Who Steph’d Up? Tracking the Warriors Without Curry in the NBA 2025–26 Season
Golden State Warriors 2025–26: What changed when the system changed?
NBA regular season is over. For the Golden State Warriors, the 2025–26 season was defined by injuries, and what emerged was a very different team with upstanding potential.
The season ended early for Jimmy Butler III as he tore his ACL on a non-contact play during the second quarter against his previous team the Miami Heat on January 19th.
Only 11 days later on January 30th, Stephen Curry exited mid-game against the Pistons from right knee pain. He missed 27 consecutive games due to knee pain and 39 games total (48%) this season.
Line chart showing the number of original Warriors roster players active over time, highlighting a sharp decline following key injuries to Butler, Curry, and Moody.
Sciatica sidelined Seth Curry (#31), while sprained ankles and lower body injuries limited playtime across the roster.
Moses Moody, who played 60 games, tore his left knee tendon in a non-contact event in Dallas and ended his season early on March 23rd.
Draymond Green was the only vet to consistently play this season.
As injuries reshaped the roster, a small group of players took on increasing responsibility. Brandin “Podz” Podziemski, an “iron man”, played all 82 games this season. Podz played alongside Gary Payton II (89%), Will Richard (84%), Draymond Green, and Gui Santos (both 83%).
Bar chart showing the percentage of games played by each Warriors player in the 2025–26 season, highlighting a small core group (Podziemski, Payton II, Santos, Green, Post, Spencer, Richard) who appeared in over 80% of games.
Golden State’s lineup drastically changed with new faces of responsibility, including LJ Cryer and other Santa Cruz Warriors, and “big” trades like Kristaps Porzingis. The rolling 10-game win percentage shows the team’s initial momentum above 0.500, suffering below for the rest of the season after Steph’s extended absence.
Rolling 10-game win percentage for the Warriors, showing early momentum above 0.500 before a sustained drop following Curry’s injury.
With Curry out, the remaining players developed under pressure.
Early in the season, Stephen Curry averaged 27.3 PPG, 4.0 3PM, and 4.9 AST. Podz at the same time averaged 12.2 PPG, 1.7 3PM, and 3.5 AST. Between February and Curry’s return on April 5th, Podz increased his averages to 15.8 PPG, 2.0 3PM, and 4.4 AST.
Player-level scoring trends over time for key contributors, showing increased offensive roles for Podziemski, Santos, and Payton II during Curry’s absence.
Of the players who contributed to more than 80% of the games this season, Podz, Santos, and Payton showed clear positive trends in points made over time, especially during Steph’s absence. Will Richard showed a slight declining trend. Draymond Green’s points remained consistent throughout the season.
By the second to last game of the season, Stephen Curry returned to knock out the Clippers at their house, the first time the Warriors beat the Clippers at the Intuit Dome. Injuries caught up to the Warriors as they competed for the 8th seed in the playoffs against the Suns days later.
While Podz and Santos began the season as substitutes for Steph and Jimmy, their games evolved over time, showing promise as reliable starters in their own right.
Looking ahead, this fan hopes for health for the Warriors in the offseason and to watch competitive matches in the NBA playoffs.
This analysis reflects regular season data through April 12, 2026. NBA API data were not up-to-date when publishing this.
