Preview: BKN at GSW, 7:00pm PT. It’s not supposed to end like this.
Riley on the unfairness of Moses’s injury
The walking wounded, scratch that, the walking dead, that are the Golden State Warriors limp back home to Chase Center on Wednesday night. Following another crushing blow to the health and spirit of the Dubs and Dub Nation in Dallas, they unfortunately still have to suit up and run out the clock against a similarly depleted Brooklyn Nets team.
I can’t sugar coat it; Moses Moody’s season-ending and potentially career-threatening injury puts another pall over the rest of the season, in a new and distinct way from the litany of injuries that preceded his tragic fall. It was a brutal, gruesome accident and it happened to one of the best people on the team. Just when you think things can’t get any worse, those wise words from Homer Simpson prove morbidly true:
And yet the NBA calendar marches on. After Monday night, the inactive list is approaching John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt levels of nominal absurdity. Steph and Seth Curry, Al Horford (on his bobblehead night), Quinten Post, and of course Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody are all out on Wednesday. Not to be outdone, the Nets will be without Noah Clowney, Danny Wolf, Nolan Traore, Michael Porter Jr., Egor Demin and Day’Ron Sharpe.
Now all of that sounds like reasons not to tune in. But hoops will still be played and that’s always a blessing. Rebounds will be grabbed, shots will be made, assists will be dished. Win or lose, there is a familiar, comforting rhythm to a basketball game, and we could all use some comfort right now. There is art in watching a shooter curl around screens, poetry in a properly pinged pass and raucous joy in the force of every dunk.
A young player given a larger role will surprise you and a vet will make some play worth talking about. So don’t let the depressing state of the Dubs muscles, ligaments and tendons rob you of the joy that the game can still provide. Don’t miss out!
GAME DETAILS
WHO: Golden State Warriors (34-38) vs Brooklyn Nets (17-55)
WHEN: Wednesday, March 25th, 2026; 7:00 pm PST
WATCH: NBCSBA
It’s not supposed to end like this. This era was not supposed to end before Steph and Draymond and Steve Kerr were good and ready. It could have gone out with a bang, in the form of a deep playoff run with some exciting moments. That would’ve been improbable and cherished. Or it could have gone out with a gentle whisper, as the stars of the dynasty age gracefully and cede their primacy to the next generation. In that case, fans can see the writing on the wall and have the time to gradually shift their attention towards developing the future instead of nostalgia for the past.
And any number of situations in between would have been OK. They might have been frustrating, like the first couple months of this season, but at least they’d have been fulfilling in some way. At least they wouldn’t have been this.
Dub Nation has been extraordinarily lucky the past decade-plus. We’ve witnessed 4 titles, 73 wins, 2 MVPs, a DPOY, maybe the greatest lineup in history and the transcendent career of a top 10 player of all time. It more than makes up for the lifetime of abuse the franchise put Dub Nation through before Steph came along. And yet I don’t think we (or more importantly, Moses) deserve this.
I realize it’s far too hyperbolic to say that this is the end of everything. No one has retired yet, Steph may return to the court soon, Jimmy has vowed to come back and Moses is still incredibly young. I lean into sports fatalism as a method of coping, to protect my feelings because winning is so much less likely than losing. It’s a cynical strategy antithetical to the best ideals of fandom. Don’t listen to me.
But this latest rung on the ladder to basketball hell feels different. It really does feel like the end to me. On its own, Moses’ situation is devastating. Taken together, the totality of the team’s collective injury woes and talent deficiencies start to become almost too much to bear. Hope starts feeling stupid or impossible.
Part of it is the unpredictability. Jimmy Butler sustaining a torn ACL on a seemingly innocuous play is stunning, tragic and depressing. And it’s also not completely surprising. Jimmy Butler is 36, carried multiple teams to the Finals, and plays harder than most superstars across the league.
Likewise, Stephen Curry dealing with Runner’s Knee is a sobering reminder of our GOAT’s human vulnerability, but it’s also quite predictable. The most common cause of his conditions is believed to be overuse, and no one in the NBA runs further or harder every single game than Steph. He’s 38 years old, has played in 17 regular seasons and nearly 2 more seasons worth of playoff games. Nobody takes care of their fitness better, but after all those miles and all those 3’s, Steph starting to feel the weight of father time doesn’t feel like a curse; it’s the unfortunate cycle of life in the NBA.
But Moses Moody tearing his patella tendon in a non-contact incident, after he returned from a 10 game absence like a superhero is cruel and shocking and unfair. In his far too brief return, Moses was giving the Dubs the shooting, scoring and on-ball defense they’ve been so sorely lacking as of late. He was having a career season, had solidified himself as Golden State’s most consistently good 1st round pick since Kevon Looney.
Another part is the prognosis. Kevin Durant and Jayson Tatum have changed history with their recoveries from Achilles tears. What used to be an athletic death sentence has been studied and challenged and maybe conquered the way ACLs are now pretty routine. Patella tendon tears are different. Nobody has really beaten this injury’s reputation yet. Victor Oladipo, Kelenna Azubuike, Jeremy Lin and Andre Roberson were never really the same. Maybe Moses can be the exception, the one to change history. It would be a biblical miracle befitting of his name, that is for sure. Here’s hoping.
In all honesty, Moses is probably not the most important player on the team. He’s not the key to championship contention, his ceiling as a quality starter felt pretty solidified, and he may yet return unhindered from this sports tragedy. Yet his absence, coming at such a vulnerable part of the season, at the height of his personal development so far, feels so vicariously painful and excessive. We already once had to have funeral rites for the season and our expectations when Jimmy went down. To do it again as a fanbase invokes another classic line from The Simpsons in a perversely comedic way:
The most important part of all of this should not go without saying. It’s the real and horrific pain Moses suffered, the agonizing road he has ahead of him and the way it threatens his career. That should never be taken lightly.
And yet the fans’ pain is valid too. There is only so much a franchise can withstand and still be able to justify optimism for next year or the year after that. This is an old team fighting against the clock that already needed a lot to go right to compete with the younger teams at the top of the standings. Now that battle has gotten even more difficult, and it might be too much to overcome. Which is why losing a young role player (albeit an incredibly professional, hardworking, universally admired one) feels so serious and unfair, like it really might be the death knell to this entire era.
If this ends up being the final straw (again, it is far more than that for Moody), there will be plenty of time to write about everything. In the meantime, all we can do is wish Moses the best, appreciate what he has done so far in his career and hope we beat the Nets tonight.
Prediction
The Warriors’ aspiration (shoutout Kawhi Leonard) to be a winning franchise this season endures, even after another nearly fatal blow. Frankly, they don’t have any other choice, because teams like the Brooklyn Nets are so committed and so successful at being bad. Given those compatible motivations and the talent discrepancy that remains even without 3 starters, the Warriors are going to win their second game in a row, and secure their first win streak since Jimmy went down. It won’t be any consolation, but at least it will feel better than losing.
 | A guest post by
|