UPDATE: Saturday, May 18, at 10:53 p.m. ET by Ian Hanford

According to ESPN's Pierre LeBrun, Couture is back on the ice:

---End of update---

According to ESPN's Pierre LeBrun, center Logan Couture left Saturday night's Game 3 action at HP Pavilion after crashing hard into the boards:

LeBrun notes that the San Jose star was heavily favoring his left leg, though it's unclear what part of his leg was injured: 

Wes Gilbertson of the Calgary Sun noted that Couture was unable to put any weight on his leg heading back to the locker room.

Couture left the ice midway through the second period with the score tied 1-1.  

San Jose came into Saturday night's action down 2-0 to the defending Stanley Cup champion Kings. Buoyed by the excellence of goalie Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles was able to stifle a Sharks attack that struggled for long stretches during the regular season.

Things will would only get worse if Couture is out an extended period of time. The 24-year-old center isn’t mentioned among the Sidney Crosbys of the NHL, but has fast become the Sharks’ most reliable offensive threat. Couture had nine points in six playoff games heading into Game 3, which was tied with seventh among all players.

That performance falls in line with Couture’s strong finish to the regular season. The fourth-year pro finished the 2012-13 campaign with 37 points, including a team-high 21 goals. 

While an assist is all he has to his name versus Los Angeles, Couture’s mere presence is a threat that has to be accounted for every time down the ice. Without him in the lineup, the Sharks will have to make major adjustments to their lines, ones that could prove critical against a Kings team peaking at the right moment. 

The Sharks are yet to release an official statement on Couture’s condition.

Read more San Jose Sharks news on BleacherReport.com

The NHL suspended Torres for the remainder of San Jose's second-round series against the defending champion Los Angeles Kings after a hit on Jarret Stoll in Game 1—something that Wilson felt was an overreaction by the league and simply a result of Torres' past decisions influencing his current punishment.

According to NHL.com, Wilson addressed the suspension in an official statement on Friday:

Upon review of the incident, it is abundantly clear that this was a clean hockey hit. ... Comparing the facts of this incident against the actual wording of Rule 48.1, it appears that the NHL has not only made an inappropriate application of this rule but is trying to make an example out of a player who is being judged on past events.

The general manager also pointed out that Torres has dramatically changed regarding penalty minutes this season, taking "only six minor penalties in 39 games."

This comes, of course, after the league suspended the forward 25 games last season for a hit on Marian Hossa in the first round of the playoffs. It later reduced the suspension to 21 games, which still carried over into the start of the 2013 season.

However, the NHL didn't feel the same way about Wilson's comments and fined the team due to the timing and inappropriate nature of the remarks.

According to the league statement on NHL.com:

The fine was issued for violation of League Rules that prohibit formal team statements to the media during the 48-hour period following a disciplinary decision. The Rule calls for an automatic fine of $25,000. The Sharks were fined an additional $75,000 under Article 6 of the League's Constitution due to the inappropriate nature of the comments.

The fine comes at a frustrating time for the Sharks, who find themselves trailing 2-0 in their second-round series against the Kings heading into Game 3.

The Sharks squandered a late 3-2 lead in Game 2 to lose 4-3, and they have looked far from the team that swept the Vancouver Canucks in the first round.

Game 3 is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET on Saturday.

Hit me up on Twitter for more sports goodness: Follow @dantalintyre

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Oakland announced that the 25-year-old left-handed Anderson has a navicular stress fracture in his right foot via their official Twitter account:

The #Athletics announced that LHP Brett Anderson has a navicular stress fracture of his right foot. He will be reevaluated in four weeks.

— Oakland Athletics (@Athletics) May 17, 2013

The San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser confirmed the story, while indicating Anderson will be re-evaluated in four weeks. In an update to her story, she reported that he is expecting to pitch again this year, but if it is determined he needs surgery, it would likely end his season.

Now in his fifth major league season, Anderson has been consistently plagued by injuries since a successful rookie campaign in 2009 that saw him go 11-11 with a 4.06 ERA in 30 starts. He has appeared in just a combined 44 games (43 starts) in the four years since, and been on the disabled list a number of times, including undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2011.

Anderson is 1-4 with a 6.21 ERA this year in six games. He has been on the disabled list with a sprained ankle since May 1, and was nearing a return when he found out about his most recent injury.

According to an Associated Press Report on ESPN.com, the southpaw was bitterly disappointed about his most recent setback:

It's pretty frustrating, disappointing and all the other similar adjectives. I was two days away from making another rehab start and now I'm in a walking boot with a fracture in my foot…

I'd pitched in San Antonio and felt good after that. I was running Monday in the outfield and all of a sudden my foot started hurting. I got it checked out and this is the result. I'm still processing it. I should take up a hobby, maybe play darts or something.

