© Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
It didn’t really need an announcement, but yet, here we are. Klay Thompson won’t return for the Golden State Warriors in the 2019-20 season.
The following comes from the Warriors:
Warriors guard Klay Thompson, who suffered a torn left ACL during Game 6 of the NBA Finals on June 13, 2019 and has subsequently missed the first 55 games of the 2019-20 season, was re-evaluated in recent days. The evaluation confirmed that Thompson is making good progress and is right on track with his rehabilitation timeline. He will not play the remainder of this season, but is expected to return to action for the Warriors when the team’s 2020-21 training camp begins in late September.
It’s seemed like it would be the case given how both how severe Thompson’s injury is and the fact that the Warriors have quite literally nothing to gain by bringing him back. Head coach Steve Kerr made the distinction on Wednesday between Thompson and Stephen Curry, who is reportedly targeting a return for the Warriors on March 1, against the Washington Wizards.
Kerr said Wednesday there was never a question about Curry returning this season given that he’s “almost fully healed,” but that “it’s totally different than Klay.”
He explained why Thompson was ruled out before the Warriors’ game against the Houston Rockets on Thursday.
“Just the determination by the trainers, the training staff, that even though he’s coming along well, there isn’t any chance at this point,” Kerr said. “This is what I expected from the beginning given the severity of the injury… It’s no surprise.”
Kerr said that Thompson hasn’t been ruled out for this summer’s Olympics in Tokyo: “It’s not off the table. It’s still a possibility. We haven’t really discussed it… It’s really not anything we’re discussing right now.”
Steve Kerr said it’s still possible Klay Thompson competes in Olympics. He hasn’t seen Klay sprinting/jumping yet, but he will increasingly do more on the floor, behind the scenes, in upcoming weeks, as season nears an end. pic.twitter.com/DGJhFTzR8b
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) February 21, 2020