The Golden State Warriors have held out hope that Klay Thompson could make a late-season return in 2020 after suffering a torn ACL in Game 6 of the NBA Finals four months ago, but that optimism has now faded away.
Speaking with NBC Sports Bay Area during an exclusive interview that will air in its entirety on Thursday at 1:00 p.m. ET as part of the “NBA Season Tip-Off” promotion for the MyTeams app, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr admitted that Thompson is unlikely to return at all this season.
“It’s unlikely that he’s going to play this year,” Kerr said. “So we have to understand that.”
Thompson underwent surgery on July 2 and expressed a desire to return after the All-Star break, but Kerr recognizes that perhaps everyone was looking at this through rose-colored glasses.
“You have to look at it realistically,” Kerr said 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.
“We have to prepare our young guys to fill that role behind him, and when he gets back, whenever that is, hopefully these young guys now are developed and in the rotation and ready to really be contributors on a playoff team and we can get better.”
Thompson has remained around the team and intends to keep it that way throughout the season, but Kerr admits his superstar has become bored and will have to manage that moving forward.
With Thompson out, Kevin Durant now calling Brooklyn home and Andre Iguodala’s departure, it’s clearly a year of transition for these Warriors.
Klay Thompson took in Sunday’s Cubs-Milwaukee Brewers game at Wrigley Field in Chicago along with girlfriend Laura Harrier, and the two seemed to enjoy themselves.
The two were sitting in the front row for the game and were shown by CSN Chicago grooving to some music:
Thompson is recovering from surgery to repair a torn ACL suffered during the NBA Finals in June. He underwent the surgery in early July and says he does not want to push his return. The 29-year-old is a part of the cast of “Space Jam 2”, which has been shooting this summer. Thompson working as an actor would allow him to relate to Harrier in that regard. Harrier, 29, is known for her role in “Spider-Man: Homecoming”.
There was talk the two had taken a break in their relationship, but they are definitely together and recently enjoyed a trip to France.
Back in January, Thompson credited Harrier for inspiring his monster 44-point game.
Klay Thompson has a message for critics who say the Golden State Warriors’ dynasty is over.
The Warriors lost Kevin Durant in free agency to the Brooklyn Nets and DeMarcus Cousins to the Lakers. They traded away Andre Iguodala to make room for D’Angelo Russell. Shaun Livingston was waived. And Thompson is recovering from surgery to repair a torn ACL. For all those reasons, many don’t view the Warriors as a championship contender entering the season. Moreover, some believe their dynasty has ended.
“I think that’s a little premature, to say there’s no more dynasty,” Thompson told ESPN’s ‘The Jump’ in response to such talk. “We still have Stephen Curry, a two-time MVP. Draymond Green, a Defensive Player of the Year. Adding D’Angelo Russell was an incredible get for us. That kid is going to blossom into a superstar in this league.
“I think I’m going to come back even more, even more athletic. It would not be smart to count the Dubs out.”
He’s right; it would not be smart to count out the Warriors. But expecting them to contend for the championship next season is equally unlikely.
One factor that should help the team is the way they’re being discounted by many. Seemingly being slighted by Kevin Durant and hearing that the “dynasty is over” should motivate them entering next season.
Here’s video of Klay’s comments:
Klay Thompson’s shoe company Anta is celebrating their client’s max contract with the Golden State Warriors by releasing a special edition sneaker.
ESPN/Nice Kicks sneaker reporter Nick DePaula shared on Twitter Monday that Anta is collaborating with the East Bay Times on the Anta KT4s, a special edition shoe that features newspaper clippings on it. The shoe references Thompson’s habit of reading the newspaper at his locker before games.
Thompson received a five-year, $190 million max contract from the Golden State Warriors, the team that drafted him in 2011. He will be recovering from surgery to repair a torn ACL suffered in Game 6 of the NBA Finals against the Raptors.
Thompson has averaged 19.5 points on 45.9 percent shooting for his career. He is a career 41.9 percent 3-point shooter and has been especially clutch in the playoffs for the Dubs.
