Stephen Curry’s return may jeopardize Warriors’ lottery draft pick– and that’s okay

SAN FRANCISCO– Life is just better when Stephen Curry plays basketball. As Steve Kerr so succinctly said, the sun is brighter, and the food tastes better when we’re all able to watch No. 30 take to the hardwood and pull off a hundred different miracles over the course of a game.

And we should all accept that it’s better to enjoy the show than to twiddle our thumbs over lottery odds and future asset management. Especially at this point in Curry’s career. Because the dominant conversation around the Warriors over the last couple of weeks was: are they going to shut down Curry for the season?

With Curry’s knee showing marginal improvement at best and confusing setbacks at worst, and the Golden State’s season falling further and further away from contention, it seemed better to shut Curry down and protect his health.

Especially with the prospect of falling into the lottery, the Warriors could give themselves the same small odds the Dallas Mavericks had when they lucked into Cooper Flagg if they lose the first play-in game. What better way to get those ping balls than to send Curry to an early vacation in Cabo?

From a cold, unfeeling, and logical approach, shutting Curry seemed like the best way forward for the Warriors. But they didn’t do that. Mostly, because in Kerr’s words, that’s not what they do. But also because there was always one issue with that line of thinking – the Warriors do not have the luxury of time. They’re old, they’re aging, and they’re in their twilight. And they want to play basketball.

The Warriors’ last dance

It’s hard to ask a player as competitive and hardworking as Curry to give up on a season. Even if the season he’s returning to is all but lost. And it’s easy to say, there’s always next year, when time and time and again, the NBA has proven that’s rarely the case. Draymond Green understands that reality completely.

“You can always kick the can down the road and say, ‘Oh man, we’ll get back up.’ But that don’t always work like that,” Green said after a recent win over the Brooklyn Nets, when Curry’s return was murky. “Say we kicked the can down the road last year, like, ‘Oh man, we’ll get it back next year.’ And then look at this year.”

Green dropped his hand against the table, gesturing at the obvious fact that injuries have derailed their season. The fact that with Jimmy Butler fully integrated, veterans Al Horford and De’Anthony Melton signed, and young pieces are ready to contribute, their vision for this season never materialized.

“You got to take advantage when you can.”

With Curry returning to a Warriors team stuck at 10th in the West, there’s little to take advantage of right now. Maybe there’s a spirited run left in them to get out of the play-in, and maybe there’s enough fight to give the Oklahoma City Thunder or San Antonio Spurs a dogfight in round one. But what’s really left to take advantage of is Curry’s moment in the spotlight.

Seizing Stephen Curry’s final moments

If the past two Curry-less months have taught us anything, it’s that basketball is far less fun without him.

It’s boring, it’s quiet, and it’s hard to watch. We just got a preview of what life after Curry looked like, and people wanted him not to come back this season at all! At 38-years-old, with a right knee issue he’s now calling the “new normal,” there are only so many games in his career left for us to enjoy. And all any of us should want from Curry is to watch him do what he loves to do.

“I love playing basketball,” Curry said after Saturday’s practice when asked why it was so important to return this season. That single sentence is reason enough for him to return, no matter the circumstances.

So instead of handwringing the lottery pick that’s now in jeopardy, let’s savor the present. Next season’s problem is next season’s problem. In 50 years, when I’m transmitting Curry 3-pointer compilations to my grandchildren through the holographic microchip in my brain, I’m not gonna be thinking about how Curry cost the Warriors the 11th overall pick.

I am going to remember the joy, the fun, and of course, that high-arcing 3-point shot.

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