The doctor explains Steph's ankle injury and possible timeline for return

The doctor explains Steph's ankle injury. The potential return schedule originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

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The Warriors will be without Steph Curry for at least the next two games, both against the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday and Wednesday at Chase Center.

Thereafter? It's unclear when the superstar point guard will return to the court.

The Warriors announced Monday that Curry suffered a left ankle strain in Sunday's loss to the Los Angeles Clippers and will miss both games against New Orleans before being reevaluated on Friday.

NBC Sports Bay Area recently spoke with Stanford Medicine orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist David E. Oji, who provided insight into Curry's peroneal nerve injury, what it entails and how long the 36-year-old could be sidelined.

“Based on a simple mechanism that Steph essentially had, there are many structures that he could injure,” said Dr. Oji told NBC Sports Bay Area on Monday. “It's not just the typical ankle sprain that we all think of when someone twists their ankle. There are tendons on the outside called peroneal tendons that allow you to move your foot into the external position called eversion.”

“And you can actually put weight on these structures or essentially pull them. There could even be small tears along the tendons. In some cases, this tendon is attached to the bone. You can actually break the bone right from the base, but a lot can happen with a simple ankle sprain.”

While the Warriors will reevaluate Curry on Friday, that doesn't necessarily mean he will be cleared and available for Saturday's game against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center. Like Dr. Oji points out that the injury, depending on its severity, could keep Curry out of action for at least a full week.

“From my experience treating similar injuries… if they have a very simple strain on the tendon with no specific tears, it could be as simple as a week or two of intensive rehab and making sure they're comfortable.” “The mechanics are again where she needs to be and the strength is 100 percent there to get her playing again,” Oji explained.

“If a small tear or larger injury is detected on imaging, healing can take much longer, lasting several weeks and months.”

Fortunately for Curry and the Warriors, the injury does not appear to be serious. After the game, Warriors coach Steve Kerr provided an initial update on Curry straight from the source.

“He’s fine,” Kerr told reporters after the game. “…He used the word 'mild' or 'moderate' – he's obviously sprained that ankle a lot. He doesn't think it's that bad. But obviously there is cause for concern.”

The Warriors said in their initial update on Monday that Curry's MRI showed no structural damage, which is certainly good news.

However, it remains to be seen how long the injury will keep him sidelined.

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