When Stephen Curry limped out of a game against Detroit back in January, the MRIs on his right knee kept coming back clean while the pain and swelling refused to. That saga cost him an All-Star appearance and left the Warriors bracing for the worst all spring. Now, months later, a fresh clip out of China has Golden State’s fanbase reliving that exact nightmare, and one prominent voice online says it could mark the beginning of the end.

Curry is currently overseas for Li-Ning’s Wide Open Tour. A promotional event through Beijing, Dongguan and Shenzhen running Sept. 9 through 14. A short video from the trip showing him walking with a visible limp quickly spread across social media, and it didn’t take long for fans to connect it to the patellofemoral pain syndrome – commonly known as runner’s knee – that sidelined him for a chunk of the 2025-26 season. Sports commentator Jim Park was among those sounding the alarm.

“If this is the same ‘runner’s knee,’ and if it lingers into the coming season, this is the thing that’s going to end up cutting Steph Curry’s career short,” he wrote. “Pray it’s something else because if it isn’t and this is what it looks like after the offseason, it’s a wrap.”

Stephen Curry missed extended time earlier this year with the exact same diagnosis. And at 38, a chronic knee issue resurfacing before a single regular-season game tips off would be a genuinely alarming sign for a Warriors team built around his availability.

He is still weighing a reported two-year, $136.7 million extension with Golden State. Any hint that his knee hasn’t fully settled complicates that decision for both sides. NBC Sports Bay Area’s Monte Poole had already flagged as much before the China trip, noting that lingering concern around the knee hasn’t fully disappeared even if it’s considered manageable.

As of this week, there’s been no official statement from Li-Ning, the Warriors or Curry’s camp confirming any injury. Curry did battle runner’s knee last season, but that issue was reported as resolved before the offseason began, and a limp on a promotional tour could just as easily be soreness from a packed travel schedule as a recurrence of anything serious.

That doesn’t mean the Warriors are treating the knee as a non-issue. Poole reported that Curry and his training staff have already built a management plan around the joint, describing it as something that has to be actively monitored rather than ignored.

Even so, Curry himself has reportedly stayed confident he can push past 70 games this season. A number he’s hit only once in the past seven years, suggesting his own camp isn’t bracing for the worst the way online reaction might imply.