Timeline of Stephen Curry's injuries over his NBA career

Once upon a time, Warriors star Stephen Curry was injury prone to the point that people thought it might eventually derail his career.

Stephen Curry is clearly one of the NBA's greatest players. He has two MVP awards, three championship rings, and is the undisputed best shooter of all time. But once upon a time, Steph Curry was injury-prone to the point that people thought it might eventually derail his career.

By virtue of being able to look back at it in hindsight, we know now that his injuries wouldn't define him.

It's worth looking back at the timeline of Stephen Curry's injury history.

Dealing with Bumps at Davidson

Even before he entered the NBA, the biggest knock on Steph Curry has always been his slight frame. He's always been on the skinny side, and even at his physical peak isn't that much bigger than most guards in the league. But that hasn't stopped Curry in the past, even when his body was a bit banged up.

His coach at Davidson recounted a story to Scott Fowler of the Charlotte Observer.

“This was in 2007, a couple of days before we played No. 1 North Carolina at Time Warner Cable Arena,” McKillop said. “Steph was a sophomore. He had had a great freshman season for us, and by this time he knew there was probably a pro career out there for him. He also had a cartilage tear in his left wrist. The decision had to be made: Get the surgery and miss the season, or fight through the pain?”

Stephen Curry already knew he had the scouts eyeing him as a definite lottery pick. He could've taken the safe route and undergone surgery. Instead, he powered through the injury to be there for his teammates.

“If he had surgery,” McKillop said, “he probably would have redshirted and lost the year. But no one would have blamed him. He was going to be a pro, and he needed to make the right choice. But Steph looked at Jason and Thomas and said: ‘This is your senior year. I’m not going to let you guys down.’

McKillop said that every day Steph would tape his wrist and just take the pain as it came. And by the good karma Curry deserved, the injury healed as the season went on.

Steph's Injury Woes Begin (2009 – 2012)

Stephen Curry dealt with a lot of injury-prone talk early on in his career. But he actually enjoyed a healthy rookie season on paper. He was able to play in 80 of the team's 82 regular-season games and posted a solid 17.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game while shooting 46.2% from the field and 43.7% from three.

However, just like his time at Davidson, Curry had to play through some injury during '10 – '11 sophomore season. He first injured his ankle during his initial preseason, then kept re-injuring it during the regular season. Even if he didn't miss many games, playing in 74 total, he had to undergo surgery at the end of the season to repair some torn ligaments.

He had his worst year in terms of health during the lockout-shortened season in 2012. Coming off his offseason surgery, things didn't get much better as he re-injured his ankle multiple times. He ended up playing only 26 games and the talk of Curry's “glass ankles” started to spread.

Curry Ramps up his Training Regimen (2012 – 2014)

Despite the concerns about his health, the Warriors still signed Steph to a multi-year deal. Riding high on his new contract, Steph had a productive '12 – '13 season. He would sprain his ankle every so often but played a solid 78 games.

It's during the offseason after that when Steph really changed his training regimen. The Warriors hired Keke Lyles to help with player performance. Through the help of Lyles, Curry developed his core strength and learned to use his hips more to take the stress off of his ankles.

Steph's Championship Years (2015 – 2018)

The new training seemed to work pretty well for Steph and the Golden State Warriors. They became the marquee team of the next few years and held a strangle-hold of the Larry O'Brien trophy. (Well, except in 2016)

These would be the years where Steph would absolutely dominate the NBA. He won back to back MVPs, and three titles in four years. He played 80, 79, and 79 games for the regular season. He dealt with a few ankle injuries again in 2018, playing in just 51 games. But the team still thrived without him, and probably played it safe with their team still playing well with Durant and the rest of the squad.

Curry Breaks his Hand (2019 – 2020)

With Kevin Durant gone, it was time for Steph to take charge once again and remind the world that he's still a top 5 player in this league. But things went south one of the first few games of the season. As Curry tried to split defenders, Aron Baynes ended up falling on his left hand in an awkward position.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbD4jcfNaGk

Curry was actually able to make it back on the court, just before the NBA season was suspended. He produced 23 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists and proved he was still the same old Steph.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Efv0lgcSDgY

Here's to hoping Stephen Curry can stay healthy for the rest of his career.