planned to return this Sunday from a broken hand that has kept him on the shelf for nearly four months. That’s not going to happen the Warriors announced on Saturday morning, and Steve Kerr explained why shortly after.
The good news: It has nothing to do with nerve damage in the hand that Curry alluded to earlier in the week.
“Nerve damage, that term sounds terrible, but all it really refers to is that area is kind of numb,” Kerr told The Athletic’s Anthony Slater. “It’s not anything of concern for the training staff in terms of re-injury or anything like that, Steph’s just got to get used to a different feeling in his hand.
“The hand is ready. The hand is healed and strong, and that’s been the case for the last week. But like I told you guys the other day, he’s been limited to two scrimmages. Both scrimmages included some random people we just found on the street with all do respect to Klay Thompson’s pals. We needed a higher level scrimmage for Steph to be a part of and the Santa Cruz option is perfect for dealing with a group of guys who are towards the end of their season, playing at a high level. This is a much better gauge for him.”
Kerr said that Curry “was not thrilled” when informed he’d be held out.
“He put up a little fight, but also understood why we wanted to take extra precaution.”