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Klay Thompson suffered a torn ACL in the Golden State Warriors Game 6 loss to the Toronto Raptors in the 2019 NBA Finals. It’s about the worst news Thompson could have received after injuring his knee in the third quarter.
The team announced the extent of the injury a few hours after the game - and consequently the season - ended.
Klay Thompson injury update: pic.twitter.com/9b7dZfde9U
— Warriors PR (@WarriorsPR) June 14, 2019
Now that we know just how serious the injury is, it makes it that much more insane that Thompson returned to the court to shoot his free throws.
And apparently that’s not the whole story - Thompson also told coach Steve Kerr that he just needed a few minutes to recover and he’d be back on the court.
"Just a two minute rest, I'll be ready". That's what Klay told Kerr. With a torn ACL.
— Chris Ballard (@SI_ChrisBallard) June 14, 2019
The timeline for a torn ACL is a bit open. We’re a long ways away from knowing what it looks like for Thompson, but the assumption is that he’ll miss at least half of the 2019-20 season.
Add that to Kevin Durant’s torn Achilles, which should keep him out for at least the entirety of the regular season, and the Warriors have been dealt a serious blow for next year, even if their two star free agents re-sign.
Hopefully it doesn’t impact the amount of money the Warriors offer Thompson, even though they’ll likely take a tumble in the standings next year.
Ultimately, it’s just a devastating injury for someone who gave the Warriors absolutely everything he had.
And that was the story of the Finals for Golden State.