Moses Moody suffered a truly gruesome injury last night against the Dallas Mavericks. The Golden State Warriors crumpled to the ground in pain after trying to go up for a routine dunk attempt late in overtime. MRI tests revealed that Moody suffered a torn patellar tendon in his left knee, ending his 2025-2026 season and potentially be ruled out for parts of the following season.
It's a devastating blow for the Warriors forward, who was getting back into the groove against the Mavericks. That being said, head coach Steve Kerr relayed some good news about Moody. While his patellar tendon needs to be worked on, the MRIs showed that his bones and cartilages were clean, per 95.7 The Game.
“The MRI was clean,” Kerr said on a radio interview. “It's the [patellar] tendon. No damage to cartilage or bone, so that's the good news. That allows it to be a pretty basic surgery.”
Other notable NBA players who have suffered a torn patellar tendon include Jeremy Lin, Victor Oladipo, and Caron Butler. Typically, injuries like this take a long time to heal, with full recovery taking up to a year. Perhaps even more concerning for the Warriors, though, is the drop in production that players experience after this injury. Butler is the only exception, but most players who suffer a torn patellar tendon never quite make it to the same level that they did in previous years.
That being said, there's still a lot of optimism that Moody can return to the same level he performed at. This season was his best year with the Warriors in five years of playing. He averaged double-digit points for the first time in his career while shooting 40% from three-point range, and he has been an effective defender for the team. In that Mavericks game, Moody had 23 points while filling up the stat sheet in many ways.
The Warriors will play the Brooklyn Nets tomorrow. They are preparing for the Play-In Tournament run before the postseason.
