Gary Payton II Injury: Why Return To Defending-Champion Warriors This Season Is Dubious

Recently-acquired Golden State Warriors’ wing Gary Payton II will be re-evaluated in one month and the team hopes he will return from his apparent core muscle injury before the playoffs, Warriors general manager Bob Myers told reporters Monday afternoon.

The 30-year-old failed his physical late last week after doctors found a significant core muscle issue. The Blazers reportedly didn’t reveal the severity of the injury Warriors during trade negotiations.

The second-generation NBA champion is well outside the normal recovery window seven months after his third reported core muscle surgery, according to the Pro Basketball Docs, and his ability to be an effective contributor in the playoffs this season is certainly in question. 

There's hope that this won’t be a long-term issue, according to the Pro Basketball Docs, as indicated by Golden State accepting the four-team trade that involved former No. 2 overall pick James Wiseman. 

However, the injury has lingered with Payton for six-and-a-half years, thus it will likely continue to bother the long-winged shooting guard unless something drastically changes in his recovery trajectory. 

Gary Payton II Injury Update And History

The Warriors reportedly filed a complaint with the league office and the Trail Blazers have denied the allegations, including misleading the defending NBA champions and pressuring Payton II to take oral Toradol to play through the injury, the latter of which was initially noted as pain-killing injections and clarified by his agent.

He has undergone multiple and varied adductor and hernia surgeries in his tenuous seven-year career, so why has the problem persisted?

Payton II spoke about his chronic issues after he returned on January 2 with a tone of begrudging capitulation and said it was “Frustrating. FRUSTRATING… It is what it is. Probably my fourth or fifth surgery the last five or six years. I’ve been in darker, deep places… It’s the best it’s going to be for this year. Just gotta thug it out.”

Regardless of what the Blazers shared and held back during last week’s trade negotiations, the Warriors had all the info about Payton’s medical situation before his 15-game stint in Portland, going back to his initial sports hernia and surgery in July 2016 after the Rockets signed him as an undrafted free agent.

Golden State oversaw Payton II undergo an inguinal hernia repair while fighting for the Warriors’ final roster spot in September 2021 and they knew that he missed the first 35 games after another surgery in July 2022. 

The 2021-22 season also represented nearly ⅗ of the Beaver’s NBA career: in his first five seasons, Payton played 808 total minutes in 71 games and scored 238 points on 233 shots, and last season, he played 1,450 total minutes in 83 regular season and playoff games and scored 580 points on 388 shots. 

During Payton’s postseason run that was interrupted by a Dillon Brooks forearm and consequential fractured left radial head, he averaged 6.5 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks-plus-steals in 16.9 minutes and the Warriors went 9-2 when he was healthy and available for the entire game. 

Something isn’t right with Payton's recovery and the Warriors will need to determine how healthy their hometown acquisition will be through his three-year contract as they look to capitalize on the still-suberb Stephen Curry's late-30s.