Slusser reported Anderson is in a walking boot and on crutches. She believes that even in the best case scenario, between healing and necessary rehab, he would miss at least two months with his fracture.

Young right-hander Dan Straily replaced Anderson in the Oakland rotation, but his poor performance so far suggests the team could look at other options. He is 1-2 with a 7.27 ERA in five starts, while walking 4.2 batters per nine innings.

In a separate article, Slusser suggests the A’s could look at minor leaguers Sonny Gray or Andrew Werner to step in for Straily if needed.

The right-handed Gray was the team’s first-round draft choice in 2011. He has dominated at Triple-A so far this season, going 4-2 with a 2.47 ERA in seven starts.

Werner, a left-hander, pitched briefly in the majors with the San Diego Padres last year before being traded to Oakland during the offseason. He is just 4-5 with a 6.92 ERA at Triple-A this season, but had a 3.57 career minor league ERA the previous four years combined.

Anderson told Slusser that while he is frustrated, he can’t dwell on his string of injuries or his current situation:

I can’t feel sorry for myself. That would be a waste of time. I’m still young, I’m 25. You never want to be labeled injury prone, but hopefully, I’ll get out there and make consecutive starts. I have the highest expectations for myself and I think I’m one of the better pitchers in the game when I’m healthy.

In baseball, players’ reputations are made from production. If Anderson can come back and pitch to his fullest potential, his snake-bitten past will recede from memory, which would surely be welcomed by both Oakland and the hobbled pitcher.

Statistics via Baseball-Reference 

Follow @historianandrew

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Bryant's insights delighted the Twitterverse, and ABC's broadcast often displayed and discussed his tweets at length. 

Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni was even asked about Bryant's online commentary after the game. That's when Bryant decided to hold his tongue (and his thumbs) until the series came to its final, grisly conclusion.

To tweet or not to tweet.. I CHOOSE not 2. Focus should be on the team not my insight. @georgelopez voice "Can't DO nothin!"#vinospeare

— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) April 22, 2013

What if he never muzzled himself though, and kept delivering candid nuggets throughout the series? 

Here are five tweets Bryant wished he could have sent out.

Begin Slideshow

While he was a key contributor in leading the Warriors to 47 regular-season wins and just their second trip to the postseason since 1994 (league-best 56 double-doubles, 19.2 player efficiency rating), he wasn't around long enough to help them lengthen their playoff stay.

A torn right hip flexor in Game 1 of Golden State's opening-round series with the Denver Nuggets cut the eight-year veteran's playoff debut drastically short. While initial reports ruled him out for the remainder of the postseason, he miraculously battled his way back onto the floor.

It was an admirable move to say the least, but the damage had clearly already been done. The injury largely restricted him to spot duty, never playing more than 13 minutes or reaching double-digit points.

But the crushing blow to Lee was in no way a death sentence for his Warriors. In fact, they won four of their next five games, eliminating the sixth-seeded Nuggets in six games.

Their playoff run was upended six games later by the San Antonio Spurs, but their season was still seen as an overwhelming success.

The question on everyone's mind was how this team was able to not only survive in Lee's absence, but thrive without its fallen star.

History has produced a number of teams that have drawn an emotional lift from the loss of a premier participant.

But the Warriors' success saw more tangible factors coming to the surface.

The loss of Lee gave coach Mark Jackson some flexibility with his starting five. Against the speedy, athletic Nuggets, he added Jarrett Jack and later Carl Landry to his opening lineup. Once the bigger, more physical Spurs came on the schedule, Jackson shuttled Landry, Festus Ezeli and Draymond Green into the starting 4 spot.

Jack and Harrison Barnes (16.1 points per game in the postseason) added to the team's offensive firepower. Ezeli and Green helped build a formidable defensive front alongside Andrew Bogut. Landry brought a familiar touch, scrapping for offensive rebounds and dropping in mid-range jumpers out of pick-and-pop sets.

Had Jackson discovered an unlikely silver lining in Lee's loss? Were the Warriors even better off without him?

Golden State's front office certainly hopes not. Lee's on the books for the next three seasons, owed more than $44 million over that time, according to Hoops Hype.

The Warriors have enough financial problems to worry about as it is.

Seldom-used reserves Richard Jefferson and Andris Biedrins are set to collect more than $20 million combined next season. Bogut's nagging ankle injury has the potential to make the $14.2 million left on his contract become a tremendous burden.

Could Lee's scoring (18.5) and rebounding (11.2) averages have just been a mirage—empty statistics over impactful substance?

There's a smattering of evidence that seems to suggest yes but a 79-game sample screaming a resounding no.

Lee has his problems. His defensive deficiencies were often glaring, even when Bogut was healthy enough to watch his back. His offensive outbursts had a tendency to fizzle in late-game situations or when he was paired up with a defender capable of meeting (or exceeding) his strength and athleticism.

