Steph Curry is an expert on ankle injuries. He definitely can offer the best advice on how to deal with it.
But now, after missing three weeks with a left groin strain this season, the Warriors star is sharing that experience with rival LeBron James.
“You got to take those first four or five days, that was what my experience was, to make sure you don’t do any more damage," Curry told The Undefeated's Marc J. Spears. "You have to let the healing process start. That is one you can’t really rush. That is how I felt because it was such a delicate area.”
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James suffered the injury during the third quarter of the Lakers' blowout win over the Warriors on Christmas Day. TV cameras caught James saying he felt a "pop" in the area. He had an MRI on Wednesday to determine the severity of the injury and was ruled out of Thursday night's game in Sacramento against the Kings.
While Curry missed 11 games over a three-week span with his groin injury, he was working with the Warriors' head trainer before games and appeared to be ready to go. Yet, the Warriors held him out a few extra days just to be safe.
“The biggest frustration is that you get to a point where you are pain-free, but you still have to be a little bit more cautious,” Curry told Spears. “I don’t know the severity [of LeBron’s injury], but becoming pain-free is just one step. And then you have to ramp up your load on the court to make sure everything you do won’t set you back. That is the one thing that you can’t afford with that injury, is to keep reinjuring it.”
A year after finishing with a 35-47 record, the Lakers are off to a 20-14 start this season, in large part because of James. If he's forced to miss an extended amount of time, it will be interesting to see if the Lakers can keep winning games at their current rate.