Oh boy, here we go again. The Dub Nation was expecting this since the 13th minute of the first game. When Stephen Curry walked into the locker room, you could hear the Bay Area’s silence all the way in Minnesota. Strained hamstrings at best take a week to heal – so Steph’s MRI was the talk of the town. Well, it’s just been confirmed – Stephen Curry is out for the second game, as reported by Shams Charania of the ESPN.

Steve Kerr predicted this early on, saying, “We’re definitely game planning for him to not be available Thursday. We don’t know yet.” Now he does. Shams tweeted, “Golden State’s Stephen Curry has sustained a Grade 1 left hamstring strain and will be ruled out for Game 2 against Minnesota on Thursday, sources tell ESPN.”

But that’s not even the worst part. There’s no exact timeline as to when he’ll be back, due to there being no record of such an injury to Steph before. “It’s the first strained muscle of Curry’s career, so exact return timetable is unclear due to first rehab like this,” said Shams in the tweet.

The fans took to this in a lot of different ways. Some of them fear the worst, while others look positively to their Chef. But there are a few that also see this as an opportunity for others to rise to the occasion. So let’s break it down.

Fans split on Stephen Curry’s injury update

Let’s get the most obvious narrative out the way first. A fan said, “TAKE MY HAMSTRING PLEASE STEPH JUST BE OKAY”, while others has the same notion but different words. They said things on the lines of “Wolves winning game 2 now for sure” and “Season over 😭.”

This isn’t good news for sure. Especially for someone 37 years into his life. This isn’t the first time they’re in this position though. In fact, Stephen Curry has missed out on a total of 12 games due to injuries in the postseason. Luckily, they deal without him just fine. They have a 9-3 record in his absence, which were split across three series- first round vs Rockets and second round vs Blazers in 2016. They both in five games. And they’ve won the first round of the T-Wolves series as well, so they’re hoping for some historic juju to come their way.

The next narrative is more to do with the timeline. It isn’t clear yet- Steph is out indefinitely. So, what’s the assumption? One fan said, “Damnnnn!! That’s like 1-2 weeks 😭,” while others said “This is a bummer … gotta hope the Warriors can make it to Game 6 Sunday May 18th … that feels realistic at this point” and “Yeah he’s out for the season GGs.”

It’s ironic, but these questions can be answered by another reaction to Shams’ tweet. Dr. Nirav Pandya, M.D., a Professor of UCSF Orthopedic Surgery spoke on the Grade I diagnosis being a positive thing. “A grade 1 hamstring strain is positive news for Warriors fans and #DubNation. A grade 1 sprain = microscopic tearing which is much better than the more significant tearing that occurs with a grade 2 or 3. How he responds to treatment, the MRI specifics (location, muscles involved, etc) will likely determine his RTP with the medical staff.”

But with Stephen Curry out, most of the offensive liability lies on one player- Jimmy Butler. It’s an advantage of having another playoff demon to step up. And the fans know it. One said “see you at earliest G6 steph jimmy time to carry again” and “He is gonna show you why he came to the team,” embedding a video of Buckets. The good news is, Butler’s up for it.

Jimmy Butler takes up leader mantle in stride in Stephen Curry’s absence

It’s kinda obvious how Jimmy Butler steps upto be the de-facto sharpshooter in the team now. So, how does the attack change, with the Chef out resting? “Ball just needs to move a lot more, find the open guy, attack closeouts, get into the paint,” said Butler in his postgame press. But where does Jimmy’s part come in that? It’ll be hard considering their different styles of play, and of course, positions on the court. So how does he look to tackle that problem?

“I guess it’s going to be my job to draw a little bit more attention. Probably not as much as Steph does draw, but I got to find a way to score and get everybody else involved.” Steph is the biggest threat on the field. Naturally, the opps throw the kitchen sink at him, hoping for some reprieve. This helps the likes of Butler and Brandin Podziemski thrive. But with Steph out, Butler’s gonna have to sacrifice that freedom so the team can thrive. And he has 100% confidence in his team doing so.

“Before any team with me on it, I think has a chance and I know that any team with Stephen does have a chance and my guys believe it too. They work so hard at their craft every single day. They don’t shy away from any moment from any matchup. They’ll do whatever you ask them to do to make sure that we have a chance of winning and we don’t need all hands on deck,” said Buckets.

Just like Butler, the Dub Nation are confident in the Golden State getting it over the line without Stephen Curry. Their GOAT will be a huge miss, and they’ve not hesitated to let the world know their thoughts. But will Jimmy thrive in his new role, like he said he would?