WARRIOR DOWN
Thompson to miss 2020-21 season with torn Achilles after rehabbing last year
Warriors guard Klay Thompson suffered a torn right Achilles’ tendon, sidelining him for the second straight season.
Thompson, who missed the entire 2019-20 season after tearing the ACL in his left knee during the 2019 NBA Finals, was playing in a pickup game in Los Angeles on Wednesday when he suffered the injury. He underwent an MRI Thursday morning that confirmed the diagnosis. He is expected to make a full recovery.
The injury is a devastating setback for the 30-year- old Thompson, who spent the last 17 months recovering from knee surgery and was on track to start the season Dec. 22, and to the Warriors. Along with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, Thompson is part of a championship core that was supposed to play together again for the first time in more than a year and help the Warriors return to title
contention after tumbling to the league’s worst record last season.
Speaking with reporters after selecting James Wiseman with the No. 2 pick in Wednesday’s draft, general manager Bob Myers said it was hard to focus on the draft just hours after hearing about Thompson.
“Obviously, dealing with some of the injuries we’ve dealt with in the last couple years, doesn’t harden you, doesn’t make it easy,” Myers said. “I don’t know, I was hoping we were through all that.”
Myers reported he had the tough task of breaking
the bad news with Curry and Green.
“I’ve learned in life sometimes words don’t do it,” Myers said. “It’s not news you want to break on the phone. But that’s how it was done. And a lot of silence. Those guys have been in it more than I have. There’s no better bond than players with players.”
The Warriors are finalizing a deal to acquire Kelly Oubre from OKC to address the need on the perimeter. With free agency opening this afternoon, they also have a $ 5.7 million mid- level exception to sign another player, and will likely apply for a disabled player exception, which would be worth $ 9.3 million. Players the Warriors could
target in free agency include Garrett Temple, Avery Bradley, Wesley Matthews and Glenn Robinson III.
In the midst of a pivotal offseason that just got more complicated, Myers has been preoccupied with rebuilding the Warriors’ roster, but he was emotional when talking about Thompson during Thursday’s news conference to introduce Wiseman and second-round pick Nico Mannion.
“For him to not be able to play basketball, that’s the pain. That’s the pain we feel,” Myers said. “Nobody deserves this. This is a guy that loves basketball. He bleeds basketball.
“There’s more Klay memories to come, and more great moments.”