Warriors guard Klay Thompson suffered a lower right leg injury Wednesday during a workout in Southern California, a league source confirmed with The Chronicle. He will undergo an MRI exam Thursday morning.
The Athletic was first to report the news.
According to the the Athletic, “the fear” is that Thompson suffered a heel injury and, “obviously, anytime you injure the heel, you have fears maybe it’s an Achilles.”
The Warriors’ front office learned of Thompson’s injury Wednesday afternoon, about 90 minutes before the team went on the clock to make the No. 2 pick in the NBA draft — the franchise’s highest selection since it took Joe Smith No. 1 in 1995. According to a league source, Golden State didn’t know how serious the injury was and didn’t let it affect the team’s draft plans; the team selected center James Wiseman from the University of Memphis.
Thompson, 30, suffered his injury while playing current and former NBA players in a gym in downtown Los Angeles, according to ESPN. He needed help walking out of the gym. Shortly after news of the injury broke, former Warriors center DeMarcus Cousins — who suffered an Achilles injury in January 2018 — tweeted, “Damn Klay. Keep your head up bro.” Golden State forward Draymond Green also tweeted his support, saying, “Prayers up for my brother @KlayThompson.”
If the Warriors’ worst fears are confirmed and Thompson does have an Achilles injury, he could be looking at missing his second consecutive season. Most rehabs from a torn Achilles tendon take nine to 12 months. The 2020-21 season starts Dec. 22, with the playoffs set to run May 22 to July 22.
A diagnosis of an Achilles injury for Thompson could severely hurt the Warriors’ plans to compete for a title this season. This much is certain, however: If Thompson tore his Achilles tendon, the Warriors will be cautious with his recovery process. This is a team that came under heavy scrutiny for letting Kevin Durant return from a strained right calf in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals, only for him to tear his Achilles tendon two minutes into the second quarter.
Before Wednesday’s injury, Thompson was coming back from a torn left ACL he suffered in Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals and hadn’t played an NBA game in 17-plus months. He recently participated in the Warriors’ offseason minicamp with little restriction and appeared on track to be 100% for the start of training camp Dec. 1.
Without Thompson, Golden State entered last season unsure if it would even make the playoffs. In October 2019, when point guard Stephen Curry broke his left hand in a loss to the Suns, the Warriors were forced to adjust their expectations and go all-in on player development.
When the NBA season shut down in mid-March because of the coronavirus pandemic, Golden State had a league-worst 15-50 record. It was among the eight teams not invited to the NBA bubble in Orlando.
The hope within the organization was that, with a healthy Thompson and Curry in the fold, the Warriors could return to contention this season. A core of Thompson, Curry, Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins might be as good as any team’s in the league, and Golden State had several assets — the No. 2 pick, a $17.2 million trade exception, a $5.7 million mid-level exception — to bolster its rotation.
But if Thompson’s injury is serious, the Warriors might have to adjust their offseason plans. On Friday, free agency starts, with the bulk of the major moves expected to unfold within the first couple of days.
Even if the injury isn’t severe, it represents another setback for a player known for his durability. Before tearing his ACL on a dunk attempt nearly a year and a half ago, Thompson hadn’t been sidelined by an injury for more than a couple of weeks. In six of his first eight NBA seasons, he played at least 77 of a possible 82 regular-season games.
Since the ACL injury, Thompson has been splitting his time between the Bay Area and Orange County.
Connor Letourneau covers the Warriors for The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: cletourneau@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Con_Chron
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Warriors’ Klay Thompson suffers lower right leg injury - San Francisco Chronicle
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