Wednesday was supposed to be a day of excitement for the Golden State Warriors, who held the second overall pick in the NBA Draft and were poised to either draft one of the top prospects or trade it away for what figured to be a handsome return.
However, mere hours before the Warriors were set to be on the clock, word emerged that star guard Klay Thompson had suffered a lower leg injury in a workout that was in need of evaluation. As more information emerged over the course of the evening, it became clear that the injury was feared to be severe, with Shams Charania of The Athletic reporting he couldn’t place weight on his leg leaving the gym to Marc Spears simply tweeting he’d been told the injury was “not good.”
Late Wednesday night, we got word of just how bad the injury was as Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports reports the Warriors fear Thompson suffered an Achilles injury in his right leg, thus ending his 2020-21 comeback season before it ever got started.
Yahoo Sources: The fear is Golden State Warriors star Klay Thompson has suffered a significant Achilles injury. An MRI scheduled for tomorrow morning.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) November 19, 2020
They will wait for all tests to come back before confirming, but it is a devastating outcome for someone who has worked tremendously over the last year to rehabilitate his left knee after tearing his ACL in the 2019 NBA Finals. A ruptured or torn Achilles is one of the most debilitating injuries for a basketball player, but the hope is obviously that Thompson will be able to work his way back to find something close to his pre-injury, All-Star form.
For the Warriors, who had hoped after being without Thompson and Stephen Curry for most of last season they’d bounce back into title contention in 2021, it’s a huge blow to their team hopes. The chief concern at this point has to be for Thompson’s health and recovery, but it certainly has to shift their plans this offseason.