Full Draymond Green quote on Klay Thompson’s toughness gutting through a bad ankle injury. Includes a funny Nick Young story. pic.twitter.com/fgevHe6LgW
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) June 4, 2018
Listed as questionable a day before Game 2 of the NBA Finals, Draymond Green did not think there was any chance Klay Thompson would play on Sunday.
“I thought there was no chance he was playing tonight,” Green said after the Warriors 122-103 drubbing of the Cavs in Game 2. “I mean, I saw him walking in yesterday and saw his ankle and I was like, yeah, there’s no chance he’s playing.
“Sure enough, I’m like, ‘Man, you good?’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, I’ll be fine, I’m playing. I’ll be all right.’ And I was like, ‘No, he ain’t playing.’ You can say that, but there’s no chance.’”
Green was so convinced Klay’s sprained left ankle wouldn’t be healed in time, he texted a very surprised Nick Young on Saturday, telling the eccentric guard to be ready to play a big role on Sunday.
“I even texted Nick Young yesterday like, ‘Hey, man, I need big minutes out of you tomorrow because Klay ain’t playing.’ And he was like, ‘Whaaaat? All right, I got you.’
“Sure enough, I texted (Klay) earlier today, and I’m like, ‘Hey, man, you good? He’s like, ‘Yeah, I’m good.’ ‘How your ankle feeling?’ ‘A lot better.’ Of course Klay’s lying. That’s just who Klay is.”
Not only did Thompson play on Sunday, he dropped 20 points on 8-for-13 shooting in 34 minutes. If Klay was in pain, you certainly couldn’t tell, and it served as an example of why Green thinks Thompson is one of the toughest guys he’s ever played with.
“He came out there and gutted through it,” Green said. “Even if you saw him take the first lay-up he took in warm-ups and ran back to the locker room. It’s like he ain’t going to have it. Sure enough he did. I mean, that’s just a microcosm of who he is, one of the toughest guys if not the toughest guy I’ve ever played with. He’ll never get credit for it because he’s not going to physically beat you up. But one of the toughest, if not the toughest guy for sure.”