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Steph Curry describes ‘gut punch’ phone call with Klay Thompson: ‘A lot of tears’

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After a year of waiting, the Warriors 2020-21 championship hopes collapsed out of nowhere.

News of Klay Thompson’s torn Achilles put a damper over last week’s NBA Draft and on the upcoming season, one that was supposed to ring in a return to dominance after what was essentially a gap year. Now the Warriors will have to continue waiting, and considering what Thompson will have gone through when he is ready to return in 2022, that wait may last a long time.

It’s for those reasons that the news was especially tough to swallow for Stephen Curry, who told ESPN on Monday that he had an emotional phone call with Thompson, Steve Kerr and Bob Myers shortly after the extent of Thompson’s injury was discovered.

“It was a gut punch for sure, a lot of tears,” Curry told ESPN. “You don’t really know what to say, because a guy like that is going through two pretty serious rehabs now.

“You feel for a guy that just worked so hard to get back out on the court and two or three weeks out something like that happens. I think at the end of the day you’ve got to have a big picture mentality with this one. It’s easier said than done going through another rehab, but there’s a lot of time on his career.”

Now Curry, 32, will have to carry the load this season after sitting out a year himself with a hand injury. If the Warriors are to fulfill championship hopes again with this core, building momentum without Thompson in 2021 will be key to realizing that with him back in the fold next season.