Kurtenbach: On the third anniversary of Klay Thompson’s ACL tear, the
wing and the Warriors are back on top
NBA Finals: The Warriors superstar wing missed two seasons after his ACL
tear in the 2019 NBA Finals. But against Boston, he looks like he's back
at the top of his game.
>BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JUNE 7: Klay Thompson waits to shoot during
practice, Tuesday, June 7, 2022, as the Golden State Warriors prepare
for tomorrow’s Game 3 of the NBA Finals at TD Garden in Boston, Mass.
(Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
>BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JUNE 7: Klay Thompson waits to shoot during
practice, Tuesday, June 7, 2022, as the Golden State Warriors prepare
for tomorrow’s Game 3 of the NBA Finals at TD Garden in Boston, Mass.
(Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
By DIETER KURTENBACH | dkurtenbach@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News
Group
PUBLISHED: June 13, 2022 at 4:00 a.m. | UPDATED: June 13, 2022 at 4:26 a.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2022/06/13/kurtenbach-on-the-third-anniversary-of-klay-thompsons-acl-tear-the-wing-and-the-warriors-look-back-on-top/

SAN FRANCISCO — Warriors forward Draymond Green is the most talkative
man in the NBA.

On the court, Green is the best trash talker in the league. Off the
court, his gift for gab is even more prolific. At his most loquacious,
his now-daily press conferences resemble stand-up sets. His appearances
on TNT throughout the playoffs have made waves across the league for
their unvarnished honesty. And his new podcast — the Draymond Green Show
— has been such a topic of conversation during these NBA Finals that it
is now the No. 1 sports show on Apple Podcasts, per Chartable.

There is next to no subject Green won’t talk about, at length.

But on Sunday afternoon during his press conference at Chase Center,
Green had no interest in talking about the third anniversary of Klay
Thompson’s ACL tear, June 13.

The memories of losing Thompson, who missed the 2019-2020 season because
of a knee injury and who then tore his Achilles tendon before the start
of the 2021 season — forcing him out of that campaign and the beginning
of this one — proved too much for Green.

“It’s unnecessary. We’re here in this moment. There’s no need to talk
about something that’s unfortunate that happened three years ago,” Green
said. “We’re going to think positive thoughts and we’re going to move
forward.”

The third anniversary of Thompson’s ACL tear should be viewed as a
positive occasion, though.

Not because of the injuries Thompson suffered. No, that’d be ridiculous.

Instead, see it as a celebration because of Thompson’s triumphant return
to the Warriors’ lineup and on-court excellence. Be joyous because
Thompson’s return has coincided with Golden State’s return to the
Finals, the wing’s sixth in a row.

Celebrate because, well, it’s Klay. Despite what the league might have
said in their Top-75 list in February, he is one of the greatest NBA
players of all time. He is also the most universally loved star in the
league.

It’s that love that makes his injury three years ago so painful for his
longtime teammate and Warriors fans.

But it’s that love that should also be emanating from every corner of
Chase Center and the Bay during Monday’s Game 5 of the NBA Finals (6
p.m., KGO-TV.)

Thompson is one-of-one, both on and off the court.

At his best as a player, there’s no one who can shoot better than
Thompson — even Steph Curry — all while he plays elite-level defense.

Coming off of two catastrophic leg injuries, that form has only been
flashed for a few games since his return to the court in January.

But we’re starting to see it more this postseason. It came through in
spades in the fourth quarter of Game 4 last Friday — a huge reason these
NBA Finals are tied at 2-2.

Thompson hit a couple of big shots in the fourth quarter of Game 4, but
it was his defense that was most impressive. His late shift on Boston’s
best offensive player in this series, Jaylen Brown, was vintage Klay.

Popular opinion around the league is that Thompson’s return to his top,
two-way form will be seen next season — his first full season since the
injuries.

But Game 4 hinted that Thompson might be poised to fully break out in
this series in the final two or three games.

It couldn’t come at a better time for the Dubs.

Beyond the on-court excellence, Thompson might be the only NBA player
with a perfect Q rating. Even Boston fans, in an effort to express their
displeasure for Thompson saying they lacked class following their vulgar
chants in Game 3, could only half-heartedly boo him in Friday’s Game 4.
He’s just too likable.

Thompson operates on his own enigmatic level. He’s equal parts
absent-minded and witty, unaffected but fully aware. He’s a superstar
player who either has no idea how such players are supposed to act or
has no use for that lifestyle. He just goes about his business as he
sees fit.

For instance, on Saturday, Thompson posted on Instagram that he jumped
into the Bay outside his Marin County home, noting that “The ocean heals
the mind, body, and soul.”

Cool? Corny? It doesn’t matter. It’s Klay.

There’s even a joke tao — Klaytheism — built around the Warrior’s
personality.

The Warriors — consciously or not — need it to function at their best.

Steph Curry brings elite professionalism to the Dubs — he’s always
grinding in search of perfecting his craft. Green brings a necessary
fire and edge to the team. It’s Thompson keeps everyone level and
laid-back. It’s a strange brew — or, more appropriately for Thompson,
strain — but No. 11 creates the perfect balance for the Dubs.

Thompson’s steady energy is so infectious that Warriors coach Steve Kerr
has often said throughout his tenure as Dubs head coach that if he could
live anyone in the world’s life, he’d live Thompson’s.

That steadiness, that energy, served Thompson well during the challenges
of not one, but two major rehabilitations, which all started three years
ago with that knee injury.

And on Sunday, in reflecting on that first injury three years ago,
Thompson perfectly encapsulated his full Klayness.

“There’s a lot of emotions that day,” Thompson said. “When I hurt my
knee, it was kind of unchartered territory for me because I had been
able to be consistently present in the lineup my whole career. So I had
to kind of realign my whole train of thought with the months coming up.
I knew I had a lot of training ahead… Now to be here again, I wouldn’t
change anything. I’m very grateful and everything I did to that point
led to this, so I would not change a thing.”

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After the Warriors lost to the Raptors in the 2019 Finals in six games,
staffers and players alike had the same takeaway: Had the Dubs not lost
Thompson with two-plus minutes to play in the third quarter — with the
Warriors up three points at the time — Golden State would have won that
game and forced a Game 7. And that game, they were adamant they would
have won.

Wishful thinking? Perhaps. But I saw it firsthand — Toronto was breaking
down.

The Warriors broke down first, with Kevin Durant’s torn Achilles in Game
5 and then Thompson’s ACL tear the next game.

“It just felt like we got wiped out just in back-to-back games, and we
were already really emotionally tired at that point from the five-year
run,” Kerr said. “But yeah, that was a long time ago. Good to be back here.”

These NBA Finals don’t qualify as unfinished business — just business as
usual. The Warriors have not lost a Western Conference playoff series
with their Big 3 — Curry, Green, and Thompson — on the court under Kerr.

And if Thompson has more of his best self in reserve for this series,
that long-awaited fourth banner might be hanging in the rafters come
October.

“To think it’s three years ago and all that we’ve been through, all that
Klay has been through personally since that time, and to be back here,
it adds a sense of gratitude of being back on this stage,” Curry said.
“That chapter will always be part of our journey, for sure. That’s
something we’ll probably talk about for a very long time.

Hopefully, we can get this job done and pay homage to that three-year
journey actually leading to something truly special.”