OAKLAND, Calif. -- Stephen Curry's right ankle has been inspected, scanned and discussed by doctors from coast to coast over the last few days as the Golden State Warriors have tried to get a handle on the chronic problems their young guard is having.
Team general manager Larry Riley gave a briefing on the matter before the Warriors took on the Miami Heat Tuesday night. In short, Curry will not need another surgery like he had in the offseason to repair ligament damage in the ankle. Riley said Curry hasn't been cleared to play and Curry will continue to do rehab and receive treatment on his ankle.
But the latest sprain that Curry suffered last week in San Antonio -- his third sprain in a 16-day span and no less than the seventh he's had in the ankle in the last 15 months -- will keep him out indefinitely.
Riley said the team hopes to within 2-3 days have a timeline on Curry's return. It could be a week to 10 days or possibly less before Curry returns but that would depend on how the ankle responds to treatment.
Before Curry will be cleared to play again he will have to pass what Riley called a "stringent functionality test." Curry was examined in Charlotte on Monday night by Dr. Bob Anderson, who performed surgery on Curry's ankle May 25. He previously had been evaluated by team doctors.
"Everybody has some level of concern because of the way it has been sprained in the past but we're all convinced we're doing the right thing," Riley said. "He's a good player, a really good player, that we need. And yet you also want to protect him as far as his future is concerned and our future is concerned."
Curry has been dealing with problems in the ankle since he first suffered an injury in the summer of 2010 while playing for Team USA in an exhibition game in Spain. Since then he's been visiting doctors all over the country looking for answers as he keeps re-spraining it.
The team has been looking at various ways to help him -- from different taping methods to orthodics to examining the way he runs -- which tests show make him more likely to roll his ankle.
"Knowing the origin doesn't do much for us, we are more interested in the solution," Riley said. "We won't put him out there until he's ready and until the doctors, all of them, and our people say he's ready to go."
Brian Windhorst is an NBA reporter for ESPN.com. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.