Well, that didn't take long.

Just five games into the season, the veil of doom has descended back over the Warriors.

On Thursday afternoon, the Warriors announced that their center and centerpiece for all their hopes and dreams, Andrew Bogut, would be shut down for seven to 10 days because of problems with his surgically repaired left ankle.

Included on the official news release announcing the news was the following phrase: "the Golden State Warriors 2012-13 season, presented by Kaiser Permanente."

It certainly appears to be.

Bogut himself said the designated shutdown time was "pulled up out of the blue," and not any definite medical timetable, which doesn't boost confidence. The news means Bogut won't play in Friday's game against the Lakers at Staples Center, Saturday's home game against Denver, next week's home game against Atlanta, and depending on whether the layoff is seven or 10 days, a road trip through Minnesota, Oklahoma City and Dallas.

Is this the end of the world? Of course not. Anyone thinking with a rational mind, or observing with impartial eyes, can't be surprised by the news. Bogut fractured his left ankle in January and had surgery in April. He is a 7-foot man who weighs more than 260 pounds. That's a lot of torque and impact on a surgically repaired joint. It takes time to come back from surgery and Bogut didn't even start practicing with the team until last week.

He has been trying to play his way into shape, loosen up the scar tissue, fight through the pain. His time has been limited on the court and he often has looked awkward and miserable when he has been out there. This isn't panic time, rather a natural step in the progression of an injury.


Except that this is the Warriors we're talking about. Except that Murphy's Law - which I believe was actually named for Troy Murphy - is in operation at all times in Warriors World. What can go wrong, will go wrong, all the time, every season, for now through eternity.

The Bogut setback comes on the heels of the loss of Brandon Rush for the entire season. Rush, an invaluable sixth man, tore his ACL during the second game of the season. Warriors fans were able to hold off their fatalism back then, on Day 3 of the season. Hey, it was still early.

The reaction to this news will be different. An injury to the designated star of the team - acquired in a trade that sent Monta Ellis to Milwaukee in March - is not likely to be met with a rational response around here. It's absorbed with thoughts about Purvis Short and Joe Barry Carroll and Chris Washburn and Todd Fuller and Latrell Sprewell and every other thing that has ever happened to the Warriors.

Bogut admitted he might have come back early - and for all the right reasons. He knows the team gave up a lot for him. He knows that the Warriors are building everything around him. He wants to do his job. But did he talk the Warriors into letting him play? Were they too eager to get him in there? To make fans forget about Ellis and get the new era under way?

No one's saying, but the Warriors' front-office folks can't be surprised that they've opened themselves up for speculation.

Maybe this is seven to 10 days or maybe it's four to five weeks. Maybe we won't see Bogut until early 2013. It's tricky coming back from surgery. No one can come back and immediately be 100 percent. When Bogut returns will he play only 18 minutes a game? Will his fitness revert and he'll be starting from scratch? Maybe this entire season is really going to be about rehabilitation. No one really knows.

Bogut is a very good player. In the little we've seen of him this season, you can see that - how he changes the game and brings a dimension that the Warriors haven't had for, well, ever.

With another franchise, there might be more patience. Some calm contemplation about a big man and a weak ankle and the laws of physics. There might be willingness to hold off and see what happens. But this is the Warriors we're talking about. A cursed franchise. A panic button always at the ready.

Who knows what the future holds for the Warriors? Only one thing is certain: Owner Joe Lacob shouldn't stand in front of a microphone anytime soon.