But his presence on the floor could have meant the difference between watching the Western Conference Finals and actually participating in them.

The Warriors clearly needed another scorer on the floor when the Spurs figured out ways to silence the Splash Brothers (Curry and Thompson shot just 35.5 percent from the field after Game 2). They craved any kind of interior presence to relieve some pressure from the perimeter.

Lee's not a natural post scorer, but he knows how to free himself near the basket and has a soft touch with either hand. Once the defensive attention shifts his way, he's a gifted spotter and spent the season developing a keen eye for his sharpshooters. He's an emotional leader, the kind to instill confidence even when faced with a pair of elimination games.

Is he overpaid? Probably, but the ink has long ago dried on his contract, and those salary figures won't change. Is he valuable to this franchise? Absolutely, he's a veteran leader capable of lightening the offensive load placed on Curry's fragile ankles.

The Warriors' future is bright, and Lee will play a prominent role in helping them maximize their potential.

Read more Golden State Warriors news on BleacherReport.com

He is the Alexander Graham Bell of the NBA.

Now, before you go assuming I'm a Phil Jackson fan, let me explain.

There is a story, perhaps apocryphal, that says Bell came into the patent office in 1876 lugging his invention, the telephone. He sat down with the device on his lap, waiting for his appointment.

A few minutes later, a gentleman by the name of Elisha Gray came in with his attorney and sat down in the crowded lobby, across from Bell. On his lap was…another telephone.

The two men stared at each other's inventions, then at each other.

And then they called Bell's name.

That part of the story may be a myth. This part is not: Alexander Graham Bell's appointment was earlier than Elisha Gray's. His patent was the 15th filed on that February day. Gray's was the 39th.

Had Gray made his appointment one day previous, it's his name we'd be force fed in grade-school history class.

Bell was a bright man, no question. But there were other bright men. Bell happened to be in the right place at the right time.

Phil Jackson didn't have the telephone. Instead, he had the aforementioned Jordan and Bryant, two of the greatest players of all time dropped into his coaching lap. Nay, three, when we include Shaquille O'Neal.

As a matter of record, Jackson, who has more NBA jewelry than carpal digits, may be the lord of the rings. But as a coach, I say he's merely the king of being in the right place at the right time.

I say the Phil Jackson effect is nothing more than opportunism.

Let's start with the teams he's coached.

Jackson was preceded as coach of the Chicago Bulls by Doug Collins. The Bulls improved by 10 wins in Collins' first year as head coach. His second year, they improved by 10 more.

In each year, the Bulls got one round further in the playoffs than they had before, first bowing out in the first round, then in the second and finally in the conference finals.

They were on their way up. Moreover, they were not very deep. Their top scorers for Collins' last season were Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Bill Cartwright and Horace Grant. After that, you were looking at guys like Craig Hodges and Sam Vincent.

In other words, Collins was achieving these improvements with an incomplete roster.

A week before before Collins was fired, the Bulls picked thrice in the first round of the NBA draft. Their first two picks, Stacey King and B.J. Armstrong, were sixth and eighth in scoring, respectively, for the team the following year, Jackson's first year.

You think Collins wouldn't have improved on his record with those guys added to the fold?

The way Jackson tells it, Collins, his former boss, had yelled too much at his players, so they were nervous to think for themselves. I admit that Collins is vitriolic and mercurial. But somehow the idea that he was so Mike Rice-like that the team responded like abused children is difficult for me to swallow. After all, they did make the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since...well, since they were in the Western Conference (that's not a misprint).

But in Jackson's account, it was him riding in on a white horse, getting the players to remember how to trust their natural instincts, that made the Chicago Bulls who they were.

Whatev, Phil. I say for some reason, Collins' relationship with Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf had soured, and the notoriously cheap Reinsdorf simply chose an assistant off Colllins' staff to replace him. Which makes you the luckiest duck since Lana Turner chose the Top Hat Cafe on Sunset to grab a Coke.

I say Jordan was going to win multiple championships eventually. I've never seen a player more destined for the Larry O'Brien Trophy than he.

I say the supporting cast had gotten better. And I say if the Bulls had kept Collins, they would have just as much bling. And Jackson would have much less.

Because it was Phil's vaunted stature more than anything else that landed him the plum job of coaching Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant. And once again, the timing was impeccable.

Del Harris, while not a coach of Collins' stature, had acquitted himself well in stops with the Houston Rockets and Milwaukee Bucks. Moreover, he had guided the Lakers to a 61-win campaign in 1997-98, the last full season before his firing.

Yes, his team was off to a 6-6 start the following year. But it was a strike-shortened season, and every team was struggling to get back into game form after the drastically abbreviated preseason. Had the Lakers brass shown some patience, instead of rushing to fire Harris, there is every reason to believe that the trajectory of the Lakers under him would have mirrored the one it took under Jackson.

