We saw a rash of injuries to important players during the 2025 NBA Playoffs. Much of the talk surrounding them has been the influence of the grueling every-other-day schedule of the postseason, and whether players are receiving adequate rest time. Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr agrees with the sentiment as far as it concerns Steph Curry.
Kerr: Steph Curry Injury Could Have Been Avoided
The Warriors were forced to finish out their season without their best player. Curry suffered a hamstring strain in Game 1 of the team’s Western Conference Semi-Finals matchup with the Minnesota Timberwolves, which came just two days after their Game 7 win over the Houston Rockets.
Golden State would hold on to win the first game against the Wolves, but couldn’t extend the series any further than 5 games. Curry never got a chance for a return.
Steve Kerr blames playoff schedule for Stephen Curry’s hamstring injury:
“Kerr said he asked Rick Celebrini, the Warriors’ director of sports medicine, if Curry’s injury had “anything to do” with [playing 3 games in 5 days]. Celebrini responded emphatically: “One hundred percent… pic.twitter.com/bHSrTUsqgI
— GSW Ball Report (@GSWBallReport) May 27, 2025
Yahoo! Sports NBA insider Tom Haberstroh highlighted Kerr’s recent comments in a report released on Tuesday. Warriors director of sports medicine Rick Celebrini says that he asked the head coach if he believed Curry’s ailments had anything to do with the nature of the postseason scheduling.
Kerr said the following:
“One hundred percent. If he had an extra day or two … we can’t prove this, but I have no doubt based on our understanding of the scientific literature that the hamstring injury was the result of inadequate recovery and fatigue.”
Steph Curry was one of many key players that suffered injuries during the current postseason. Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum suffered a torn ACL that will keep him out of most of next season as well, and Damian Lillard of the Milwaukee Bucks suffered the same fate a couple of weeks prior.
Aaron Gordon, who powered through a strained hamstring to play for his Denver Nuggets in Game 7 against the OKC Thunder, had a quote that mirrored Kerr’s. Gordon said that adequate rest would not only help prevent injuries, but provide better quality basketball overall.
