Insider Reveals Warriors Locker Room Mood as Stephen Curry Injury Timeline Revealed

A day after Ayesha Curry joked on the Today Show that her husband’s hot shooting meant they didn’t need to turn the heat on because he was “doing that for the whole house,” Stephen Curry grabbed his side in Houston and left the game for good. The Warriors, who saw an end to their eight-game winning streak, won’t like the latest report coming out of the Bay Area concerning their star player.

Before the MRI results came in, The Athletic’s Nick Friedell spoke on the mood in their locker room.

"Jim, the vibe is that it sounded as if his teammates were hoping for the best, and Kerr, as he said, he's hoping for the best, but nobody knows," Friedell said on the Warriors Plus Minus podcast. "The feel, though, was these guys were kind of like, 'All right, we've been through this.' They didn't certainly think it would be too dramatic, but nobody's gonna know until we hear the MRI results, but the takeaway was they're expecting to be without him at least for a short period amount of time, and hopefully that's it."

The MRI results revealed that Stephen Curry sustained an oblique abdominal tear. According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the four-time NBA champion will be re-evaluated in two weeks.

Friedell said one thing stood out as he walked out of the locker room. "Draymond and Podz, I had the same message, which is, hey, we've been through this. We're better equipped to handle the Steph absence. This year, with Yaxel, with the pieces in place now, than they were a year ago, or h*ll, 6 months ago." He added, "It's Steph. Of course everybody's worried, but there is this feeling of, all right, we'll hang in there as long as we have to."

The injury itself is the reason for caution. Curry went to the locker room with 6:25 remaining in the first quarter after a Golden State timeout, and did not return. Steve Kerr said Curry told him he felt something tweak in his abdominal area and that it was the first time he’d had an injury like it.

“Concern is high. But I have no idea the extent,” Kerr said. Curry went for an MRI, and ESPN’s Anthony Slater reported that at halftime, before leaving the arena, he told his teammates to focus and assured them he would get through it.

Friedell also reported that Curry looked "visibly frustrated" as he left the floor, and that the team is bracing to be without him for at least a few games.

The team’s confidence rests on depth that didn’t exist earlier. Podziemski and rookie Yaxel Lendeborg combined for 47 points in the loss. Lendeborg led Golden State with 25 points and 10 rebounds.

Curry missed almost half of the 2025-26 season, including an extended stretch late in the year because of a runner’s knee condition, limiting him to 43 games. Jimmy Butler also played just 38 games before a season-ending torn ACL in January.

The players who spoke to Friedell have already played through a long Curry absence, and they believe they are better prepared this time.

The Warriors have been shorthanded since the start of the season, with injuries to Butler and Moses Moody, on top of Kristaps Porzingis’ illness, which has since led him to step away from basketball.

Curry also sprained his right ankle in practice on Oct. 18, less than a week before the season began, and missed two of the first 11 games for rest on back-to-backs.

The Warriors are 8-4 and entered the night on an eight-game winning streak. The locker room’s confidence is real but cautious, with players saying they’ll hang in there for as long as they have to — at least two weeks.