The Warriors will play without guard Brandin Podziemski in their season opener against the Lakers on Wednesday, Oct. 21. Anthony Slater of ESPN reported that he sat out the previous three days of practice because of lower back soreness and the team had deemed him questionable before officially ruling him out on the eve of the opener.
Tipoff at Crypto.com Arena is set for 10 p.m. ET on ESPN. The NBA’s official injury report, released Tuesday night, listed Podziemski as out with bilateral lower back soreness.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Podziemski tweaked his back in an early workout before the Warriors’ open practice Sunday. The Warriors have not announced how long Podziemski will be sidelined, and no further detail on the injury has been reported.
Podziemski, 23, is entering his fourth NBA season. He was one of 18 players to appear in all 82 games in 2025-26, averaging 13.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists.
He played in all five preseason games and averaged 14.2 points while shooting 39.3 percent from three. In October he signed a five-year, $110 million extension, which will kick in next season.
Steve Kerr had identified him as part of a potential opening-night lineup featuring Curry, Gui Santos, rookie Yaxel Lendeborg and Draymond Green.
Reports differ on who replaces him. De’Anthony Melton and second-year guard Will Richard are the names that come up most. The Chronicle noted that two-way signee LJ Cryer was seen running with the Warriors’ first-team unit at times with Podziemski out Sunday.
Golden State’s Most Durable Player Is Its First Absence
The Warriors built their 2026-27 rotation around Podziemski being available every night. On a roster where Curry is 38, Green is 36 and Al Horford is 40, he was the one rotation player they never had to plan around, and they just paid him like a long-term fixture.
With Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody both possibly out for the whole season, the team has little guard depth to absorb even short absences. That is why the rotation now leans on a two-way player and a second-year guard.
One missed game for soreness is not a cause for alarm. Still, the opener shows how much of the Warriors’ depth was really just Podziemski playing 82 games.
The Grizzlies Visit Chase Center on Oct. 23
Golden State’s home opener against Memphis is Friday, Oct. 23, followed by a road game at Phoenix on Oct. 24. With no timeline announced, his status on Friday’s injury report will show whether this is a one-game absence or something longer.
Source: Anthony Slater of ESPN
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