With his left leg still in a large black brace from mid-calf to thigh, Moses Moody joined the Warriors on their final road trip of the regular season, wanting to be back around his teammates despite being early in his recovery.
Less than a month after tearing his left patellar tendon on a non-contact play, and just two weeks after surgery, Moody said being with the team again was important.
“Just being able to come back and be back in the locker room, feel like a player again, be on the sideline,” Moody said while using crutches.
The 23-year-old won’t return until next season, and while he hasn’t set a timeline, doctors gave him encouraging feedback.
“They told me for a patellar tendon tear, this is the best-case scenario,” Moody said. “Straight from the bone, a clear tear.”
Moody said the injury looked worse than it felt and only realized its seriousness after seeing it.
“I [didn’t] know what it was, but I knew it was something,” he said.
The injury happened during one of his best games of the season, when he scored 23 points before going down in overtime on a fast-break attempt.
“I thought we bumped knees a little bit or something. Then going back to look at it, [Flagg] was nowhere near me,” Moody said. “I haven’t watched it that many times. I’ve seen it but not a lot.”
Doctors were able to reattach the tendon directly to the bone, which should help his recovery. Moody began rehab the day after surgery and believes the process could leave him in a better place physically.
“Coming back,” he said, “I think I’m gonna be able to be in a better place than I was when I left because of it.”
He also said the injury has allowed him to slow down and focus on recovery and time with family.
“It’s a unique time in my life being able to slow down,” he said. “In an NBA season you’re ripping and running, doing so much, traveling so much. So being able to slow down, sit down, have a routine, get better with some stuff, talk to my family … just being intentional with my time is something I’ve been focusing on.”
Moody recently returned to Chase Center and received a strong ovation from fans.
“The love that I got, I appreciate that a lot – that was big for me,” he said. “Just being able to feel it in the arena. I really enjoyed it.”
Moses Moody’s gruesome injury was actually painless: ‘Best-case scenario’ https://t.co/0KdJnqz1d2 pic.twitter.com/8lVdZryeLS
— New York Post (@nypost) April 12, 2026
