Stephen Curry’s Personal Trainer Shares Update on Warriors Star’s Return With Bold Playoff Claim

San Francisco—Golden State’s playoff pulse is being taken hourly, and the man who knows Stephen Curry’s body best insists the heartbeat is still strong. Speaking Wednesday on The Line with Dr. Kristine Holmes, Brandon Payne—the performance coach who has guided Curry through every stage of his 15-year career—offered the clearest window yet into the two-time MVP’s stalled recovery from a runner’s knee ailment that has sidelined him since late January.

“If he can play, he’s gonna play,” Payne said flatly. “He loves competing, he loves to play. He also understands and values the fact that people wanna see him play, and fans want to come watch him play, and he enjoys that and loves that he has that responsibility to play for the people that love and support him. It’s just been a little bit kind of tricky.”

The trickiness Payne references is a layer of bone bruising that surfaced after the initial patellofemoral diagnosis, pushing Curry past the originally targeted post-All-Star-break return. According to Payne, the immediate priority is stringing together consecutive days of pain-free loading before the Warriors medical staff clears game action.

“I think that, right now, figuring out what the proper loading is for him to get him to that point is still where they kind of are,” Payne explained. “And they’ll figure it out. I do believe he’ll play again this year.”

That belief comes with an unambiguous postseason proviso: “Any time you have Stephen Curry on your team, in a playoff setting, you have a chance to win.” Payne projects a re-entry window of “the last 6-7 games of the season,” enough time, he argues, for Curry to rebuild rhythm ahead of a play-in push and, should Golden State survive that gauntlet, a full playoff slate.

The numbers illustrate the stakes. In 39 appearances this season Curry is averaging 27.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists; the Warriors are 23-16 with him and 10-20 without him. Since his exit they have slid to 10th in the Western Conference, following Tuesday’s 99-120 loss in Boston with a 2-8 mark over their last 10.

Head coach Steve Kerr, whose staff has spent the interim experimenting with rotations around Draymond Green and newcomer Kristaps Porzingis, conceded the standings reality while clinging to the upside of a healthy roster. “We’re going to be in the play-in one way or the other,” Kerr told reporters. “So we have to prepare… If we are prepared when they get back, we can do damage, we can go on a run.”

Curry has remained visible despite the knee issue, attending recent home and road games in support of teammates and, on at least one occasion, wearing a new pair of Brooks Glycerin Max 2 shoes that instantly ricocheted across social media. Yet visibility does not equal availability, and Golden State’s upcoming slate—Detroit on Thursday, Atlanta and former Warrior Jonathan Kuminga this weekend—will likely unfold minus their offensive engine.

Paying heed to Kerr’s emphasis on “building better habits” before the cavalry returns, the Warriors are hoping to pocket winnable games now so that a late-season Curry reactivation carries tangible meaning. According to Payne, the franchise icon shares that urgency while refusing to rush the final phase of rehab.

“He’s just as eager as his fans to get back on the court,” Payne reiterated, “but he’s got to finish the process.”

Should that process culminate in the projected early-April comeback, Golden State will still need to survive a single-elimination play-in. Still, Payne’s message to the rest of the league is unmistakable: if Curry laces them up, count the Warriors among the most dangerous outs in the bracket.