Draymond on Klay trying to play through his hamstring injury and tonight’s knee injury: “No one does that.” pic.twitter.com/7uuiGxZSZD
— KNBR (@KNBR) June 14, 2019
OAKLAND – Klay Thompson is crazy. At least, he is according to Draymond Green, who witnessed Thompson try to play through a hamstring injury in Game 3, which he said, “No one,” would try to play through, and to try to play through a knee injury in Game 6, which proved to be a torn ACL, according to Adrian Wojnarowski.
After tearing his ACL, Thompson came back on the floor, hit two free throws and then tried to stay in the game as basically every member of the Warriors ushered him down the tunnel and into the locker room.
“With Klay he, if they would have let him stay out there he would have stayed,” Green said. “That’s just who he is. You see him try to run back down the floor like, what are you doing? But that’s Klay. How many people is going to play with a hamstring injury? No one. Like no one does that. So that’s just the way he is, man. That guy is – he’s a warrior and obviously that’s no pun intended with that, but there’s no other way to describe him. He’s going to give everything he got every time he step on the floor and even some things that he don’t have, which is his health. He was going to try to give it more. That’s just who he is. That’s why we love him.”
Green, who did not know the severity of the injury when he was interviewed (along with the rest of the Warriors) was then told Thompson was doing jumping jacks in the tunnel, trying to gear up to come back.
“It does not shock me one bit, Klay is, he’s crazy, to say the least,” Green said. “He is going to – he loves to play basketball and no matter what he’s got he’s going to try to be out there on the floor. So it’s not shocking at all. I’m sure he tried to get back out there on the floor and they just would not let him. So, no, it sucks. Obviously we’re praying that everything is okay, but that’s a tough one.”
Steve Kerr talked about how Thompson tried to convince him he needed just “two minutes” of rest to get back on the court.
Steve Kerr says Klay told him he only needed “two minutes” of rest after walking off with a knee injury pic.twitter.com/KCJ0kT8AGa
— KNBR (@KNBR) June 14, 2019
“I think what happened was he wasn’t aware of the rule that if you don’t shoot the free throws, you can’t come back in the game. So I think somebody told him in the hallway,” Kerr said. “Klay being Klay he just turned right around and came back and shot the free throws. And we committed the automatic foul to get him out of the game and he came back and he told me just two minutes. I think there was just two minutes left in the third, and he said just a two minute rest, I’ll be ready. And next thing I heard was he was done for the night from Drew Yoder, our trainer.”
Stephen Curry discussed the “freak play” and his concern for Thompson.
Stephen Curry on what it was like watching Klay Thompson go down injured: pic.twitter.com/Bco4tjxQeA
— KNBR (@KNBR) June 14, 2019
“It’s just tough in terms of a guy like Klay that left it all out there,” Curry said. “He was playing amazing tonight. And to see a freak play like that where he lands awkwardly. I don’t know the diagnosis yet, but you think about the person and the guy and how much he loves to play the game and that’s the only thoughts you have. It’s really not about what it means in terms of playing basketball. It’s just I’m more concerned about him as an individual than – and hoping that’s all right. So I’ll kind of leave it at that.”
Quinn Cook, who wore a Kevin Durant-name- and numbered shirt in warmups before Game 6, was nearly in tears describing Thompson’s injury.
Quinn Cook got emotional talking about Klay Thompson's injury after Game 6.
"He puts his entire heart into our team." pic.twitter.com/mqK4w7OYKh
— KNBR (@KNBR) June 14, 2019
“He puts his entire heart into our team,” Cook said. “Just a selfless, team-first guy and he sacrificed his body to make a play. I just feel so bad for him.”
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