But let's say for the sake of argument that there was something Jackson brought to both teams that transformed them, something no one else could provide. Some say it was mindfulness: the notion of noticing one's thoughts and feelings, rather than being them. It's a concept of which I am a big fan.

Call me crazy, but when I watch MJ's Hall of Fame induction speech, or any press conference Kobe and Shaq ever had, I hear competitiveness, but I don't hear mindfulness.

So what else could Jackson have brought?

What about the vaunted triangle offense? It used to be mentioned so often and in such hushed and reverential tones by broadcasters of Lakers games, one would think they were talking about the lost Ark of the Covenant.

Time to pull the curtain back on the great and powerful wizard and demystify the triangle offense.

The word is it's so complex. Really? The triangle is composed of a center in the low post, a forward at the wing and a guard in the corner. That leaves the remaining two players on the weak side to play their own two-man game. Yes, there's more to it than that, specifically a great deal of motion, but that's the essence in a nutshell.

Put it like this: Even Avril Lavigne wouldn't call that complicated.

Here's what the triangle offense demands: a player on the post who will draw double-teams, and a player who can direct the offense. On Chicago, those players were Jordan and Pippen, respectively. On Los Angeles, they were Shaq and Kobe.

With players like that, nothing's really complicated.

And if the triangle offense were really the key to winning a championship, why isn't anyone else running it? It's been around since the '40s. In all that time, don't you think teams would hire consultants to figure it out if the scheme meant winning it all?

There is one more quality Jackson has been lauded for: his wisdom. Jackson is practically canonized by so many fans and media, to the point that he has the reputation of being a modern-day Siddhartha.

I don't know if something's wrong with the audio on my TV set, but whenever I watched a Phil Jackson press conference, he sure comes off as a petulant whiner. Much more often than not, Phil's pressers were glorified gripe-fests about some aspect of officiating.

It's probably unfair to expect the meaning of life from Jackson. But giving credit to the other team after a loss...I don't know, is that too much to ask from such an alleged sage?

From what I've seen, yeah it is.

A real sage would see himself as he is: a competent and hard-working coach who inherited great teams and rode them to the top.

Jackson has never once taken a bad team and turned it into a good one. He's never even taken a team without two superstars past the second round. He lost in the conference semis both years of MJ's first retirement, and with Kobe as L.A.'s lone superstar, Jackson's Lakers teams won 45 and 42 games. Some might recall that before the Lakers traded for Pau Gasol, Kobe was at the end of his rope with frustration about his team's failures.

Modern-day sports history, though, has been reduced to a bottom-line mentality. As Al Pacino said so presciently in And Justice For All, winning is everything. Regardless of the truth.

What is the truth?

The truth is, if you want Jackson to agree to coach your team, make sure your team is already great (note to the current Lakers: you don't qualify). Otherwise, the Phil Jackson effect will be that he won't take the job.

Come on. And risk being exposed?

Jackson may not be the greatest coach the game has ever seen. But I guarantee you he's smart enough that if he does come back to coaching, it will only be in the right place at the right time.

Read more Los Angeles Lakers news on BleacherReport.com

The Golden State Warriors’ season came to an abrupt halt Thursday night, falling 94-82 to the San Antonio Spurs in a win-or-stay-home situation. Despite all the makings of a possible storybook ending, the Cinderella story came to an end at the hands of a team that was just not interested in allowing a happy finish.

Well, it’s over for now, anyway.

There is no shame in losing to the Spurs. For over a decade, a date with the Spurs in the postseason has spelt doom for a great number of teams. It was no different with these Warriors. The buzz saw that San Antonio simply added another prize to its trophy case.

Unfortunately for these Spurs, the Warriors are primed for redemption next season. Actually, they’re primed for the foreseeable future.

With their core three—Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Harrison Barnes—all 25 years old or younger, this postseason was merely a precursor of what may be to come. They gave the Spurs all they could handle in their first-ever playoff series. With another year of experience under their belts, it is only fair to assume that far bigger things are in store.

When healthy, the Warriors boast one of the most formidable starting fives in the NBA, led by newly christened superstar Curry and his frontcourt mate David Lee.

Sweet shooting from Curry and Thompson. Elite athleticism from Barnes. A big-man duo in Lee and Andrew Bogut that complements each player perfectly—one offensive-minded while the other possesses elite rebounding and defensive ability.

The future is indeed bright for the Warriors.

This postseason, the Warriors were the victims of circumstance. For all of the talk Kevin Durant got about losing his sidekick Russell Westbrook, not a big deal was made when Curry’s went down.

Lee going down was supposed to signal instant defeat. Instead, it marked the coming of age for an extremely young team. A young team with much room for improvement.

