Moses Moody’s form was split into two seperate periods following the All-Star break, with his production falling off a cliff late in the season which caused problems for the Golden State Warriors and head coach Steve Kerr.
After finding a consistent starting lineup that featured Moody, Kerr was again forced to change things up as the young wing shot just 31.1% from 3-point range over the last 13 games of the regular season, followed by 33.3% during the playoffs.
Moses Moody’s late-season form now looks more forgiving
It was later revealed that Moody was playing with a torn UCL in his thumb that required surgery, granting some forgiveness to his late season form and some optimism on his ability to turn it around when Golden State’s new campaign gets underway next month.
Injury issues are already popping up around the league as teams regather ahead of the official start of training camps, including at the Philadelphia 76ers who announced earlier in the week that young guard Jared McCain has suffered the same injury that Moody dealth with.
According to Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer on Thursday, McCain could be out for up to three months which means his return might not come until after Christmas Day. That’s a brutal blow for a 76ers team looking to bounce back from their injury-ravaged 2024-25 season, and particularly for McCain whose impressive rookie year was cut short to just 23 games after a meniscus tear.
This should also shine more of a focus on just how severe the injury, and just how well Moody did to battle through the pain and discomfort to even take the floor at the end of last season. The 23-year-old detailed the difficulty in an offseason interview with Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area, stating that “I had to shoot with four fingers; I couldn’t grab the ball.”
Before the injury Moody had been in some of the best form of his career, having averaged 12.8 points and 3.3 rebounds on 49.2% shooting from the floor and 43.3% from 3-point range in 14-straight games as a starter.
Moody has been cast aside by many as a legitimate starting option for Golden State entering the season, perhaps largely based on his struggles in the playoffs. The timeline on McCain’s recovery further proves the underlying reason for those struggles though, suggesting that Moody can once again become a key contributor for the Warriors as they look to push into championship contention.
