Even the Golden State Warriors’ haters had to muster compassion for what happened to Warriors star guard Klay Thompson on Wednesday.
Seventeen months after suffering a torn left ACL in the June 2019 NBA Finals, which cost him all of last season, Thompson sustained a season-ending right Achilles tear during a pickup basketball game with other NBA players in Southern California on Wednesday, according to ESPN.
Adding insult to injury was bad enough, but adding injury to injury was a cruel twist for the 30-year-old All-Star shooting guard who endured a long, tedious rehabilitation to be able to return to NBA action next month.
Golden State general manager Bob Myers was preparing for Wednesday night’s NBA Draft when Thompson called to tell him about the injury, which looked severe even before Thursday’s MRI confirmed the Achilles tear diagnosis.
“It was hard to disengage mentally from it, but we had a lot of other stuff going on in terms of the draft and potential trades,” Myers told USA Today on Wednesday night. “So I couldn’t let my mind go all the way there.”
The Warriors did not let the threat of losing their top shooter/defender change their draft plans. They used their draft picks on different positions than what Thompson plays, taking Memphis center James Wiseman in the first round and Arizona point guard Nico Mannion in the second round. There is no replacing what Thompson gives them.
It makes Golden State’s dominant run look more distant than ever. After having the league’s worst record at 15-50 last season, a jump back into championship contention can’t happen without Thompson.
Add comment