The priority during the offseason obviously must be to ensure that Jarrett Jack and Carl Landry remain a part of the team. Their contributions off the bench ensured that the drop-off between starters and reserves is minimal.

With Draymond Green and Festus Ezeli rounding out the rotation, the Warriors have become one of the deepest teams in the league. It is that depth that Mark Jackson must learn to utilize.

If Jackson can keep his core fresh throughout the regular season, he can unleash them full force during the postseason. There should be no excuse for tired legs during the next campaign. There are simply too many quality players.  

The Warriors entered this season with low expectations. They blew those out of the water.

The challenge for next season will be making sure they meet the undoubtedly high expectations they have now created for themselves. With a young squad that can only improve (barring a Tyreke Evans-type self-combustion), it is rather safe to assume they will do just that.

Read more Golden State Warriors news on BleacherReport.com

The Golden State Warriors far exceeded everyone’s expectations this season, but we learned a lot about this team from their second-round playoff series.

At the start of the series, the Dubs came out of the gate flying by dominating the tempo, spacing and shot selection.  By the end of the series, the team looked flat-out gassed and was being hypnotized by the more experienced San Antonio Spurs.

The Warriors showed they could hang with the big boys, especially against a team that has dominated them for so long.  They finally got that long sought-after win in San Antonio, a place they had not won since the last century.

The first two games of the series showed the potential of this team.  They ran the Spurs, passed effectively and made key shots.  Before he ran out of gas in the series, Klay Thompson put his face on the national map by exploding for 34 points and 14 boards in the Game 2 win. 

As you can see from the highlights, Thompson had fresher legs and was a deadly marksman behind the arc.  As the series progressed and the Spurs made adjustments, Thompson was less effective.

The series also showed growth by Steph Curry.  His third-quarter pinball shows got fewer and fewer after Game 1, while he had to play through the nagging pain of an ankle tweaked in Game 3.

Curry is the franchise's leader.  He stepped up and played huge in the wins, but he also took full blame for the loss in Game 5.

Curry has bought in to the Warriors future, and he is their marketable star—the player who will take this young, burgeoning team to the next plateau, even if he has to play through the pain.

After setting the NBA record for three-pointers in a season, you can expect more splashing of the nets when the game is on the line.

He is money from behind the arc, but he really showcased his ability to bang around with the big guys and make shots inside.

The Spurs made the necessary adjustments and took hold of the series after Game 2.  The Warriors couldn’t recapture their free-flowing offense, even after the series shifted to Oakland.

The Warriors played from behind the rest of the way, and if not for a dramatic comeback in Game 4, the Spurs could have run away with the series.  The key element in that Game 4 comeback was rookie Harrison Barnes, who showed his tremendous potential in this series.

Barnes took control and started a fourth-quarter comeback that brought energy back to the Oracle crowd. He showed that he has the tools to be a very good player, especially when he was isolated against Tony Parker and made a spin move to the basket.

Barnes made some clutch shots from behind the arc, and he also made key baskets off the dribble and by moving without the ball.  He wasn’t rattled during the series and seemed to always make an athletic move.

His second-quarter injury in Game 6 really put the Warriors in a bad spot, since they didn’t have anyone to replace his dynamic abilities, and Thompson had more or less disappeared.

Andrew Bogut also went missing, as his lingering ankle injury kept him out of the fourth quarter when the Warriors had a chance to tie the game.  He was a key factor during the series, providing a true defensive presence.

Bogut proved to Warrior fans that the trade that changed the organization was worth getting rid of Monta Ellis.  Despite the somewhat small sample, Bogut made key blocks, grabbed the difficult rebounds and spaced out the floor.

He was also a factor on the offensive end, as shown in this video:

With an offseason to rest his ankle, Bogut can amp up his play to really take the team to the next level.  He showed in this series how valuable he is in the frontcourt even when only 75 percent healthy.

The biggest lesson that was learned from this series is that the Golden State Warriors have a huge heart and will continue to fight to the very end.  All of the players believe in Coach Mark Jackson’s philosophy and went out and executed to the best of their ability.

This team is tough and will fight through injuries as evidenced by what we saw in the series.  Bogut and Curry played hurt; David Lee miraculously contributed after what was assumed to be a season-ending injury; Barnes shook off the hard fall to come back for the third quarter before departing for good with a headache.

The foundation is set for many years of playoff success, especially with the expiring contracts of Richard Jefferson and Andris Biedrins coming off the books next season.  The team should be set to contend again next season and finish with a top-four record in the Western Conference.

This is Warriors basketball.  Believe it.

Follow me @ScottInTheBay

Read more Golden State Warriors news on BleacherReport.com

And you know what? There's a good chance he's right about that.

While it might be hard to imagine how Curry—a guy who just finished making more three-point shots in a single season than anyone in the history of the NBA—could make an appreciable leap next year, remember: He's only 25 and hasn't had the benefit of a full offseason of work since he was a rookie.

