SAN FRANCISCO – Golden State guard Klay Thompson injured his lower right leg during a pickup game in Southern California and will undergo tests Thursday.
“You can be hopeful, you can be concerned, probably all those things combined, and until we know more tomorrow I'll save my ... I'll just hope for good news," general manager Bob Myers said after Wednesday night's NBA draft.
The team announced the injury without providing further details about the severity or any timeline for his availability with training camp starting Dec. 1 and the season beginning Dec. 22. Thompson was scheduled to be evaluated, and Myers expected to know more Thursday. Myers said the athletic trainers and possibly coach Steve Kerr would head to Southern California to accompany Thompson.
“I guess this business teaches you to wait to hear for sure on any of these things,” Myers said. “Obviously dealing with some of the injuries we've dealt with in the last couple years, it doesn't harden you, it doesn't make it easier but I was hoping we were through all that and maybe we are. Maybe there's good news coming. But certainly not a normal draft, not a normal day.”
Myers said Thompson's injury had Golden State consider altering its draft decisions Wednesday night but the Warriors stuck with their plan to select Memphis center James Wiseman with the No. 2 overall selection.
This could be a severe blow for the Warriors, who finished worst in the NBA last season. Thompson didn't play at all during the coronavirus-shortened season as he worked back from surgery for a torn ACL in his left knee. He suffered that injury in the deciding Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors.
LeBron James posted on Twitter: “Praying a lot (at)KlayThompson is cool!! Like it’s super minor.”
“I think he just as much as anybody wants to know what's going on, trying to stay positive,” Myers said. "Klay doesn't like missing five minutes of anything, he was probably bummed to leave the pickup game."
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