Golden State Warriors’ head coach Steve Kerr believes five-time All-Star shooting guard Klay Thompson may miss the entire 2019-20 season.
This was the worst possible news for Golden State Warriors’ fans to wake up to on a Tuesday morning. After originally targeting a March 14 return date, head coach Steve Kerr noted that Thompson could miss the entire season.
It’ll be interesting the reports that’ll come out as March and April draw near, but for now, it, at least, seems possible that we don’t see the second-greatest shooter in league history on the court this season.
After torching the Raptors in Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals, Klay Thompson, with time remaining in the third quarter, went up for a dunk on Raptors’ Danny Green. After an awkward fall and a few tests, Thompson was diagnosed with a career-altering torn ACL.
NBC Sports’ Logan Murdock interviewed Kerr and asked him about the potential return of Thompson.
“It’s unlikely that he’s going to play this year,” Kerr told Murdock. However, he did go further into the explanation of his reasoning.
"“You have to look at it realistically,” the Warriors coach said. “I had an ACL [tear] in college, and I missed a whole season. Generally, an ACL for a basketball player is a full-year recovery, and if it’s a full year for Klay, that puts them out for the season.“We’ve kind of left the door open in case the rehab goes perfectly and the doctors say he can go. But the reality is, on April 1, that’s the nine-month mark. … April versus nine months post-op for an ACL."
This is a sad reality that may come to fruition. While Thompson could certainly make a return, just a few minor setbacks could derail the Warriors’ entire plans to bring him back towards the back half of the season; thereby almost crushing their NBA Finals dreams.
With Thompson healthy and on the court, this team is a Finals contender. But, without Thompson, they’re among many teams in the Western Conference that’d be one player away from contention. Sadly, they’d have that player sitting on their bench.
For now, all we can do is hope that Thompson’s recovery goes perfectly and he finds a way back onto the court prior to the commencement of the playoffs in April.