Warriors guard Klay Thompson’s journey in the NBA has been nothing short of a fairytale, given his back-to-back tragic injuries, followed by winning his fourth championship. It’s been a roller-coaster ride for the 6ft 6″ guard who demonstrated utmost resilience and perseverance during this time.
Advertisement
Rewinding to the 2019 Finals, the Warriors looked to 3-peat as they faced the Toronto Raptors. However, fate wasn’t on the side of the Bay Area team this time around, who lost two of their superstar starters to season-ending injuries, with Durant rupturing his Achilles, followed by Klay tearing his ACL.
What could have made Steve Kerr and co, the only team to 3-peat in the last decade, turned out to be an injury catastrophe. While KD successfully returned post a year and a half of rehab, Klay, who was on a similar path, ruptured his Achilles during a pickup game in LA, having him miss two and a half seasons of his prime.
Recently, appearing on ESPN’s NBA Today, veteran guard Danny Green, who was part of the play that forever changed things for Klay, admitted to being guilty about the situation but was relieved on learning that the Warriors superstar never blamed him.
Danny Green addresses Klay Thompson’s ACL injury during Game Six of the 2019 Finals.
Having already lost Durant in Game Five to a horrid Achilles injury, the Warriors would suffer another major setback when a red-hot Thompson tore his ACL in a fastbreak play involving him being unintentionally fouled by Raptors guard Danny Green.
For the longest time, Green felt responsible for the mishap but was sort of relieved on learning that Klay had no ill feelings against him despite the former Raptors guard having him miss a considerable time of his prime.
“Being involved in that play, you never want to see a player go down… I kind of felt guilty about it. I felt bad about it and I never knew how he felt about it mentally until Ramona told me that he didn’t blame me for it.”
Danny Green on Klay Thompsonpic.twitter.com/WtSxTAw8dh
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) November 16, 2022
Green had nothing but praise for Klay, addressing how the four-time champion didn’t let the prolonged rehab get to his mind, continuing to stay positive.
“You can never really understand it till you go through it”: Danny Green addresses his ACL injury.
Green, who was on the Sixers last season, was diagnosed with ACL and LCL injuries after a collision with seven-foot teammate Joel Embiid during the semi-finals series against the Miami Heat.
On his path to recovery, the three-time champion was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies during the summer. Nevertheless, one wishes to see Green soon on the hardwood, having recovered an 100% from his ACL injury.
