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Stephen Curry’s NBA career is off to a worrying start. He emerged as a potential star, and was selected by the Golden State Warriors with the 7th pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. Curry played quite often, but he spent his first three seasons injured. ankles often.

Curry’s ankle problems have drawn comparisons to Grant Hill, a Hall of Famer who retired early due to a similar injury. Former Warriors general manager Bob Myers once said that he had never seen someone sprain their ankle in “crazy, non-traditional ways” like Curry.

Ankle injuries greatly affected the early years of Curry’s NBA career, but the 35-year-old superstar overcame it and became one of the greatest players in NBA history.

 

(Getty Images) Curry’s ankle injury history

Season 2009/10

March 17, 2010: Curry missed the first game of his rookie season due to a sprained left ankle. He must wear shoes to protect his ankles after the match.

March 20, 2010: Curry returned after a two-game absence. He scored nine points on 4-of-10 shooting in 25 minutes on the court.

April 14, 2010: The Warriors ended their season with a win over the Portland Trail Blazers.

Curry played in 80 of a possible 82 games, averaging 17.5 points, 5.9 assists and 4.5 rebounds. He finished second in Rookie of the Year voting behind Tyreke Evans and earned a spot on the Rookie of the Year First Team alongside Evans, Brandon Jennings, Darren Collison and Taj Gibson.

Season 2010/11

October 29, 2010: After spraining his right ankle in a preseason game and aggravating it in the season-opening win over the Houston Rockets, Curry re-injured his ankle during the game second of his sophomore season.

“I have to do more rehab; that’s all I can do,” Curry said. “Now I have to handle it smartly and try to get back to 100 percent of my physical condition, make it stronger so that even if I step on someone’s foot, I can still recover.”

November 5, 2010: Curry scored 20 points in a win over the Utah Jazz after sitting out two straight games with a sprained right ankle .

December 8, 2010: Curry had to leave the game against the San Antonio Spurs in the second half because of a sprained right ankle. He was helped off the floor by his teammates and did not return.

December 25, 2010: Warriors bring Curry back for Christmas Day game against Trail Blazers. He only scored four points, shooting 2/15, but Curry had 11 assists and helped the Warriors win.

Curry had missed the previous six games with an ankle injury.

April 13, 2011: Curry plays in the Warriors’ final game of the season. He finished his sophomore campaign with averages of 18.6 points, 5.8 assists and 3.9 rebounds in 74 games.

May 25, 2011: More than a month after the Warriors’ regular season ended, the club announced that Curry had undergone surgery on his right ankle in Charlotte, North Carolina. The injury forced Curry to miss a total of 8 games in the 2010/11 season.

Season 2011/12

December 26, 2011: Curry sprained his ankle after a tackle with Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls in the second game of the season. He was X-rayed after the match, and the result was that his leg was not broken.

This is the second time Curry has sprained his ankle in seven days.

December 28, 2011: Curry did not play against the Knicks due to a sore right ankle. Warriors explain this is to prevent injury recurrence.

January 4, 2012: In his third game since returning from injury, Curry sprained his right ankle again.

2001/2012: Curry played with an ankle immobilizer, scoring 12 points, shooting 5-of-15 after sitting out eight straight games.

February 22, 2012: Curry strained a tendon in his right foot during the first quarter against the Phoenix Suns, limiting him to just 10 minutes of playing time.

February 28, 2012: Warriors were without Curry in his first game back from All-Star Weekend due to a strained right foot tendon.

February 29, 2012: Warriors head coach Mark Jackson brought in Curry in the final seconds of a close game against the Hawks as a decoy. David Lee scored on possession to give the Warriors the lead.

March 5, 2012: After sitting out three of four games and playing just three seconds in the game he appeared in, Curry returned to score 12 points in nine minutes against the Washington Wizards.

March 11, 2012: Curry played against the Clippers despite suffering a sprained right ankle at a crucial moment. Jackson pulled him from the field after nine scoreless minutes.

“I just felt like it wasn’t right to substitute him out,” Jackson said. “Curry looked like he was gutted, and I said to Curry: ‘If we can’t finish this game, then we don’t deserve to win.’

That was the last game Curry played in the 2011/12 season.

April 25, 2012: Curry undergoes surgery on his right ankle. The Warriors announced that the procedure “revealed a stable ankle with no structural damage and included cleaning of debris and scar tissue.”

September 20, 2012: After examining his ankle, Curry received full medical clearance to resume all basketball-related activities.

October 31, 2012: Curry signs a four-year, $44 million contract extension with the Warriors ahead of his fourth season. The deal was immediately seen as a pay cut.

“Obviously, if you look at other guys in my draft year or other guys with comparable statistics, I might take a slightly lower salary but I’m not really worried about that” , Curry said. “I’m capable of being underpaid. I just don’t want to be overpaid. That’s my job.”

Through three seasons, Curry averaged 17.5 points, 5.8 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game. He appeared in 180 of a possible 230 games.

How Curry overcame an ankle injury and became an NBA legend

There were concerns that the ankle surgery Curry underwent after the 2011/12 season would turn out to be much more serious than the final result.

As detailed by Pablo S. Torre for ESPN, X-rays conducted while Curry was fast asleep ruled out structural damage to the ligaments in his right ankle. Instead, it revealed “thick, sticky bands of scar tissue”, as well as “inflamed tissue, bone spurs and shredded cartilage”.

(NBAE via Getty Images)

In addition to the surgery, Curry transformed his training under the guidance of California Academy of Sports Medicine director Keke Lyles. The biggest change? It’s about strengthening the hips and glutes, not just the ankles. The goal is that strength from the hips will help reduce pressure on Curry’s ankles.

Initially, Curry could deadlift between 200 and 225 pounds (90-102 kg), according toTorre. After a year of participating in Lyles’ program, the Warriors’ superstar can lift weights up to 400 pounds (about 181 kg), the second highest on the team, only behind Festus Ezeli, a center forward who is 2m11 tall and weighs 120 kg.

“Steph has become more aware of how he needs to take care of his body,” his father, Dell Curry, told ESPN. “It helps Steph understand that his body affects his career.”