For Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski, the NBA playoffs did not quite go as planned. After averaging 11.7 points .44.5% shooting from the field and 37.2% from the 3-point line in his second NBA season, Podziemski slipped with his shooting in the postseason, averaging 11.3 points, but doing so on only 36.4% shooting from the field and 32.8% 3-point shooting.
He had one shining moment in a Warriors win, in Game 4 against the Rockets in the first round. In that one, he had 28 points on his home floor, helping Golden State to a critical win.
He was asked about coming through in big moments. “First, you got to tell yourself you belong in the moment. Good and great players want to be in the moment, thrive in the moment, don’t back down from it,” Podziemski said at the time.
“I think it’s just from building confidence, all the things you put into the game, that collects over time. From that collection, you just I’ve done this so many times, now just ’cause it’s a different moment, it’s still the same thing. There’s no pressure. Everything I do, I’m never going to have a regretful decision. I’m just going to go out there and know and tell myself I belong, because I do.”
Unfortunately, he struggled from there, only breaking through with double-digit scoring three times in the next seven games. He had 28 points again in the Warriors’ postseason finale, but that was a blowout loss to the Wolves.
And now we might have some reasoning behind Podziemski’s struggles in the playoffs. He had a wrist injury.
As Anthony Slater of The Athletic wrote on X, “Brandin Podziemski underwent left wrist debridement surgery yesterday, per Warriors. Expected back for training camp.”
Brandin Podziemski underwent left wrist debridement surgery yesterday, per Warriors. Expected back for training camp.
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) May 29, 2025
In responding to Slater’s post, one orthopedist, Dr. Nirav Pandya, wrote, “Typically wrist debridement surgery is a procedure in which inflamed tissue and/or ‘scar’ tissue is removed from within a joint or around ligaments / tendons. This can be done through an ‘open’ incision or with a camera (arthroscope).”
Yes, Podziemski had his struggles in the Warriors playoff run. But now, perhaps, we know why.
