Moses Moody’s Injury is the Last Straw in the Warriors’ Falling Apart

The Golden State Warriors have made history over and over again as they dominated the 2010’s and the beginning of the 2020 era. But their dynasty has come to an end, as the Warriors, not just this season but over the years, have faced hard injuries. 

In the 2019 NBA finals, both Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson went down with injuries. Durant tore his Achilles tendon in game five against the Toronto Raptors, and Thompson tore his ACL in game six. Both were star players for the Warriors. That season, the Warriors were unable to three-peat because of these injuries.

They bounced back, though, in 2022, proving they didn’t need Durant, who requested a trade after his injuries, and had Thompson coming back from his own injury. That season, they were led by a young Jordan Poole, Stephen Curry, and a fresh Klay Thompson to achieve another NBA championship. 

People began to have hope again that the Warriors still had fuel left in the tank, but shortly after Poole was traded in 2023, Thompson followed suit in 2024. From there, the Warriors began to fall apart.

Jimmy Butler III, a new addition to the Warriors, who was showing high hopes and promise, suddenly tore his ACL in January. Buddy Hield got traded to the Hawks. Curry was in and out with his own injury bugs. And the final straw came when Moses Moody tore his patellar tendon on March 23 of this year. 

The already struggling Warriors with an unstable and hot-headed Draymond Green and Brandon Podziemski, who is an inconsistent guard, couldn’t afford another season-ending injury like this. Moody was the last straw for the Warriors to fall apart. 

Moody’s injury was a non-contact play in their overtime win against the Dallas Mavericks when he attempted a fast break dunk. His knee buckled as his patellar tendon immediately tore, causing him to fall to the floor and clutch his left knee in immense pain. 

Moody previously missed the last ten games for the Warriors with a right wrist sprain and was having a great game against the Mavs, racking up 23 points before he went down with his injury. “It’s brutal. You know, we’ve been waiting [for him] to get back healthy,” Green told ESPN Radio after the game on Tuesday. 

This season, they landed the 10th seed for the playoffs, barely scraping by in the Western Conference. They have lost 16 of their last 23 games as they search for someone to step up and take charge for them.

The Warriors will face off against the Los Angeles Clippers on April 15 to kick off the start of the playoffs. If they win, they will move on to face either the Phoenix Suns or Portland Trailblazers in a lose-or-go-home situation. Hopefully, they can pull themselves together and at least buy into the playoffs