Golden State Warriors: Klay Thompson could return at Walt Disney World

Klay Thompson could make his long-awaited return to the Golden State Warriors later this year as the NBA moves to Walt Disney World.

Klay Thompson has been sidelined ever since he tore his ACL in Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors. Though Thompson was officially ruled out of the 2019-20 NBA season in February, things may have changed since then.

The world has undergone some pretty drastic and peculiar changes since February. It has been over two months since COVID forced the league into a hiatus. Since then, Adam Silver and the NBA have been steadily looking for ways to return to play.

Walt Disney World might be the best option. Shams Charania reported on a few possible conclusions to the season including a scenario in which all 30 teams are asked to finish out the final games of the regular season.

If this is the case, Thompson could find himself playing in Disney World. Shams listed that the latest possible date the league would consider coming back is November 1. This gives Thompson plenty of time to recover and make a healthy return.

Thompson was already on track to return by the start of the 2020-21 season. Assuming the season would have begun in mid-October per usual, resuming the current season in November would be perfect for Klay.

But, I wouldn’t get my hopes up just yet. The Warriors don’t have much to gain from forcing Thompson to play in such strange conditions. In fact, the team would be better off sitting Thompson entirely if the season was pushed back this far.

More notably, it’s unlikely the NBA begins in November anyways. Momentum is quickly picking up as it feels increasingly possible basketball returns sometime in July. If this is the case, the chance of Thompson returning for the Warriors is almost zero.