The Golden State Warriors suffered another major injury blow during the 2019 NBA Finals.
Just days after Kevin Durant suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon in Game 5 against the Toronto Raptors, Klay Thompson tore the ACL in his left knee during Game 6 on Thursday night, the Warriors announced early Friday morning.
Thompson left Game 6 with under three minutes remaining in the third quarter after he rose for a dunk to finish off a fast break and was fouled by Raptors guard Danny Green while in the air. Thompson came down very awkwardly on his left leg and immediately fell down to the court and grabbed at his knee in obvious pain.
You can see the play below:
Thompson remained on the floor for several minutes and then was ultimately escorted into the tunnel heading toward Golden State’s locker room. However, the sharp-shooting guard turned around and made his way back out onto the court, as he wouldn’t have been able to return to the contest (had he been able to) if he didn’t shoot his free throws. Thompson knocked down both free throws to give the Warriors an 85-80 lead late in the third quarter.
Following the free throws, Thompson was again removed from the game and taken back to the locker room to have the injury examined. Just moments later, the Warriors announced that Thompson would miss the remainder of the game with a left knee injury.
After the game, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr was understandably upset by seeing another one of his key contributors go down with a serious injury, and he referred to Thompson’s ACL tear as “devastating.”
“When Klay goes down and is out for the game, it’s just sort of a, ‘You gotta be kidding me. This has to stop,'” Kerr said, via ESPN. “But it’s just … the way it’s gone, I don’t know if it’s related to five straight seasons of playing 100-plus games and just all the wear and tear, but it’s devastating.”
The injury comes at a tough time for Thompson, as he is set to enter unrestricted free agency this summer, and he will now likely miss a major chunk of the 2019-20 season. Still though, considering the fact that he remains relatively young (29), and that he is one of the greatest shooters that the game has ever seen, there will likely be no shortage of suitors for his services. It will be interesting to see though if the injury does scare off any potential suitors, or if it makes the Warriors think twice about offering Thompson the max money that he is eligible for.