A seemingly endless series of ankle injuries, surgeries and rehabilitation periods have turned all but one of Curry's NBA summers into tiresome treks back to health. This time around, he'll have three-and-a-half months to work on his game.

When asked what areas he could improve, Curry cited his strength, quickness and ability to get to the foul line. Those might seem like vague goals, but it'd be difficult to peg three more appropriate areas on which Curry must focus. Clearly, he knows where his weaknesses lie.

What's more, we've already seen proof that Curry knows how to add things to his game. Anyone who watched his growth during the 2012-13 season knows that he actually got better during the season. And that growth wasn't just confined to his numbers—although it's worth mentioning that he improved his field-goal percentage by four percent, his three-point accuracy by about one-and-a-half percent and his points-per-game average by five full points after the All-Star break.

Numbers are fine, but the subtler changes were what really mattered. Curry's increased aggressiveness, willingness to create his own shots and that fantastic left-handed whip pass that he featured so often in the playoffs all came about over the course of the regular season.

Not only did Curry show the ability to grow during the year, he also proved he could adapt within individual playoff series. Whether it was learning how to attack a double team or taking advantage of pressure by driving the lane, Curry made it clear he's capable of adding new weapons to his arsenal in a surprisingly short amount of time.

And now that he won't have to spend half of his summer in a walking boot, he'll get a chance to do that.

In addition to his capacity to augment his technical skills, Curry's newfound confidence gives him a great chance to come back even better next season. After capturing the hearts of the NBA world with a few of the postseason's most memorable takeover efforts, Curry seems to have convinced himself that he really is a star. For a humble, team-first guy like him, it can be hard to come to that realization—even when everyone else already knows it.

Curry now has tangible proof that he can carry a team. And if he ever has any doubts about that over the summer, he can pop in the tape of his pair of 22-point quarters during the playoffs.

Obviously, Curry's ability to take another step toward superstardom is critical to the Warriors making a deeper playoff run next year. But he probably won't be alone in his growth.

The Others

In what'll be his third NBA season next year, expect Klay Thompson to improve right along with his backcourt teammate. Though the Washington State product didn't shoot it quite as well as he did in his rookie campaign, Thompson definitely proved that he's going to be a deadly outside threat (40 percent from long range in 2012-13) whenever he's on the floor.

The Warriors also involved him in a wider variety of offensive sets this past year, which showcased Thompson's skills as a decision-maker coming off of screens and in the post.

Most importantly, Thompson gradually became the Dubs' primary perimeter defender last year. His length, footwork and surprising lateral quickness should only improve with time.

Plus, Brandon Rush's return from a knee injury that cost him virtually the entire 2012-13 season will bring a vital defender and three-point shooter back into the fold. There's no telling how his knee will respond, but if Rush can be anything close to what he was just two years ago, he'll immediately join the rotation as a terrific three-and-D sixth man.

And then there's Harrison Barnes, who, at just 20 years old, stands to make the biggest leap of any Warrior. Everyone saw that he could be a go-to option in the right matchup during the playoffs, as the rookie scored at least 19 points in six different postseason games.

Barnes is athletically unlimited and at times last year, it was evident that he was still figuring out how to harness his considerable natural ability. His ceiling is tough to project, but it'll be a borderline stunner if he doesn't eclipse his postseason averages of 16.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and 46 percent shooting during the regular season next year.

He'll be the Warriors' most versatile offensive player in no time, and if he can channel his physical skills in the right way, there's also nothing stopping him from becoming a truly elite defender. It sounds crazy, but if Barnes (and not Thompson or David Lee) is the Warriors' second-leading scorer next year, don't be surprised.

The Unpleasantness

It's important to note that there are a few factors that could hinder the Warriors' development in 2013-14. Their financial situation will almost certainly force them to choose between retaining Jarrett Jack (an unrestricted free agent) or Carl Landry, who can opt out of his contract to test the market.

Those two players were critical to Golden State's success all season long, and if young guys like Kent Bazemore and Draymond Green aren't quite ready to assume much larger roles, the departure of Jack and/or Landry could leave a couple of large voids in the rotation.

Glad we got that unpleasantness out of the way.

Returning to the positives, we still haven't even touched on the most intriguing reason for optimism.

The Aussie

Finally, there's the biggest wild card of all: Andrew Bogut.

Golden State's hulking center was never healthy in 2012-13, but in those few, fleeting moments when his blown-out ankle and balky back felt halfway decent, Bogut transformed the Warriors. In brief stretches of the postseason, he completely dominated the paint on both ends—swatting shots, doling out hard fouls and dunking on anything that moved.

Put simply, he made the Warriors an elite team when he was healthy enough to even hobble onto the court. The regular season was nearly a total loss for him, and even the playoffs devolved into a depressing series of painkilling injections and uncomfortable grimaces.

