Despite the trade rumors that have been swirling around San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, he is still showing up at Bay Area sporting events. He was in attendance at Friday's Golden State Warriors game and had a cool moment with Steph Curry.
In the fourth quarter of the game between the Warriors and Denver Nuggets, Curry drained a clutch three-pointer to give the Warriors a 15-point lead. As Curry ran down to the opposite side of the court, he went right by Aiyuk and gave him a soft push in the chest as if to say, "Let's go!"
Aiyuk shared his perspective of the play on his social media and he clearly had a phenomenal view of Curry doing what we have become so accustomed to over the last 15 years.
The Warriors went on to win the game as they continue to try and get the best seed possible in the Western Conference with the regular season coming to an end.
For those who may be a bit squeamish that Curry is making contact with Aiyuk as he recivers from his serious knee injury from last year, a doctor on social media (perhaps somewhat tongue in cheeck) said Aiyuk had, "Good contact balance on step back after Curry pushes him," and speculated that Aiyuk has probably already begun running.
There have been reports on Aiyuk suggesting that he may not be ready for Week 1 of the 2025 regular season. We will have to see if he is able to make more progress and can return ahead of schedule, but it is a good thing Curry showed restraint with his friendly shove and didn't cause Aiyuk to re-aggravate his injury.
No matter when Aiyuk returns, the bigger concern may be the fact that San Francisco's front office clearly regrets giving the 27-year-old receiver the massive contract extension they gave him ahead of last season. Head coach Kyle Shanahan is going to have to play a key role in trying to keep Aiyuk happy to ensure he does not quit on the team.
Now that Aiyuk's roster bonus is official after the April 1 deadline, it would be very unlikely for San Francisco to trade him ahead of the 2025 season.
That means that, for better or worse, Aiyuk and the 49ers are going to have to coexist as best they can.
The fact that Aiyuk was at a Warriors game is a good sign. Perhaps it means he understands that the Bay Area is going to be his home for the foreseeable future and wants to be part of the community and support other Bay Area teams.
At the very least, he got to share a pretty cool moment with the greatest shooter of all time.
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