“The internal belief is Curry’s hamstring strain in the Minnesota series was a wear-and-tear issue following a sprint into and out of the play-in followed by a seven-game first-round series against Houston,” wrote Anthony Slater in a recent report for ESPN. The Golden State Warriors star, during the 2024-25 season tournament, had braved through 70 games in the regular season while averaging 24.5 points per game. He continued recording memorable minutes during the Playoffs’ first round to only to later get sidelined thanks to a hamstring injury! Despite losing at the hands of Stephen Curry and Co., Alperen Sengun couldn’t stay silent at the suffering the veteran had to go through.

The Houston Rockets star recently sat down for an interview with Turkish outlet Socrates. Sengun sympathized with Stephen Curry. “He got injured in their first game after our series, against Minnesota.” Sengun said. “Of course, an injury is never a pleasant thing, but Curry was already so exhausted from our series that he had no energy left for Minnesota. Plus, they played the Game 7 in our arena and then had to face Minnesota two days later.”

The admission from Alperen Sengun highlights how physically draining the series was, even for veterans like Stephen Curry. Moreover, from what he revealed, Stephen Curry’s injury would have developed from the back-to-back schedule the 37-year-old had to deal with. Anthony Slater highlighted this in his report. He also added that this called for a change within the roster, since “They’ll need a notable leap from the younger layer of their roster this season to maintain firm playoff positioning while giving their veterans time off”.

Slater’s suggestion, and Sengun bringing up Curry’s ‘exhaustion’, raises some concern about the Warriors’ future. After all, as NBA reporter Liam Willerup highlighted, the Golden State Warriors’ offseason has drawn quite a lot of attention due to having not made “any home run moves or ones that have been criticized by the media, they’ve just made no moves”.

Jonathan Kuminga’s restricted free agency has reportedly held the team back, as the Warriors’ front office has to first make a decision on the player before thinking about other free agents, due to salary restrictions. The Warriors have handshake deals with De’Anthony Melton and Al Horford, but that depth is reportedly not enough. Steph has dealt with several injuries throughout his NBA career, mostly related to his ankle. This recent injury was the first time his hamstring was affected!

After Sengun and Slater’s comments, it’s evident that the Warriors cannot continue to lean so heavily on Curry. The team’s inability to make offseason moves is a major red flag, putting their franchise player at risk. The question, then, is not just what the Warriors can do differently, but what they were doing wrong in the first place. And for Sengun, the answer had a lot to do with the game’s physicality.

Alperen Sengun criticized the Warriors for drawing fouls during playoffs

“I learned a lot. First time in the playoffs, for me,” said Alperen Sengun after the Houston Rockets were eliminated from the 2025 NBA playoffs. Now, however, the loss is proof that the Warriors got away with a lot in that playoff series.

During the same interview with Socrates, Alperen Sengun revealed knowing that, in the playoffs, the Golden State Warriors were going to give him and the Houston Rockets squad the most trouble. The interviewer said that the Rockets put together “a really impressive run”, but they couldn’t “quite hit the Houston-level playoff standard, especially on offense”. For Sengun, iit wasn’t about his team’s offense, but more about the plays the Warriors were drawing and the way the series was officiated.

“They’re a super-experienced team. They also fouled a lot, and fouls just don’t get called much in the playoffs,” Sengun noted. He further added, “But they say that you guys commit a lot of fouls. Yeah, they were whining the whole series, ‘That’s a foul!’ They’d complain, and then we couldn’t say anything, because that’s not what we do.”

The player revealed not being able to complain, from his end, since Ime Udoka forbade it. In fact, Sengun added that, “When we watch the game tapes the next day if he sees us talking about the refs, he freaks out”. As NBA reporter Austin Veazey highlighted, Udoka would not have wanted his players complaining to the officials since “they are a young team, so they’re not going to get the benefit of the doubt the way established stars like Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler would”.

The Warriors-Rockets series was described as an ‘old-school NBA war of attrition’. By Game 2, three technical fouls were called on both teams, including a flagrant foul on Rockets guard Jalen Green in the fourth quarter. An anonymous source from inside the Warriors locker room even said that, “It’s a f—— war now. All we can do is fight back.” As reported by USA Today, Golden State intentionally fouled Steven Adams, a 46.2% free-throw shooter, to put him on the line.

This type of aggressive strategy, paired with the experience of the Warriors’ veterans, taught the young Rockets center a valuable lesson about what it takes to win in the postseason.

Alperen Sengun’s recent interview put the Golden State Warriors on notice. The team’s veteran players may have won the series, but the young Rockets star made it clear that their victory didn’t come without a price, and that the Warriors will have to make changes going forward if they want their star player to stay healthy. Whether they choose to take any of this criticism to heart is something that remains to be seen.