Chris Paul (38) was injured during the third quarter of the Warriors’ victory against the Detroit Pistons (113-109) and will have to undergo surgery next week, his franchise said.
“It’s hard. I feel sorry for Chris,” said his coach Steve Kerr. “Players will have to take his place and must be ready to play. We’re going to have to cope without him.” The injury and unspecified unavailability of Paul are a new blow to the head of the Warriors, the most successful franchise in ten years (2015, 2017, 2018 and 2022), but in difficulty at the start of the season.
With 17 victories and 18 defeats, Stephen Curry and his teammates are only tenth in the Western Conference rankings, or in the last qualifying place for the “play-ins”, play-offs for access to the play-offs. The San Francisco franchise, with aging stars, must already do without its interior Draymond Green, suspended since mid-December for another bad gesture, and live with the lack of confidence of its gunner Klay Thompson.
The Warriors have also had a series of defeats this season, like the one suffered at home against Denver on an improbable last-second basket from Nikola Jokic on Thursday evening (130-127).
Chris Paul, never titled in the NBA but selected twelve times in the All-Star Game, third best passer in the history of the league, and double Olympic champion, joined Golden State in June.