But when he was even remotely healthy, Bogut was a beast.

For a guy like him, numbers never tell the whole story, but we saw him go for 14 points and 21 rebounds in Game 6 against the Denver Nuggets. And he averaged 14 rebounds per game in the first four contests of the series against the San Antonio Spurs.

But then the ankle flared up and he could barely move in Games 5 and 6.

If—and it's a massive "if"—Bogut can get healthy enough to give the Warriors more than a few good games at a time, this team is primed to contend next year.

The End

Golden State's season ended at the hands of a more experienced, more complete Spurs team. There's no shame in that.

But the fact that Curry and the Warriors are already looking ahead, unsatisfied with their past achievements, is a great sign for the future. If things break right, we might eventually look back at Curry's postgame press conference not as the end of a great run, but as the moment when everything started.

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Just as he did to every die-hard hoops fan in Oakland—and every casual fan who caught on—during the Golden State Warriors' Cinderella run through the 2013 NBA playoffs.

Curry is the very embodiment of the vast chasm between risk and reward that regularly sends chills down the spines of play-it-safe general managers and sparks fun-but-feverish-but-also-pointless debates between talking heads, stay-at-home bloggers, "esteemed" columnists and outraged commenters alike. His appeal is predicated primarily on the three-point shot, which is "high risk" by its very nature: it's more difficult to make than most shots because it's farther from the basket, and misses often lead to quick run-outs for fast-breaking opponents.

To be sure, Curry's a far more reliable three-point shooter than most—on the whole, anyway. He's hit 44.6 percent of his regular-season three-point attempts as a pro (second all-time, behind only Steve Kerr) and set a new single-season record for made threes (272) while nailing 45.3 percent of his attempts (third in the NBA) in 2012-13.

But, like most players who rely so heavily on the Malthusian feast-or-famine cycle of the three-point line, Curry's game is prone to bouts of streakiness, good and bad. Check out the fluctuations in Curry's three-point attempts (in blue) and makes (in reddish orange) over the course of the most recent campaign, courtesy of SportingCharts.com:

Ditto for this chart of Curry's game-to-game three-point percentage in 2012-13:

His streakiness came to life most vividly during the Warriors' third quarters. According to NBA.com, Curry scored 9.2 of his 23.4 points, while shooting 58.6 percent from the field and 52.6 percent from three, in the first frame after halftime in these playoffs.

That's all well and good, and made for several spectacular shows of shooting pyrotechnics (see: Game 4 vs. the Denver Nuggets, Game 1 vs. the Spurs).

But what about the other three quarters? Curry hit under 40 percent of his shots and averaged fewer than five points per quarter in those other than the third stanza, including a disconcerting line (3.9 points, 36 percent from the field, 21.7 percent from three) in the fourth.

This isn't to suggest that Curry isn't "clutch" or that he shrinks under pressure. Rather, this disparity simply highlights just how erratic Steph can be and was in his first postseason and, as such, how dangerous it is for a team like the Warriors to pin its hopes for advancement on such a player's exploits.

(Assuming Curry's patterns stagnate, of course...which they probably won't. After all, this was Steph's first foray into postseason basketball, which, by definition, makes this the longest and most taxing year of his basketball life.)

Steph's taste for the spectacular, though, is an integral part of what makes him great. Even when Curry steps inside the arc, his attempts are often off-the-charts as far as degree of difficulty is concerned:

The same holds true for so much of his work as the primary ball-handler. The Warriors seemingly rose and fell right along with Curry's own successes and failures off the dribble in these playoffs. According to ESPN Stats & Info, Game 1 against the San Antonio Spurs saw Curry score 42 of his 44 points off the dribble while hitting 18-of-34 such attempts, including 8-of-15 either coming off screens or on pick-and-rolls.

However, Curry tallied just 45 points total off the dribble on 35 percent shooting over Golden State's next four games. Steph also shot a subpar 33 percent off screens and pick-and-rolls during Games 2 through 6.

The blame for that dropoff can be attributed (at your own discretion) to Curry's streakiness, his tender ankles (and the re-aggravation of a pre-existing sprain in Game 3) and/or the way in which the Spurs sicked Danny Green on him (and Kawhi Leonard on Klay Thompson) after Game 2.

When he wasn't scoring, Curry remained active as a pseudo-point guard, as is his wont. He led the league in total assists through the first two rounds, with eight games of eight or more helpers and three double-doubles.

With no shortage of jaw-dropping dimes therein:

Unfortunately, Curry's penchant for the stupendous often leads to stupid mistakes and the concomitant giveaways. Steph piled up 40 turnovers in 12 postseason games—more than anyone in these playoffs save for Kevin Durant and Paul George.

