Moses Moody’s thumb surgery could explain his shooting woes

The Warriors announced that their 23-year-old wing had successful surgery on a torn ligament on his shooting hand. That might explain why he went from starter to benchwarmer in the playoffs.

Moses Moody’s inconsistent shooting took him from the starting lineup to the back of Steve Kerr’s rotation during the playoffs, but there may have been an explanation: A torn ligament in the thumb of his shooting hand.

The Golden State Warriors announced Thursday that Moody had undergone a successful surgery on the UCL in his thumb. That’s the ligament at the base of the thumb on the pinky side, where the thumb bone meets the hand bones. The ulnar collateral ligament of the thumb is important for hand and grip strength, and can lead to pain and swelling and is generally caused when the thumb absorbs the impact of a fall.

This ailment is, horrifyingly enough, known as “gamekeeper’s thumb,” because it relates to the motion an old gamekeeper would use to snap the necks of rabbits and other crop-eating animals. But the modern term is “skier’s thumb,” because more people today are holding ski poles than maintaining an English country estate. It’s not be confused with “gamer’s thumb,” which is an inflammation of the tendons in the thumb, generally caused by repetitive motions with a gaming controller or relentless texting.

Moody had a bad shooting stretch during the playoffs, going 0-for-14 from Game 7 of the Houston Rockets series through Game 3 of the Minnesota Timberwolves series. His minutes declined to just over three minutes in the Game 3 loss, in which he didn’t attempt a single shot. It was brutal timing for the short-handed Warriors, even with the caveat that most players are somewhat banged-up in the playoffs.

In general, Moody’s three-point shooting has been quite consistent across his four full seasons, ranging from 36% to 37.4%, even as his three-point volume increased to 4.6 attempts per game. In previous playoffs, Moody shot 20-for-35 from behind the arc and 53.5% overall, so he doesn’t seem to shrink from big moments. It’s not clear when the injury occurred, since the Warriors never announced it, but Moody did occasionally have his hand wrapped late in the season, where he went 5-for-19 over the season’s final week.

Recovery time from the surgery can last three-to-four months, which explains why Moody didn’t get the procedure done until the Warriors were eliminated. He should have his grip strength and range of motion back before training camp, though all hand injuries can be tricky for a basketball player.

It’s an educational injury, both to possibly explain Moody’s struggles and as an anatomy lesson. This author did not realize that the hand even had a UCL, a three-letter acronym that usually comes up when pitchers tear the ulnar collateral ligament in their elbows, which leads to “Tommy John” surgery. Basically, don’t expect Moses Moody to throw a sick curveball anytime soon, but it’s reasonable to expect him to remain the completely average three-point shooter he’s always been.