Klay Thompson looks set to get the max deal from the Golden State Warriors he so badly wanted.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Warriors will offer Thompson the five-year, $190 million max deal he is seeking when free agency starts at 6 p.m. ET Sunday. Once that happens, a formal agreement is expected to come quickly.
The news doesn’t come as a massive surprise. Thompson has said all along that he wanted to stay with the Warriors, and Golden State appeared committed to giving him what he wanted even after he tore his ACL in the NBA Finals. While Thompson was ready to play hardball if the max offer from the Warriors didn’t come his way immediately, it doesn’t look like that will be necessary.
Klay Thompson is widely expected to re-sign with the Golden State Warriors this summer, but he and his representatives are working hard to ensure the team comes with a bag of cash.
Reports over the past two months have been linking Thompson to other teams in free agency, such as the LA Clippers. On Thursday, the Los Angeles Times’ Brad Turner reported that Thompson will be ready to listen to offers from the Clippers and Lakers if the Warriors don’t bring the max offer of five years and $190 million.
Thompson’s team is playing hardball here. Klay may be chill and mild-mannered, but he wants the respect from the team in terms of a max deal that he has earned. If they try to do anything less, he is threatening to leave for two of their biggest rivals within the conference — teams that are emerging. The downside is those teams can only offer him a four-year deal, so the Warriors have the best position.
A few years ago, Andre Iguodala was forced to secure an offer from the Rockets in free agency before the Warriors stepped up to the plate. Thompson doesn’t want to be forced to do that, but he is willing to use that threat in order to get what he wants from Golden State.
Klay Thompson will finally have surgery on his torn ACL later this week, according to Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers.
Myers said Monday that Thompson has surgery scheduled by the end of the week, and will start the recovery process afterwards.
The surgery will keep Thompson out for the majority of next season. It’s not even clear if Thompson will be playing for Golden State, though there are plenty of signs that he’d prefer to stay with the Warriors, and the Warriors seem equally intent on making sure that happens.
Thompson tore his ACL in the third quarter of Game 6 of the NBA Finals on June 13.
Details regarding the anticipated cast for “Space Jam 2” have been revealed, and one of LeBron James’ new teammates is expected to join him in the film.
The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported on Wednesday that Damian Lillard, Anthony Davis and Klay Thompson are among the NBA players expected to have key roles in the movie, alongside LeBron, who will star in the film. Charania further says WNBA stars Diana Taurasi and Nneka Ogwumike will have key roles, with several other NBA and WNBA players appearing.
“Space Jam 2” has been discussed for several years, with LeBron’s film company working to put together a sequel despite warnings against it. A previous report said James was having a hard time securing stars for the film, with one MVP candidate saying he preferred to practice instead. Getting Lillard, Thompson and Davis on board shows there were still plenty of other players interested.
The movie was set to film this summer and has a July 2021 release date.
Beyond trying to prepare for their upcoming season together on the Lakers, Davis and James will first attempt to develop chemistry on the screen.
All signs point to Klay Thompson remaining with the Golden State Warriors.
Thompson’s father Mychal said Friday there was “no question” that Thompson would remain with Golden State despite suffering a torn ACL during Thursday’s Game 6.
Thompson always felt likely to return to Golden State before the injury. The fact that the team is still reportedly willing to offer him a max deal should pretty much clinch it.
The focus would then turn to Kevin Durant, who is facing his own free agency with the reality that he probably won’t play next season. Of course, Durant himself may have already hinted at where he sees his future, though there’s a long way to go there.
The Golden State Warriors are not letting two major injuries change their offseason plans.
According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, the Warriors still intend to offer the five-year max contract to both Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson despite the fact that both are facing extended spells on the sidelines due to injury.
Windhorst said that while re-signing both players would be very costly, they expect to make up the revenue to do it by moving to the new Chase Center in San Francisco next season.
Durant is likely to miss all of next season after rupturing his Achilles in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. Thompson stands to miss the bulk of the year as well after suffering a torn ACL in Game 6.
Before the injuries, the Warriors had made it clear that they intended to do what they needed to do to keep their core together. They seemed less certain of that after what happened in the Finals, but in spite of it all, they’re still going to try.
