Warriors’ Two-Way Player Shooting Free Throws With Wrong Hand Is a Snapshot of Team’s Injury Problems

The Warriors lost to the Spurs on Wednesday night, 127-113. Given San Antonio’s status as the second-best team in the NBA and Golden State’s place at the very edge of the Western Conference playoff picture, it was not a surprising result. In fact, that final score reflects a game that was more competitive than it had a right to be in light of the Dubs’ personnel.

The Warriors’ injury report for the game was absolutely ridiculous. Steph Curry remains out, of course, with a potential return date for Sunday after months of rehabbing a nagging knee issue. But a whopping six other players joined him on the bench in street clothes. All five of the franchise’s “day-to-day” players (Gui Santos, Gary Payton II, De’Anthony Melton, Kristaps Porziņģis and Quinten Post) were ruled out. Al Horford remains sidelined due to a calf strain. All those names are in addition to Jimmy Butler II and Moses Moody, who suffered season-ending injuries.

That left Golden State with only nine guys available to take the floor against the Spurs. Brandin Podziemski, Draymond Green, Pat Spencer and Will Richard were the only usual rotation players who were able to suit up. The rest of the group was made up of players on two-way deals, a 10-day contract, and Steph Curry’s brother Seth.

NBA teams all get pretty banged up by the end of the season but this is particularly poor injury luck even acknowledging that context. And last night’s lost offered the perfect summation of the state the Warriors are in as the regular season comes to a close.

Two-way forward Malevy Leons, a second-year player signed by Golden State over the offseason, played 29 minutes against San Antonio, by far the highest he’s played out of his 21 appearances this year. He did so despite hurting his shooting wrist weeks ago against the Pistons. Leons’s injury was severe enough that, when he got fouled on Wednesday night, he chose to shoot them with the wrong hand. He missed his first two attempts as a lefty but swished the third, to the delight of everyone at Chase Center.

Malevy Leons is having to shoot free throws left handed in this game 😅 pic.twitter.com/4uR7cxrRwz
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) April 2, 2026

After the game coach Steve Kerr praised Leons and acknowledged his wrist is “really messed up.”

“I’m sure fans don’t know this, but Malevy is right-handed and his wrist is really messed up, so that’s why he shot those free throws left-handed,” Kerr told reporters. “He’s out there basically playing with one hand... What this guy’s doing as a two-way player, trying to make it—he’s smart, he plays with unbelievable energy and obviously plays through the injury.”

Even with all the injuries that tend to pile up by the end of a regular season the Dubs were put in a rare spot. In order to field a semi-competitive roster the team had to bank on a two-way player suiting up despite being so injured he couldn’t shoot free throws with the correct hand.

That’s next level. And a summary of Golden State’s season, really. The injury bug has hit hard and put the Warriors in the position they find themselves in now—limping to the finish line while clinging to the last play-in tournament spot, hoping against hope Curry can save them once more.

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