Stephen Curry's hamstring injury is certainly a bummer for the Golden State Warriors.
More than that, though, it's simply sad for basketball fans everywhere, in a way that ties in LeBron James and Kevin Durant, too.
First the facts: The Warriors won Game 1 of their conference semifinal series against the Timberwolves despite Curry's departure with a hamstring issue, which is expected to keep him out for a week-plus.
Curry, alongside James and Durant, is one of the faces of the NBA. And now, one of his last chances to chase a ring and play deep into the NBA postseason is potentially fleeting.
Some basketball fans may not like Curry, and there are certainly plenty who don't like the King or KD, but this is a monumental time in the game.
You have to go back a long time to reach a point when James, Durant and Curry weren't three of the game's brightest shining stars.
But they're aging, and their time is slowly coming to an end. Durant didn't make the playoffs. James is already knocked out. Now, Curry is hanging on by a hamstring.
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In this era of player movement, maybe it's harder to appreciate the special basketball years we've been in.
But this is some of the most talented, skilled, special hoops ever played.
Curry has changed the game with his shooting. James has a case as the greatest ever. Durant might be the smoothest scorer ever to grace the court.
There are stars that will be around after them, certainly. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Anthony Edwards and Victor Wembanyama and so many more.
But these all-time legends are, in many ways, in their own class. And ever quicker, their hourglass is emptying.
Basketball fans deserved another deep postseason run by Curry (and maybe it'll still come if he heals up and the rest of Golden State plays well in the meantime).
We won't get many more of these, the Curry personal runs with audacious shots that no one else in basketball would even attempt.
We're running short on the LeBron brilliance and the Durant buckets, too.
Hopefully the basketball gods are on our side and give us a key Curry moment in an upcoming Game 7.
But in the meantime, basketball suffers without its modern superstars. The new generation has arrived, and they're amazing.
There's something lost without Curry, James and Durant on playoff courts, though. And that soon may be the permanent reality, with all we can hope that it's not quite over yet.
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