Stephen Curry’s knee injury continues to linger. The Golden State Warriors’ superstar has already missed 16 consecutive games, and won’t be re-evaluated until after the team’s East Coast road trip that will see them face the New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Atlanta Hawks and Washington Wizards.

According to ESPN’s Anthony Slater, speaking via “The Hoop Collective” podcast, Golden State is reluctant to put Curry back on the court this season, as concerns remain over the risk of re-injury or re-aggravation of his knee, once he’s back to playing competitive-level basketball.

“Runner’s knee is what they’re calling it,” Slater said, “There’s no structural damage. They’ve MRI’d a few times. But when he works out, including during All-Star weekend, it just hasn’t responded well. It’s swelling, it’s dull pain, it’s really kind of an overuse injury…I think that if Jimmy Butler were around, and they were trying to, like, muscle their way into a top-four type seed, if it were a different type of situation with different realistic goals ahead of them this season, I think that they’d be throttling down a bit more.”

“But next season has become the season in this final Steph era. I don’t think they want to jeopardize that at all. And this is, from what I gather, an injury that they fear. If you do put him back on the court and he’s not quite ready, he could re-injure it, re-aggravate, whatever you want to say.”

Curry, 38, is firmly in the final stages of his career. It the Warriors believe shutting him down for the remainder of the season makes the most sense, and gives the team a better shot at contending next season, then it’s unlikely we will see him back on the court this season. After all, the aim is to maximize Curry’s impact, not risk his overall longevity.

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Shutting Curry down is undoubtedly the last option. However, it would allow some of Golden State’s younger talents to continue stacking minutes and developing on the fly. Long-term, that could put the Warriors in a stronger position, especially if someone like Brandin Podziemski or Moses Moody takes a developmental leap.

Golden State will undoubtedly re-evaluate Curry in the near future. If he’s still not ready to go, it might be time to make a tough decision that will alter the team’s expectations for the remainder of this season.

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This article originally appeared on Warriors Wire: Warriors ‘fear’ Stephen Curry knee injury could worsen if he returns