There's no denying the pure bliss that Curry brings to the game with his lightning-quick, off-the-dribble dishes with his weak hand. When delivered properly, they can (and often do) bring the enthusiasm of the attendant crowd to a fever pitch and spark big runs for the Warriors—not unlike the residual effect from any one of Curry's long-range treys from the other side of the Bay.

The operative phrase here being "When delivered properly." Steph is by no means an elite playmaker (not yet, anyway). At times, he plays too fast and too loose with the ball relative to his abilities. Such makes for thrilling on-court theater, though it often gives way to less heady, less steady play at a position (point guard) that is arguably the most important in today's NBA.

But that lack of predictability is a crucial component of Curry's appeal: He's the NBA's answer to the Wallendas, if the Wallendas were also brazen enough to juggle small pets while tightrope-walking across Niagara Falls. He's fun to watch precisely because the things he does are, indeed, so difficult to do and even more difficult to foresee, even if you already know exactly what to expect. Watching Curry, then, is not unlike stepping into the batter's box against New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera; the cutter is coming, but good luck making solid contact.

Like Rivera, much of the superstar appeal for Curry also stems from the fact that his particular talents are hardly (if at all) reliant on overwhelming athletic prowess. At 6'3" and 185 pounds with a weather-resistant babyface (no, not that Babyface), Curry hardly cuts an imposing figure on a court so often tread by giant superhumans like LeBron James and Dwight Howard. As such, rare is the occasion that Curry finds himself at the rim—even rarer by way of a dunk.

Likewise, Steph's lack of size, strength and sheer power leaves him vulnerable to the defensive stylings of perimeter stoppers like Danny Green. The Spurs' shooting guard was able to fluster Curry's feather-soft shot with his superior height, length and athleticism once Gregg Popovich made the switch in time for Game 3 (per NBA.com). That single, brilliant adjustment managed to dampen considerably the Warriors' hopes for another ride in the pumpkin-turned-carriage.

The frailty of Curry's game, then, extends almost too poetically (even dangerously so) to his corporeal reality. Sure, he's still only 25 and—with a four-year, $44 million extension soon to kick in—he'll rank among the most reasonably paid players in the NBA, given his current skill set and the vast potential for improvement that remains.

But the value of Curry's contract depends precariously on his ability to, y'know, play. He did well to feature in 78 of the Warriors' 82 regular season games in 2012-13, and even better to check in seventh in the league in minutes per game (38.2). More admirable still, Curry fought through fatigue to play 41.4 minutes per game during the playoffs, including all but four seconds of Golden State's double-overtime loss in Game 1 of their series against the Spurs.

(That's nearly 58 minutes in one night, for those of you keeping score at home.)

All of this, mind you, came with time bombs strapped around Steph's tenuous ankles, tick-tocking away. They were tender all season, in the wake of surgery, and were tested by tweaks not once, but twice in the playoffs alone. Anyone who plays basketball is vulnerable to career-threatening injury at any given moment, but Curry's past points to him being even more prone to debilitating setbacks in the future.

And if Steph can't play (much less play to the level of which we know he's capable), then it doesn't matter how much or how little Golden State is paying him, simply because they'd be lining the pockets of a guy who's not contributing.

Not that this is what's going to happen. Who knows? Maybe Steph will enjoy a long and fruitful career as the NBA's premiere shooter, one in which his ankles prove little more than occasional hindrances. Maybe he'll improve as a passer, become a factor defensively and flesh out his game to the point where he can be productive when his shot isn't falling.

None of that potential reward can entirely preclude the risk inherent in Curry's game and his frame. He is who he is—a scrawny, superb shooter who can heat up in a flash, and whose ability to do so makes him must-see TV—and is great because of who he is. You wouldn't want Mark Jackson to box him into a role that doesn't suit his obvious strengths, just as you wouldn't want Scott Brooks imploring Russell Westbrook to tone it down, Erik Spoelstra instructing LeBron James to focus on one thing rather than allowing him to dabble as he does so well, or any other coach telling any other player to be something he isn't.

But that's the danger of building around a player like Curry, as the Warriors appear to be doing. When he's on, he can carry you, but there's no telling for how long he can stoke the fire, NBA Jam style, without burning the candle at both ends.

The key for the Warriors, then, is to surround Steph with a steady supporting cast that can get down and dirty defensively and pick up easy baskets when Curry's shot isn't dropping on the other end. That way, Golden State will be better able to mitigate the deleterious effects of Steph's cold spells while maximizing his hot streaks. The 2010-11 Dallas Mavericks, with Dirk Nowitzki at the fore, established a blueprint for success under such circumstances that the Warriors would be wise to follow in the future.

For now, though, we bid a tearful adieu to the gutty Warriors and, specifically, to Steph Curry, who we all saw explore the depths of his talents and blossom into the league's next and most exciting superstar.

And who was generous enough to bring us all along for the ride.

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