On the third anniversary of his near career-ending ACL injury, which occurred during the NBA Finals, Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson spoke with the media.
“When I hurt my knee it was kind of uncharted territory for me because I had been able to be consistently present in the lineup my whole career,” Thompson said.
Three years ago, Thompson got injured during the NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors. He suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) during the game. He was then out for the next two seasons.
With the three-year anniversary of his 2019 Game 6 ACL injury tomorrow, Klay says he's grateful "to be here again" pic.twitter.com/D8wB6eT18M
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) June 12, 2022
Thompson appreciates being in NBA Finals
Thompson was asked what it meant to be back in the NBA Finals. The 32-year-old then reflected on the emotions that day. He said the Warriors almost won a third straight NBA title before the injury occurred. It was the first time since Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal won three straight championships that they didn’t get to do.
“Well, there’s a lot of emotions that day. We came real close to having another opportunity to three-peat, which hasn’t been done since Shaq (O’Neal) and Kobe (Bryant),” Thompson told the interviewer.
It was a hard time for Thompson as he had been a part of the Warriors’ lineup for his entire career. He had to go through a lengthy rehabilitation process and get back into shape quickly.
After recovering from his knee injury, Thompson tore his Achilles tendon during the training camp for the 2020-21 season. He had to go through another long rehabilitation process. Despite the setback, Thompson was grateful to be back on the court.
“Now, to be here again, I wouldn’t change anything,” said Thompson. “I’m very grateful, and everything I did to that point led to this, so I would not change a thing.”
Thompson’s past injuries
The 6-feet-5 guard returned to the court on January 9, 2022 and played 32 games during the season. He averaged 20.4 points and shot 38.5% from behind the arc. He helped the Warriors beat the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals Game 2 and Game 4.
Thompson’s injury affected the Warriors’ season. They were in their fifth straight NBA Finals, facing the Toronto Raptors. The Warriors were leading when Thompson was on his way to a dunk and accidentally landed awkwardly on his knee.
After being injured, Thompson made two free throws to help the Warriors take an 85-80 lead. Despite the severity of the injury, Thompson said he did not think it was out of the ordinary.
“I thought I might have sprained something in my knee,” Thompson said. “But you know, when you’re in the championship, and you’re playing in front of our fans, your adrenaline is so high that you kind of disregard anything that makes sense, and running around on a torn ACL doesn’t make very good sense.”
Thompson decided to carry on. He then went to the back of the court and got a medical evaluation. The doctors told him he might need to put on a pair of crutches and get off the court.
Thompson paused then said, “And, wow, what a time. Three years ago. That … wow. It just goes by fast.”